The case was screwed from the jump because Brady's lawyers were more concerned about labor laws than Brady's innocence, which leads me to question Brady's role in Deflategate, at times. If I am a lawyer and my client is innocent, I would prove his innocence and then discredit the league. His attorneys discredited the league but never proved his innocence nor did they ever seem to attempt to.
Instead, they sought out to make Brady some sort of Jesus for NFLPA and other laborers. He sacrificed himself for the players, for justice and equality... bs! I was starting to jump off the innocent bandwagon at that point. *smh
They used Goodell's God-complex as a distraction from the actual issue at hand, which was whether Brady deflated balls or not. Apparently, they were going to argue the IDGL and his actual innocence as a last resort. IDGL argument isn't that reliable (lack of recorded info from game balls), which is probably why they were saving it for last.
Law of shop or the argument from his attorneys, regarding Brady needing to be informed of punishments for certain violations before he can be punished for them, spoke volumes to me. Apparently only the clubs are aware of equipment violations but not the player. It was like an admission of guilt, "he did it but the club should be fined, not the player being suspended-- San Diego and Carolina.
IMO, his attorneys made him look more guilty, because I was arguing his innocence until I kept hearing their arguments in his defense. It was sickening. I've made better arguments in his defense, so have most Patriots fans.
If Brady deflated balls he should've been fined and warned against his actions and then suspended if it came up again. They should've also put the refs through a training process, during the off-season, so they can measure, record and be aware of a ball deflated by 8% of its ball pressure. *smh.
If Brady doesn't file a defamation suit to clear his name (highly doubtful), I will be side-eyeing him and this case until the end of time.