Kessler did not throw Mcnally under the bus...

[WinstonSmith]

There seems to be a new “misunderstanding” that is being presented as fact by some sports “reporters” and radio guys that Kessler threw McNally under the bus and conceded that the balls were deflated in the bathroom.

This stems from Browns initial twitter play by play not including the disclaimer(s) that Kessler prefaced his responses with to questions regarding McNally’s role in deflating footballs: “We don’t believe there is evidence of such deflation”.

It’s clear that Kessler’s defense is 1: It didn’t happen 2: If by some freak of nature that it did happen – Tom was not aware.


Stephanie Stradley ‏@StephStradley 8m8 minutes ago
.@beanie402 @uhatremblay @PPVSRB Deflation can happen for natural reasons--no big deal. Judge signaled he didn't need to be sold by Kessler


Tom Leyden ‏@TomLeyden 5m5 minutes ago
Kessler prefaced answering questions with "We do not believe there is real evidence such deflation occurred," as determined in Wells Report


From the NY Post:
Berman asked why the pair would have deflated balls without Brady’s knowledge.

“Mr. Brady’s the quarterback and he’s the one who’s going to be throwing those balls. Why would either of those two people do that without his knowledge and consent?” the judge asked

“We don’t believe there is evidence of such deflation,’ Kessler replied, but “assuming such deflation occurred, it’s conceivable that Mr. McNally thought that it was something that would be good for his quarterback. But it is a large leap from that to Mr. Brady asking him to do it or directing him to do it.”

“Are you saying that Jastremski and McNally were freelancing when they deflated the balls?” Brennann replied

“That is our position, Your Honor,” the lawyer said.

 

[Tony2046]

That sounds a whole lot better than the twitter feeds. Can't wait until the transcripts are released.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

He is throwing mcnally under a bus as his backup argument, i.e., if the judge doesn't buy the science stuff, there was clearly deflation but it wasn't done by brady. kessler's job is to avoid suspension. he doesn't care about mcnally.

 

[Kdo5]

Yeah most of us found this out yesterday but it doesnt fit the agenda of many of these radio guys to acknowledge it.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

I wouldn't say he doesn't care about McNally as much as I would say that the judge wanted him to answer a hypothetical question and it is always wise to do what the judge wants. It's helpful, though, in this sound-bite world to always get in the disclaimer. I'm very happy with Kessler. He's the Belichick of defense lawyers.

 

[chasa]

what he should have said

"Well if the refs had over inflated the balls again, then Mcnally might have taken upon himself to lower them back down to the preferred level, knowing the JJ had specifically told him that Brady wanted the balls at 12.5, and being upset when the refs filled them to 16"

That would have been a much better answer as 1.) it showed that brady wanted the balls at 12.5. and 2.) if Mcnally DID deflated balls, he deflated them to the legal limit after the refs tampered with them.

 

[billdog3484]

what he should have said

"Well if the refs had over inflated the balls again, then Mcnally might have taken upon himself to lower them back down to the preferred level, knowing the JJ had specifically told him that Brady wanted the balls at 12.5, and being upset when the refs filled them to 16"

That would have been a much better answer as 1.) it showed that brady wanted the balls at 12.5. and 2.) if Mcnally DID deflated balls, he deflated them to the legal limit after the refs tampered with them.

that would not have been a good argument.

his argument was fine. maybe could have been worded slightly different, but when speaking you dont have the opportunity to perfectly phrase your statement like you would if you were writing.

His answer was basically.

(1) we dont believe there was any deflation that took place,
(2) like we have repeatedly stated, Mr. Brady never once instructed anyone or hinted to anyone that they should deflate the balls,
(3) however, if air was in fact deflated (which we dont believe to be the case), it is possible that McNally or someone else did it;
(4) but again, in no way was Mr. Brady involved at all

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

...if the refs had over inflated the balls again, then McNally might have taken upon himself to lower them back down to the preferred level...

As far as I know McNally didn't have a gauge (JJ did), so that argument would have a big hole in it. He wouldn't have been able to check if the ref screwed him over.

 

[scott99]

what he should have said

"Well if the refs had over inflated the balls again, then Mcnally might have taken upon himself to lower them back down to the preferred level, knowing the JJ had specifically told him that Brady wanted the balls at 12.5, and being upset when the refs filled them to 16"

That would have been a much better answer as 1.) it showed that brady wanted the balls at 12.5. and 2.) if Mcnally DID deflated balls, he deflated them to the legal limit after the refs tampered with them.

Even if he had done that, that's against NFL rules, you can't touch the footballs AFTER the refs hand them over for the game. That was one of the complaints you mentioned, Brady talking about 16.0. But at that point, it's too late.

 

[Trycked]

Of course he didn't throw McNally under the bus. Have you seen the guy? He needs some deflating before he can fit under the bus.

 

[patriot1136]

Kessler is awesome, I am very confident in his abilities here. Imagine what could have been if Hernandez had him as his defense lawyer

 

[Brady6]

Kessler is a lawyer, his job is to create reasonable doubt, which is what he did.

 

[reflexblue]

That sounds a whole lot better than the twitter feeds. Can't wait until the transcripts are released.

the twitter feeds yesterday were a second hand telling of what was said. i came to the conclusion this morning that Brown wasn't twetting all that was said.

 

[billdog3484]

Kessler is a lawyer, his job is to create reasonable doubt, which is what he did.

his job is to create reasonable doubt? haha no...not here

the burden in a criminal case is the prosecution has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime was committed. so the defense attorney in that instance would be to prevent reasonable doubt from being proven

here, he is attempting to overturn an arbitration decision. i dont know the exact term and dont care to look it up right now, but basically he has to find the decision was egregious in order to overturn

Although, i will add...i think goodell thinks this is WAY WAY more serious than a very serious real crime

 

[Funktopus]

I liked kessler's use of the word "conceivable". Just because you can "conceive" doesn't convey likelihood. Later on he makes the joke about his grandma being a trolley if she had wheels. Certainly conceivable. Just like any fiction.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I interpreted Kessler saying that there is no proof that Brady, McNally and Jaz doctored balls and it is the is same amount of proof that they did- which is none.

 

[BTTA]

[QUOTE="billdog3484, post: 4284891, member: 14691...so the defense attorney in that instance would be to prevent reasonable doubt from being proven[/QUOTE]

I'm on vacation, sitting on a sun deck overlooking Cape Cod Bay, and this logic is giving me a headache.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

I'm on vacation, sitting on a sun deck overlooking Cape Cod Bay, and this logic is giving me a headache.

I'm headed to Boston! For the American Chemical Society convention. I can get my free Brady T-shirt!

 

[voluntarysaftey]

Too bad the NFL didn't apply the same logic to the Falcons -- if a 'non hated' team got this bad treatment, maybe the NFL would question it.

The Falcons D is the one who benefits from pumped in crowd noise -- therefore its more likely than not that they knew that the front office pumped in crowd noise. The enter D should receive a 4 game suspension.

I think this was a smart question/answer by Berman/Kessler -- there's plausible reasons Brady would be unaware even if it occurred -- and since there's no evidence Brady was aware, it doesn't even matter if it did in fact occur or not in regards to Brady's guilt (or lack there of)

 

[Tuck]

“Are you saying that Jastremski and McNally were freelancing when they deflated the balls?” Brennann replied

“That is our position, Your Honor,” the lawyer said.

Why doesn't Berman just call Sonny and Cher in to testify under oath and get this whole thing over with?

We already know Berman thinks there is no direct evidence tying Brady to said ball deflation in the Wells report. And we have Brady's sworn testimony that there was no scheme, so it seems to me everything would hinge on their testimony because their is no reason to even talk about article 46 if there is no evidence of rule violation.

Otherwise, Goodell could suspend anyone for as long as he wants for no reason whatsoever, all he has to say is I think player x compromised the integrity of the game and under article 46 of the CBA I am suspending the player.