Deflategate is on, Again!: Tom Brady Deflategate suspension reinstated by U.S. Appeals court
Photo: Cox Media Group
Tom Brady
New Englad Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady is suspended
… again!
Photo: Joe Mahoney/AP
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady
The U.S. Appeals court, in a 2-to-1 decision, reinstated the Patriots quarterback’s four-game suspension Monday that was handed down by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell for his alleged role in the Deflategate scandal.
A lawyer for Tom Brady faced questioning at the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals last month, when the three judges focused on Brady’s destruction of his cellphone and one judge said the ball tampering evidence seemed “overwhelming.”
“The evidence of the ball tampering here is compelling if not overwhelming. How do we as appellate judges second-guess a four-game suspension?” Judge Denny Chin asked of attorney Jeffrey Kessler.
When Kessler said that Brady regularly destroyed his phones out of privacy concerns, Judge Barrington Parker responded: “With all due respect, Mr. Brady’s explanation of that made
no sense at all.”
Judge throws out Patriots fans’ lawsuit against NFL over ‘Deflategate’ punishment
Photo: Charles Krupa/AP
Judge throws out Patriots fans’ lawsuit against NFL over ‘Deflategate’ punishmentThe group of seven fans who sued the NFL included a season ticket holder who said the scandal left his 7-year-old daughter disillusioned. Charles Krupa/AP
The group of seven fans who sued the NFL included a season ticket holder who said the scandal left his 7-year-old daughter disillusioned.
The New England Patriots fans who sued the NFL in an effort to recover the first-round draft pick taken from the team as punishment for the “Deflategate” scandal will have to get over it.
U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor on Friday rejected the lawsuit filed in Boston last week by a group of seven fans who claimed the league made an “arbitrary and capricious” decision to revoke the pick in this month’s draft. The plaintiff’s motion cited a lack of evidence that the Patriots deliberately deflated footballs in the AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts in January 2015.
“After reviewing the compalint, it appears highly unlikely that plaintiffs will succeed on the merits of any of their claims,” Saylor wrote in his decision.
The complaint alleged common law fraud, negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and racketeering, among other things. It named the NFL, commissioner Roger Goodell, and Patriots owner Robert Kraft as defendants.
After an investigation, Goodell suspended Brady four games for being “generally aware” of the scheme. He also docked the team two draft picks, the first-round selection in this year’s draft and a fourth-rounder in 2017, and fined the team $1 million.
Manhattan Federal Court Judge Richard Berman had ruled in September that Brady’s due process rights were violated by Goodell and threw out the suspension, before the three-judge panel reinstated the ban.
The Pats play the Cardinals, Dolphins, Texans and Bills during the first four games of the season.
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