Brady Authorizes NFLPA To Take DeflateGate Appeal To Federal Court
BOSTON (CBS) -- Tom Brady's fight is going to Federal court.
Yes, a Federal court will have to hear a case regarding air pressure in football.
The NFL upheld Tom Brady's four-game suspension stemming from the DeflateGate scandal on Tuesday, and now Brady and the NFL Player's Association are taking their case to Federal court in hopes of getting the suspension overturned.
Related: Patriots Defend Tom Brady
It's unclear when the hearing will take place, or if Brady will get an injunction that will allow him to play while the case is pending.
Statement from the NFLPA:
"The Commissioner's ruling today did nothing to address the legal deficiencies of due process. The NFL remains stuck with the following facts:
• The NFL had no policy that applied to players;
• The NFL provided no notice of any such policy or potential discipline to players;
• The NFL resorted to a nebulous standard of "general awareness" to predicate a legally unjustified punishment;
• The NFL had no procedures in place until two days ago to test air pressure in footballs; and
• The NFL violated the plain meaning of the collective bargaining agreement.
The fact that the NFL would resort to basing a suspension on a smoke screen of irrelevant text messages instead of admitting that they have all of the phone records they asked for is a new low, even for them, but it does nothing to correct their errors.
The NFLPA will appeal this outrageous decision on behalf of Tom Brady."
Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reports the NFLPA will file the appeal in Federal Court in Minnesota on Wednesday.
The whole mess began on January 18, 2015, the night the Patriots beat the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship game. What followed was a five-month investigation by Ted Wells, which deemed it "more probable than not" that two Patriots employees conspired to lower the inflation level of footballs in the AFC Championship Game. The report then determined it "more probable than not" that Brady "was at least generally aware" of their actions.
Related: Brady's Agent Releases Statement
That led to the four-game ban for Brady. The Patriots were also penalized with the forfeiture of a first-round and fourth-round draft pick, as well as a $1 million fine. That was a punishment which team owner Robert Kraft initially disputed but eventually accepted.
Brady, backed by the NFLPA and outside counsel Jeffrey Kessler, filed an appeal of the four-game suspension issued by Goodell back in early May. The 10-hour hearing was held Tuesday, June 23 at the NFL offices in New York City, with Goodell serving as the arbitrator.
But when Goodell ruled that Brady's ban would remain four-games, citing the quarterback's unwillingness to cooperate during the investigation, he opened the door for the case to go Federal.
And so, DeflateGate continues.
