Bringing the federal courts into the equation is playing with fire...IF Brady is completely innocent, the move could be brilliant and exonerate him and make the NFL look terrible. If he is guilty, the NFL will spend big money to flip one of those ball boys who has a get out of jail deal and make Tom Brady like Barry Bonds (with Bonds win at all costs approach, 8 years later and still getting appeals courts to overturn obstruction of justice charge/conviction), in the conversation of GOAT, but an a$$hole that everybody dislikes. Playing with fire!
Tom Brady's 1st mistake was that press conference he did...public opinion has been out there based on HIS words. When your guilty until you prove your innocence in this media society (see anything related to police in this country), why give the media / legal teams free advice to dissect. If I am innocent, I let my lawyers handle the job they are paid handsomely for and not let on that I am holding the laydown hand. The nice guys who might be somewhat in the Grey area who cooperate always dig their own graves in one way or another.
This is boring. I would like to have seen Tom Brady rush into the face of the Commish ala George Brett and go all Purple Kellyish on him...with like 5 or 6 guys holding him back while he yelled and spitballed sunflower seeds into Goodell's chops.
As I understand it, Brady's biggest problem is that the NFLPA ceded power to the commisioner to do exactly what he's doing: essentially to be prosecuter, judge, and if Brady doesn't like the decision, the appeals judge also. The players association royally fucked the players over with this aspect of their last labor agreement. Goodell was granted the power by the NFLPA to do exactly what he's doing, and it's not likely to be the concern of the federal courts to interfere.
Fuckthishitandrogergoodell.com
• neither he or his coworkers did anything of which they have been accused.
• the cell phone revelation is an intentional attempt by the NFL to distract from their lack of real evidence of any wrongdoing.
• In fact, he destroyed the cell phone only after his lawyers told the NFL they had no right to it under ANY circumstances—that Brady would not set an NFL precedent for further invasions of other players’ constitutional rights to privacy.
• he never wrote, emailed, or texted to anyone anything about football air pressure before the issue was raised
• he had already turned over to Wells all the information he requested; and the NFL knows they already have all the texts in question.
Had Brady been allowed to speak or communicate on his appeal instead of being subjected to a gag order, he could have addressed the replaced phone before the NFL got to frame it as it did.
You have to wonder if Goodell and Robert Kraft are going to be friends. My guess is probably not.
The question is, where is the line drawn. The media are so quick to assign blame to Brady for not giving his cell phone records, but what if the NFL had demanded to search his home or his car? Would people think he's guilty if he said no? According to the NFL, they have the right to suspend him because he won't let them search his phone, but the same logic applies, they could have suspended him if he didn't let them search his home too. It's just that the media wouldn't have been as pro-NFL if they'd asked Brady to search his home and Brady said no.
Sorry, I just don't feel the connection to Brady that I feel to many former Michigan players. He acts like an entitled, arrogant prick, and, yeah, he bends the rules in ways many others don't.
I think that's pretty much the opposite of what we want to see from our guys.
Free Brady!