OT: Judge orders Brady, NFL to last minute settlement talks
From the AP via The World Wide Leader. It's a short article. Sorry no link.
Quotes of interest:
Judge Richard Berman on Tuesday ordered the sides to have "further good faith settlement efforts" prior to the first meeting since the sides took the scandal known as "Deflategate" to federal court.
Berman directed NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady to join lawyers in his robing room to discuss negotiations prior to a public hearing.
I'm not sure either side is willing to budge. I'm putting my money on Brady.
August 11th, 2015 at 12:07 PM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 12:12 PM ^
Yeah, sounds kinky to me.
August 11th, 2015 at 12:57 PM ^
Nah, you're thinking of the ribbing room.
August 11th, 2015 at 1:45 PM ^
Preview of Brady's robe
August 11th, 2015 at 2:22 PM ^
Wouldn't that be the disrobing room?
August 11th, 2015 at 2:57 PM ^
I'll take your word for it, your honor.
August 11th, 2015 at 1:08 PM ^
Eyes Wide Shut type of shit!
August 11th, 2015 at 1:18 PM ^
Are you saying you don't have a robe room? Get with the times, man!
August 11th, 2015 at 12:08 PM ^
I hope this is wrapped up really soon. Do I keep Tom Brady in my fantasy league?
August 11th, 2015 at 12:25 PM ^
He's currently listed as 'out' on DraftKings though.
August 11th, 2015 at 1:01 PM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 2:01 PM ^
I must keep two players that were on my team at the end of last season and they will be the first two rounds of the draft. The league previously had a "lose same round drafted penalty" but was abolished this year, much to my dismay.
I do not have anyone particularly worthy of the first two rounds, so Brady is likely in.
August 11th, 2015 at 1:41 PM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 3:57 PM ^
I think we all agree with Manning and 2 years but TB and 8 more seasons?
August 11th, 2015 at 12:27 PM ^
Upvote - Do you think Harbaugh can get the venue changed so the Judge Judy will preside over this??? I can see the following coming to ole Roger....
August 11th, 2015 at 12:49 PM ^
Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad
August 11th, 2015 at 1:23 PM ^
God. Now I want it to happen.
August 11th, 2015 at 1:47 PM ^
This is the face
August 11th, 2015 at 12:10 PM ^
Why is this still a thing... Christ...
August 11th, 2015 at 1:10 PM ^
Because Roger Goodell can't manage any kind of PR snafu without letting it turn into a clownshow and because a huge chunk of the owners want to take a bite out of the Patriots.
I got a feeling that Brady is going to come out of this vindicated and the league is going to have more egg on it's face.
August 11th, 2015 at 1:35 PM ^
There's no evidence that a violation was even committed. Brady will "stick to his guns" as he should. I think it would be hilarious if Goodell managed to get fired from a $41 million a year job over this.
August 11th, 2015 at 2:45 PM ^
They need to hug it out and get it over with.
August 11th, 2015 at 1:21 PM ^
But I think Christ is a thing because of some religious movement centering on his paternity?
August 11th, 2015 at 3:45 PM ^
I would say it is still a thing because the NFL wants everyone to talk about this non-issue instead of the real issues that have plagued them the last few years. It their way of trying to wash out the domestic abuse and concussion issues. Those issues are pretty one sided, very few are going to side with the NFL. However, if you get everyone talking about inflated balls then the NFL will get a lot of support even if they look foolish to others in the process. Better to risk being the fool in public perception instead of the jerk.
August 11th, 2015 at 12:30 PM ^
job of criticizing mistakes on both sides. That being said, his latest story on the issue is pretty damning on the manipulation of the press and misrepresentations by the NFL and really makes you wonder what Godell has against Brady or if the other owners really hate New England enough to tear apart a star player's good reputation to bring down the Patriots and Belichick.
August 11th, 2015 at 12:53 PM ^
Thanks for the link.
I'm a Michigan homer so take it with a grain of salt but it seems to me Brady was presumed guilty from the word go and the NFL used anything they could find to help support that, while ignoring any evidence to the contrary.
I'm not a lawyer but it seems to me Brady would have a pretty good defamation lawsuit there.
August 11th, 2015 at 1:09 PM ^
Brady cheated and Goddell is a cockalorum. Let's move on.
August 11th, 2015 at 1:15 PM ^
the NFL's own report only said it was more likely than not. That is in regards to Brady. There is no doubt that Godell is a cockalorum although that's being nice.
August 11th, 2015 at 1:51 PM ^
The only reason the report used that phrasing is because it reflects the burden of proof that they must meet to show a violation. How anyone can objectively look at the evidence and not conclude that Brady cheated is beyond me. I don't care at all, but he cheated.
August 11th, 2015 at 2:10 PM ^
If by "anyone" you mean "anyone who is compeletely ignorant of the chemical physics (specifcally, the temperature/pressure relationship) of inert, low-dipole moment, low-polarizable molecular and atomic gases under normal atmospheric conditions", then your point is well-taken. Otherwise, not so much.
August 11th, 2015 at 3:50 PM ^
You're trying way too hard to sound intelligent. Read the text messages. Read the lies Brady made about McNally. Acknowledge that Brady refused to turn over information. The guy cheated.
August 11th, 2015 at 4:39 PM ^
Well, Pinky, I'd be happy to discuss further.
Let's start at the beginning and go through a critical analysis of your assertion of "the guy cheated", shall we?
I'm presuming that you're making an assertion of "cheating" based on a violation of specific rule(s) of the NFL. Is my presumption correct? Yes or No.
If yes, please provide the full text of the rule(s) related to your assertion. Then we can analyze that text and drill down further.
(awaitng your reply ...)
August 11th, 2015 at 4:53 PM ^
You write like a first-year law student. Again, you really don't have to try so hard to sound intellgent/douchey, and I don't care nearly enough about this issue to "drill down further" with you. The balls were underinflated, Brady destroyed his phone during the investigation, and McNally's nickname was the "Deflator" for God's sake. That is more than enough circumstantial evidence. I know he's a Michigan boy and all, but come on, the bias here is absurd.
(not awaiting your reply...)
August 11th, 2015 at 5:04 PM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 5:23 PM ^
My apologies.
But, honestly, this is the way I communicate. Though I'm not a law student (1st year or otherwise).
Here's the way I see it.
Testimony from three individuals (Brady, McNally, and Jastremski) that there was no deliberate alteration of the the game balls. Conversely, there was no testimony from any witness (nor video/photographic evidence) to put that testimony in dispute.
The pressure measurements (which are somewhat sketchy given that there were no simultaneous measurements of the temperature of the air inside each football) are, indeed, consistent with what one expects from the temperature/pressure relationship of the gases inside the ball (making some assumptions about what the likely temps of the air inside the balls were). Basically, you'd need to put fairly large error bars on each pressure measurement because of the sloppy "experimental methodology" used by the NFL. So, definitely, with those large error bars, the pressures reported in the Wells report are fully consistent with Ideal Gas behavior. I.e., the physical properties of the NEP balls show no evidence that any human tampering/alteration occurred (nor do the more limited measurements of the Colts game balls).
So, what does the other side of the argument have? First, they must dismiss the (consistent) testimony of Brady, McNally, and Jastremski as not credible (when there is no testimony nor direct evidence which counters the testimony of those three). Then, they must claim that the balls were tampered with when their own physical evidence shows otherwise. Then they must make some arguable (or even dubious) inferential conclusions as to the meaning of various other documents that they cite. Couple that with the campaign of misinformation from the NFL and their shifting explanations for what the penalty levied against Brady is based on (moving the goal posts if you will, and this was a common tactic the NFL has used in similar cases, e.g., the Saints situation), and I find the NFL's position to be the much weaker case.
August 11th, 2015 at 2:10 PM ^
The NFL allowed false reports to stand and may have even planted them. They told Brady they didn't need his phone. The NFL is shady as hell.
August 11th, 2015 at 2:36 PM ^
You mean the scientific evidence which does not indicate that the balls were deflated? Hard to be guilty when it cannot be proven that a "crime" was committed
August 11th, 2015 at 1:20 PM ^
The judge doesn't care about evidence or guilt- at all. This is 100% about the process used, regardless of the outcome.
There will not be closure on his guilt- only on the process used to determine it.
Best case for Brady- Judge throws out ruling on grounds process wasn't fair. Still won't remove the stigma of cheater from his name because it won't address if he did interact with anything that resulted in deflated balls.
Best case for NFL- Judge rules the process is fair and working as agreed to in CBA (which is it)- thus ending Brady's chance to play every week and NFLPA ability to continue to slander league over every ruling by commish (they still will though).
In the end it'll all be moot as next CBA will use Commish powers as talking point, NFL will fold on it, but retain revenue majority- their end goal all along. NFLPA is a sad joke, and hopefully they can focus on the key issue players really care about- money allocation, and stop pidling with Commish powers they signd off on previously.
August 11th, 2015 at 1:28 PM ^
case is concerned. I'm not sure that will end the process however. Brady could take personal legal action and it wouldn't surprise me if that happened.
August 11th, 2015 at 4:23 PM ^
I fiinished reading the transcript of the appeal hearing. IMO, Brady is being sacrificed to make Goodell look good. There is almost nothing that would convince a jury in a civil case, using a preponderance of the evidence standard that Brady did what he is accused of to say nothing about the scientific issues in the case concerning the Ideal Gas law.
An expert on statistical analysis tore apart the conclusions reached in the Wells report.
I, too, was wondering what recourse Brady has available, regardless of the outcome in the NY District Court. I'm not sure about libel/slander; maybe someone could weigh in on that.
The other thing that crossed my mind, which might be a bit far fetched, is would the NFLPA, should Brady receive an adverse outcome, call for a strike. Nothing makes team owners stand up and take notice more than when someone takes money out of their pockets.
August 11th, 2015 at 2:37 PM ^
is likely to pursue this further in order to clear his name. I certainly would if I were him. He has such a shit-ton of money - what better use than to use some of it for legal expenses to go after a huge ass-clown like Goodell?
August 11th, 2015 at 1:20 PM ^
August 11th, 2015 at 2:10 PM ^
"Most important would be consistency of all of the balls that get snapped back to me"
Aw yeah...Giggity?
August 11th, 2015 at 1:36 PM ^
different than a pitcher using vaseline or the ol' Kenny Rogers pine tar/"clump of dirt." If a pitcher gets caught he gets suspended a couple starts but the team doesn't lose a draft pick and get fined. The equivalent of a pitcher losing two starts is a quarter or half game of an NFL season. Seems like that would be enough deterrent for quarterbacks and equipment managers to not bend the rules, and be done with it.
I could be totally missing something here, but am I right? Or does a pitcher "cheating" get a tougher suspension, as well as the team, and I'm just uninformed on the topic?
I'm not a NASCAR guy but drivers and pit crews get suspended and fined for having their car too "low." The go around to each car with those awesome giganitic "car calipers." Is that a better comparison?
This whole thing has probably knocked down my interest level in the NFL from "moderate" to "low."
August 11th, 2015 at 2:13 PM ^
you read the story I linked above, there is substantial doubt that they were tampered with and that the NFL has manipulated this whole thing to throw Brady under the bus.
August 11th, 2015 at 2:52 PM ^
organization. It still baffles me why Goodell and the NFL are being so punitive toward Brady and the Pats over such a minor issue (that likely never happened as the evidence increasingly suggests) as slightly underinflated balls. In comparison to many of the other far more serious incidents (like assaults by current players), the penalties were way, way over the top. If the NFL had just issued a modest sized fine to the Patriots, they probably would have just paid it and everyone would have moved on. I think the longer this goes on, the worse it is going to be for Goodell in the end.
August 11th, 2015 at 8:44 PM ^
The only conceivable way I see it happening is if he has so much dirt on the owners that they have to keep him.
August 11th, 2015 at 2:45 PM ^
Here's the ESPN article - LINK
It also mentions that Brady was not at practice today and it wasn't injury-related. The interesting quote, something I missed in the transcripts (which I did read...mostly):
Although Wells asked repeatedly for Brady's cellphone, the investigator also testified: "I did not tell Mr. Brady at any time that he would be subject to punishment for not giving -- not turning over the documents. I did not say anything like that."
Both sides seem to have their heels dug into the ground - rightly so in Brady's case, I think - so it will be interesting to see if anything comes out of it.