Tom Brady’s legal fight technically isn’t over, yet
Here’s the official statement from the NFL Players Association: “After careful consideration and discussion with Tom Brady, the NFLPA will not be seeking a stay of the four game suspension with the 2nd Circuit. This decision was made in the interest of certainty and planning for Tom prior to the New England Patriots season. We will continue to review all of our options and we reserve our rights to petition for [appeal] to the Supreme Court.”
This means that Brady may still appeal the case (through the union), but that he won’t be trying to delay the implementation of the suspension while the effort to convince the Supreme Court to take the case is pending. Brady and the union have 90 days from the issuance of the latest Second Circuit ruling to file the relevant paperwork.
With the Patriots presumably preferring that quarterback Tom Brady miss the first four games of the season instead of four games at some later date on the calendar (especially if the calendar had said “January” when the Supreme Court decided not to hear his case), Brady apparently will be taking the middle ground of sitting four games but rolling the dice on the nothing-to-lose proposition of ultimately securing vindication, along with a ruling that gave the Commissioner far less power in future cases.
If he wins, Brady will get his four game checks back, which amounts to a paltry (for him) $253,000. More importantly, victory would greatly assist the NFLPA and any other players faced with Brady’s predicament in the future. Goodell’s ruling, as affirmed on appeal, constitutes the law of the land in the Second Circuit, which means that Goodell has more power in player disciplinary cases that, given the league’s willingness to file the first lawsuit aimed at defending his rulings, are filed in federal court in Manhattan. If the legal fight continues, Goodell’s power can still be diminished.
The chances of the Supreme Court taking the case remain remote. (The fact that the suspension won’t be hinging on the decision could actually make the chances even slimmer.) Still, a lightning-in-a-bottle proposition requires putting the bottle out in the street.
Brady, whose “petition for writ of certiorari” with the Supreme Court could be easily and cheaply (relatively speaking) cobbled together by his legal team, should — and apparently will — put the bottle in the street. If not for his own interests, for the interests of all current and future players who would otherwise be subject to results-oriented investigations of misconduct and in-house appeals procedures that can be twisted and skewed to keep the player from getting the evidence he needs to prove his case.
source: nbcsports
No comments:
Post a Comment