Tom Brady will not be suspended for four games after he was allegedly “generally aware” of a scheme to deflate AFC Championship game footballs in earlier this year.
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Tom Brady's four-game suspension by the NFL has been overturned by a federal judge. In a ruling issued TK, Judge Richard Berman said Thursday.
The decision can be appealed to a higher court, but Judge Berman has warned that the entire process could take up to two years to resolve. "And I don't think anyone wants that," he said during a hearing in early August.
The lawsuit centered on the power afforded to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell under the NFL and NFL Players Association's Collective Bargaining Agreement, which gives Goodell near-unilateral power when determining a player's punishment for policy violations.
Brady was suspended four games after an investigator determined he was "generally aware," if not orchestrating, a scheme to deflate game-use footballs to gain an alleged competitive advantage against the Indianapolis Colts in the 2015 AFC Championship game.
Brady appealed, with backing from the NFLPA, and asked Goodell to recuse himself as appeal arbitrator. Goodell refused, and after a ten-hour hearing at NFL headquarters in Manhattan, Brady's suspension was upheld. In his decision, Goodell said new evidence that Brady had "destroyed" his cell phone — which the quarterback says is a routine practice due to his celebrity — rather than turn it over to investigators weighed into his decision to maintain the four-time Super Bowl winner's suspension.
As the lawsuit played out over the last four weeks, Judge Berman continued to push each side to reach a settlement. Though many different scenarios and offerings by either side have been reported — reduced games for Brady admitting to tampering being the most common among them — the parties were "not close" on Monday when the parties met in court for a third and final time.
LINK: No Settlement Reached In Tom Brady Deflategate Case, Judge Says He Will Rule No Later Than Friday
LINK: Deflategate Judge “Troubled” By Multiple Aspects Of NFL Reasoning
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