Judge peppers NFL’s lawyers
Cites Brady’s, league’s weak spots
NEW YORK — The federal judge refereeing the Deflategate feud between Tom Brady and the NFL jabbed yesterday at both sides’ weak spots, but hit especially hard at the league as he continued to push the two sides toward a settlement.
Brady and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell emerged from a Manhattan court late yesterday afternoon with no announcement of an agreement on the New England Patriots star’s move to strike down his four-game suspension.
DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL Players Association, told reporters it was a “productive day,” offering no other details, and a NFL spokesman said both sides agreed not to comment after spending more than four hours holed up near U.S. District Court Judge Richard Berman’s 17th-floor courtroom.
The closed-door talks followed a pointed 80-minute Q-and-A from Berman — and separate private meetings beforehand with the judge — who grilled lawyers from the league on the basis of the Wells Report and, to a lesser extent, Brady’s reps on his decision to destroy his cellphone amid the league probe.
The judge noticeably homed in on the NFL and the league-commissioned report produced by investigator Ted Wells, picking apart its finding that it was “more probable than not” that Brady was at least “generally aware” that balls in the AFC title game were improperly deflated by Pats employees Jim McNally and John Jastremski.
“I don’t know what to make of that finding,” Berman said.
He also pressed NFL attorney Daniel Nash on whether there was “direct evidence” tying Brady to what Goodell labeled as a “scheme” to deflate the balls in that game.
“No, not for that game,” Nash said, alluding to text messages from earlier in the season.
“Wow,” Berman replied, “that’s the only game we’re talking about.”
Nash pointed to what he described as a mountain of circumstantial evidence. “The fact there may not be a smoking gun ... does not mean there’s not evidence of culpability,” Nash said.
Players union attorney Jeffrey Kessler said it still holds that the balls weren’t deflated, but if they were, the blame goes to McNally for “freelancing” with Jastremski in doing something he thought would be “good for his quarterback.”
Berman has repeatedly encouraged both sides to reach a settlement, which he said the “vast majority” of civil cases end in, while warning that a case like theirs, appeals included, have an average lifespan of two years.
“It’s not two months, that’s for sure,” Berman said, referring to the Sept. 4 deadline for a decision both sides requested. The judge also emphasized that his questioning wasn’t a sign of how he would rule.
“I think there are varying strengths and weaknesses to both sides here,” he said.
Neither Goodell nor Brady spoke during the hearing except to introduce themselves to the court.
Spectators rained a smattering of boos on both as they entered the courthouse — and in Brady’s case, one child’s cry of, “Cheater!”