Judge in Brady case hints he may toss out suspension

Judge hints he might toss out suspension, urges sides to settle

A federal judge in Manhattan made clear Wednesday that the NFL’s fourgame suspension of Tom Brady over “Deflategate” is in jeopardy as the star New England quarterback returned to practice.

U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman, who has been asked by the NFL Players Association to void the suspension, warned a league lawyer during oral arguments in the scandal over underinflated footballs that there was precedent for judges to toss out penalties issued by arbitrators.

Berman continued to push for a settlement in the dispute — a potential result he called “rational and logical.” But throughout the hearing, he also cited several weaknesses in the way the NFL handled the controversy that could become the basis for handing a victory to Brady and his union.

Neither Brady nor NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was in court Wednesday.

Carolina Panthers n wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin and Miami Dolphins safety Louis Delmas both suffered torn ACLs on the first day of joint practice between the teams, ending their seasons. Benjamin had 73 receptions for 1,008 yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie in 2014.

Eli Manning didn’t ask n the New York Giants to make him the NFL’s highest-paid quarterback. A perplexed and slightly miffed Manning shot down a report that he wants to be the league’s toppaid quarterback, insisting that was not the goal in contract talks.

The New York Jets n have signed former Raiders quarterback Matt Flynn.

NBA

Joel Embiid, the injuryriddled Philadelphia 76ers center, is expected to miss the season after a second surgery on his right foot. The 7-footer from Kansas, the third overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, missed his entire rookie season after surgery to repair a stress fracture in his foot in June 2014.

Soccer

Carli Lloyd and Heather O’Reilly each scored twice and the United States beat Costa Rica 7-2 in a Women’s World Cup victory tour exhibition game that included an 83-minute weather delay in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The stoppage featured heavy rain and dozens of lightning strikes.

Continuing its push for a Major League Soccer expansion team, Sacramento Republic FC named an architect to design its proposed downtown stadium. HNTB Corp.’s design credits include Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara.

Kwadwo Poku scored n two second-half goals to help New York City FC tie the host Columbus Crew 2-2 in a game delayed 1 hour, 14 minutes in the 77th minute because of a thunderstorm.

Miguel Aguilar scored n in the 85th minute and D.C. United opened CONCACAF Champions League play with a 1-0 victory over Arabe Unido in Panama City. … Brad Evans converted a

1 penalty kick 6 ⁄ minutes into

2 second-half stoppage time to give the host Seattle Sounders a 2-1 win over Olimpia of Honduras.

Miscellany

Michael Waltrip’s rocky nine-year effort to build a successful race team was on the verge of collapse as the organization said it will not run any cars full-time next season and released Clint Bowyer from his contract to pursue a new job for 2016.

After a final promise to n the international track and field community that he’d always fight in their corner, Sebastian Coe won the election to replace Lamine Diack as IAAF president and took up the immediate challenge of restoring the image of a sport grappling with a doping controversy. Coe, 58, received 115 votes to Sergei Bubka’s 92 in the poll in Beijing, where the world championships begin Saturday.