A federal judge’s ruling has returned New England star quarterback Tom Brady to the playing field and has, in effect, taken the air out of the ball for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Judge Richard Berman ruled that the collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association did not, in fact, give Goodell the power to suspend Brady for four games for being “generally aware” that deflating the footballs had occurred. Goodell said that the NFL will appeal.
“The court finds that Brady had no notice that he could receive a four-game suspension for general awareness of ball deflation by others or participation in any scheme to deflate footballs, and noncooperation with the ensuing investigation,’’ wrote Berman.
No NFL policy or precedent notifies players that they may be disciplined for general awareness of misconduct by others.”
Even if the NFL thought Brady had obstructed the investigation, by having a cell phone destroyed before it could be fully examined, the judge sided with Brady’s argument that “there is no evidence of a record of past suspensions based purely on obstructing a league investigation.” Goodell’s decision in July to uphold Brady’s four-game suspension was marred by “several significant legal deficiencies,” Berman wrote in his decision.
The ruling is the most recent defeat to Goodell’s authority. Earlier, Greg Hardy and Adrian Peterson had their punishments reduced, as did the players involved with the Bountygate scandal.
