Tom Brady and the NFL players union are ready to mount a legal challenge if the Patriots star’s four-game ban for his role in the Deflategate scandal isn’t thrown out, reports say.
Brady, 37, was banned for four games for his part in last season’s controversy, where at least two Patriots employees were found to have improperly deflated footballs in the AFC Championship win over the Colts in January.
Although Brady was not accused of deflating the balls himself, the NFL criticised Brady’s failure to cooperate with the league’s investigation, and said the star QB was “at least generally aware” of the wrongdoing. The NFL’s Troy Vincent and Roger Goodell also stripped the Pats of their first-round draft pick in 2016, their fourth-round pick in 2017, and fined the team $1m.
Brady appealed the ban, and the decision is expected soon, possibly some time this week. The league could decide to uphold the ban, or lift the suspension and slap down a fine instead. Brady will then decide whether to challenge the decision in court.
According to ESPN, if the NFLPA does challenge the appeal verdict in court, it will argue:
• The ball-deflation policy was incorrectly applied to Brady, as the rules were meant for club personnel and not players.
• Against the “general awareness” standard used by Ted Wells’ investigators to determine Brady’s involvement.
• If it is determined the ball-deflation policy did apply to Brady, the league failed to give him notice of the penalty, in essence making up the punishment with precedent.
• The NFL doesn’t have proper techniques and standards for measuring deflation of footballs.
• Goodell should have recused himself as the arbitrator for Brady’s appeal hearing.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft said at the owners meetings in May that he “reluctantly” accepted the team’s portion of the penalty, but the team and Brady’s agent, Don Yee, were scathing of Brady’s punishment and said they would contest the suspension.
“The discipline is ridiculous and has no legitimate basis,” said Yee. “In my opinion, this outcome was pre-determined; there was no fairness in the investigation whatsoever.” Brady himself argued that nothing was proven against him and that he should not face so harsh a punishment.
If Brady serves his full suspension, he will be able to return on 18 October. His opponents will be, of course, the Colts.
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