Judge lets Brady play, ruling against NFL in 'Deflategate' (UPDATE)

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By LARRY NEUMEISTER and TOM HAYS

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge deflated "Deflategate" Thursday, erasing New England quarterback Tom Brady's four-game suspension for a controversy that the NFL claimed threatened football's integrity.

U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell went too far in affirming punishment of the Super Bowl winning quarterback. Brady has insisted he played no role in a conspiracy to deflate footballs below the allowable limit at last season's AFC championship game.

The written decision frees Brady to prepare for the Sept. 10 season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The ruling was a surprise to some legal experts who believed Berman was merely pressuring the league to settle when he criticized its handling of the investigation and discipline over the last eight months.

FULL story at link.



FILE - In this April 31, 2015, file photo, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady leaves Federal court in New York. Brady can suit up for his team's season opener after a judge erased his four-game suspension for "Deflategate." (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/447fd7860e6b4d148130e7dce66c53c3/judge-lets-brady-play-ruling-against-nfl-deflategate

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I will update ASAP!

[AngryAmish]

1. Goodell has to go now

OK, this is utterly knee jerk and I know nothing but the headline, but if the cba says the Commissioner has to decide discipline, and the only way to get an agreed upon in a cba discipline tossed is for arbitrary, capricious or unfair decision, then Godell's judgmenty and fairness is holed below the waterline. He can't go on.

[yellowcanine]

15. If Goodell has any integrity left he will resign.

Another seriously botched "investigation." It is beyond embarrassing. It is now officially a scandal in its own right.

[George II]

2. That's GREAT! Brady did nothing wrong, this is just a bunch of hot AIR because.....

.....people around the league are just jealous.

There's going to be a big opening day ovation for him in Foxboro!!!!!!!!!

[yellowcanine]

14. Well the NFL can't prove he did anything wrong, anyway.

Which is why I suspect that the judge ruled the way he did.

But having said that, to ascribe this to jealousy around the league is a rationalization by Brady fans.

[elias7]

28. And you can?

Why do you presume guilt? Did you hear the case? Did you know that 3 of 4 Indianapolis balls tested were also below cutoff psi? I have no dog in this fight, not a football fan, but those who call Brady a cheater and "know" he is guilty are guilty themselves of an ugly bias.

[yellowcanine]

29. Uh - need to read more carefully what I said.

I am not presuming guilt. I don't know whether he was guilty or not. I am disputing the notion that there was not anything there worth looking at as the poster implied by saying it was all about jealousy of Brady. The cell phone stuff does not look good but it is not proof. In any case, I think the NFL needs to change the way it investigates incidents and particularly how it handles appeals. They really need to hire an completely independent entity to investigate this stuff - or at least to handle appeals. Too many conflicts of interest the way things are now. You have the Commissioner hired by the owners doing the investigating and handling the appeals.

[elias7]

31. Apologies

I didn't read your post closely enough, but rather lumped it in with some other comments in the thread that presumed guilt. I do agree that the appeals process does have inherent conflict of interest, and perhaps the initial investigations may as well, as the Public relations aspect of things provides an instant bias.

[liberal N proud]

3. Just gives me more reason to tune out Professional Sports

Professional sports is a mirror of the US political system. A bunch of criminals beating up on each other cheating their way to victory, making millions from people who can not really afford it and convincing them to support the entire system and them.

I have not paid for a professional sports event since 1995. It was the era when all of them were having labor relations issues. I said at the time, that I would not give my money to any of them and I have not!

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

7. Well, I hope you're liberal N proud of yourself!

[7962]

4. Ridiculous. he should've had to sit at least 1 game.

Hell, the falcons lost draft picks & a fine for playing crowd noise
The balls wouldnt have been deflated if Bray didnt like them that way. And the whole phone thing was enough for me.
Rooted for them in the Super Bowl, but no more.

[asiliveandbreathe]

5. AAAAAAAWWWWWWWSSSSOOOMMMEEEE!!!!!

Now, on with the games.......by bye Goodell........

[underpants]

6. LMAO

[Botany]

8. They (the pats and brady) got away w/cheating

http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/sports_nut/2015/01/stats_show_the_new_england_patriots_became_nearly_fumble_proof_after_a_2006.html

[iandhr]

9. Booooooooo

The Pats are a bunch of cheaters.

[Dont call me Shirley]

27. The Cheaters.

[Dr. Strange]

30. The Cheatriots

[jtuck004]

10. Hey kids - when teacher tells you not to lie, hand him this and tell him you are gonna cheat

your way to more money than he ever dreamed of.

Then laugh at him, Or her.

Think of all those tens of thousands of kids who get to learn what dishonor is. Not to young, ever, to learn that the adults around them will lie to get anything they want.

We really are so dumb we thought we were just teaching you English.

[gordianot]

11. Rather smug, grin reminds me of W after 2004 election. n/t

[bluedigger]

12. Not often two goats make LBN.

Well, one goat and one GOAT.

[meegbear]

13. W00t!!!

[Stellar]

16. Football owners always win. nt

[yodermon]

17. go Steelers n/t

[Daemonaquila]

18. Who the hell cares.

It's a stupid game, bilking public coffers to pay for the excesses of billionaire owners. I'm tired of hearing that this is some kind of "scandal." It's no more a "scandal" than Kim Kardashian ripping her pants while out shopping. Continuing to discuss this nonsense is just feeding millionaire entertainers and billionaire owners - it's the equivalent of Pro Wrestling scripted drama intended to keep their idiot fans who think any of it is real polarized in the soap opera of it all.

[Iggo]

19. Yeah, but he still cheated.

[Agschmid]

20. What a waste of time and money.

[malthaussen]

21. There used to be this expression...

... "You wanna make a federal case out of it?" It indicated that one was blowing trivial issues out of all reasonable proportion.

Welcome to the 21st century.

-- Mal

[fbc]

22. The Patriots are cheaters and they will get caught again.

[benld74]

23. Gee, I wonder who picked Brady in his football fantasy league!!!!!

[d_legendary1]

24. Brady Cheated, Attempted to cheat, or covered up the fact

that he cheated. The fact that the NFL (once again) botched the investigation (the fact remains that 11 of 12 NFL balls were deflated signifying that SOMEONE cheated) means that the Patriots get away with another one! Goodell is an embarrasment of a commisioner. He really has to go!

BTW how many controversies does a team need in order to be deemed an instutution of deceitfulness? It runs deep in that team's beliefs at this point. But as they say the Superbowl must go on!

[Angry Dragon]

25. if it was such a big deal then the NFL should have banned them from the Super Bowl

[d_legendary1]

26. Goodell doesn't have the stones to do that

especially since he's besties with Robert Kraft.