Top 10 Tom Brady Highlights of 2015 | NFL
Photo After losing an appeal to a three-judge panel in April, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady asked for the full United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to hear the case. Credit Steven Senne/Associated Press
Tom Brady, the New England Patriots quarterback, is all but guaranteed to start the season on the sideline after a federal appeals court on Wednesday denied his request to review his four-game suspension for his role in a scheme to deflate footballs.
The decision, announced in a one-page notice by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, may also put an end to one of the most widely watched and embarrassing scandals in the history of the N.F.L. The case, which began in January 2015, raised awkward and unseemly questions about the powers of the commissioner and the motivations of one of the most decorated players in league history.
Brady can still ask the Supreme Court to hear his appeal to have his suspension overturned, but given the timetable of the court, and the fact that the season begins in less than two months, the chances of any relief coming before opening day are remote.
As a result, it is all but certain that the Patriots will be led by the little-tested backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo when the Patriots open their season on Sept. 11 against the Cardinals in Arizona. Brady, who can attend training camp and play during the preseason, would not be eligible to return until the fifth week of the season, when the Patriots play the Browns in Cleveland.
The case began at the A.F.C. championship game on Jan. 18, 2015, when officials determined that some game b***s used by the Patriots were underinflated, presumably to make it easier for Brady to grip them in the wet weather. An investigation by the league determined that Brady was generally aware of a plot that involved Patriots staff members to deliberately deflate the b***s.
N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Brady for four games, and he upheld his own decision when Brady appealed the suspension. Brady sued in federal court to have the decision overturned, arguing that the commissioner was a biased arbitrator, that the penalty was never explicit in the N.F.L. rules and that the commissioner used a different standard when deciding to uphold his first ruling.
In a surprise ruling, Brady won that case. The N.F.L., however, was able to persuade a three-judge panel in the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to overturn the ruling. Bradys request to have the case reheard in front of a full panel of judges was denied, despite the support of a number of leading legal minds who wrote briefs on his behalf.
While the N.F.L. will no doubt view Wednesdays decision as a victory and an affirmation of the commissioners broad powers to mete out punishment to players he deems to have hurt the image of the N.F.L., the case continues to divide fans. It was widely viewed as a farce because the league spent millions of dollars fighting a successful franchise and a celebrated star who helped lead his team to four Super Bowl titles.
The N.F.L. Players Association said it was reviewing its options, but did not specify whether it would appeal to the Supreme Court. In a statement, the players union said that the Goodell made clear violations of our collective bargaining agreement.
Despite todays result, the track record of this league office when it comes to matters of player discipline is bad for our business and bad for our game, the union said. We have a broken system that must be fixed.
Continue reading the main storySource: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/14/sports/tom-brady-deflategate-new-england-patriots-appeal-nfl.html
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