Summary: Even though not much can be done to punish Tom Brady now, the NFL will still appeal the ruling that allowed him to play the first four games of the season.
When U.S. District Court Judge Richard Berman removed the four game suspension against quarterback Tom Brady, the NFL wasted no time filing an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
An entire football season has since passed, giving the NFL time to decide whether they wanted to continue forward with the appeal and they do but that is already drawing criticism. The only thing Judge Berman did was allow Brady to play the first four games of the season. Appealing the case now will draw more attention to an already faulty governing system. Many are not happy with the way league commissioner Roger Goodell has handled issues in the football industry.
See Tom Brady Will Still Face a Four-Game Suspension and Tom Brady Deflategate Case Still to Be Decided to learn more about the case.
The NFL is also opening themselves up to the potential of a bigger loss by an appellate court ruling that the NFL is attempting to hold too much self-governing power. The chance is great considering who one of the judges will be. Hon. Denny Chin will be one of the three judges on the case and he had no problem telling the World Boxing Association in 2006 that their internal self-governing procedures were beyond their control. Chin found, similar to Berman, that the “bad faith” evidence was sufficient grounds to override a private association’s decision.
There is unlikely to be anything good to come from pursuing the Deflategate scandal any further, but many still want to see Brady pay for his role in the scandal.
Photo: boston.com