(The Sports Xchange) – NFL commissioner Roger Goodell made it clear on Monday there will be no settlement in his Deflategate battle with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
Speaking with reporters before Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly’s charity golf tournament in Batavia, New York, Goodell said he does not expect a compromise between the NFL and Brady, who is attempting to have his four-game suspension overturned. “We’re not going to hand the integrity of the game off (to someone else),” Goodell said Monday, via Mike Rodak of ESPN.com.
Goodell said the courts will make their decision.
A circuit court panel ruled 2-1 in April that Goodell was within the rights of the collective bargaining agreement to suspend Brady four games after the suspension was first overturned by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Berman. Last month, the NFL Players Association and lawyers for Brady filed a petition for a rehearing of his suspension ruling with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.
Led by former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson, Brady’s legal team requested the court rehear the matter “en banc,” meaning all 13 of the active 2nd Circuit judges will decide whether or not an appeal of their ruling should be heard. Brady was suspended by the NFL on May 11, 2015, for his involvement in the Patriots’ alleged deflation of footballs during the 2015 AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts, which New England won 45-7. Brady’s suspension was overturned on Sept. 3, 2015, and he played in all 16 regular-season games last season, leading the Patriots to a 12-4 record and another AFC title game appearance.
If Brady’s suspension is again upheld, he would miss New England’s first four games in 2016 against the Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills.
(Editing by Larry Fine)
Reuters
