Judge Richard Berman is now on the clock in DeFlate-Wait
And now we wait.
The “Deflategate” marathon — which started way back in January — is now in the hands of U.S. District Court Judge Richard Berman. There was no settlement here yesterday.
Tom Brady and his attorneys met with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and his team behind closed doors for half an hour. New York Giants co-owner John Mara was there for negotiations, and so, too, was free-agent kicker Jay Feely, a member of the National Football League Players Association’s executive committee.
But even with a judge pleading for settlement, a magistrate judge, major players for both the NFL and the players’ union and a phalanx of lawyers, the two sides reached an impasse.
“We did not reach a settlement … the parties tried quite hard,” Berman said during the brief hearing. “In some cases, (settlement) doesn’t happen, and this is one of those cases.”
There are three sides to the story. The truth won't be known in any of the choices. Judge Richard Berman can agree with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and uphold the four game suspension for Tom Brady. He can side with Tom Brady and send the case to an independent arbitrator. Or, if he believes the process was fundamentally flawed, he can throw out Goodell’s decision. There may be other possibilities like splitting the difference between the sides, and settling for a two game suspension.
Thomas Jefferson contributed greatly to the development of the United States, but the single most important item was the Declaration of Independence. His belief that each generation has the chance to remake the country's laws and constitutions was truly visionary.
Judge Richard Berman did not need a rough draft to eliminate Article 46 in the NFL Collective Bargaining Agreement. Thomas Jefferson had to wait 12 years for the Constitution to be written, which outlined our form of government and explained what kinds of laws we can make. Jefferson knew that he was committing a treasonous act by putting pen to paper.
Or Judge Richard Berman could do the country a favor, and throw the whole thing out. Here is hoping that he can't wait any longer. For that, we will now celebrate September 1st as a national holiday.
Paul Murphy is a freelance writer from New Hampshire. .
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