#DFG: Canceling the Noise

[Average Reds]

 
I also can't tell exactly what might and might not be privileged, it's just an immediate fear I have whenever statements of attorneys are made to third parties.  But, for example, let's say JJ testifies at some point that it's not true that "deflator" was a term for weight loss.  Who knows why that would happen, let's just say it does.  I would assume Goldberg knows that because JJ/TM told him that or told someone in the organization that.  As Pats employees, I am guessing they fall under the guise as part of the client umbrella for Goldberg.  Let's say the NFL/Wells wants to impeach JJ to show he did say it meant losing weight to shoe=w he changes his story all the time and is a liar.  Wouldn't Goldberg/JJ have waived privilege on that very topic by allowing it to be conveyed to third parties with this repose?  Especially if it were directed by the Pats to release it, which I'm sure is the case?

 
I have no expectation that the Pats will take this to trial, so I wouldn't worry about that in any case.  Even if they did, Goldberg would not be the trial attorney and he could not be called as a fact witness to testify about his conversations with his clients.
 
It sounds like the concern here is that these employees might not be reliable witnesses.  (A good concern.)  But there is no loss of privilege - this is information the Pats (for whatever reason) want out there.  Or am I missing something?

 

[Joshv02]

 
I have no expectation that the Pats will take this to trial, so I wouldn't worry about that in any case.  Even if they did, Goldberg would not be the trial attorney and he could not be called as a fact witness to testify about his conversations with his clients.
 
It sounds like the concern here is that these employees might not be reliable witnesses.  (A good concern.)  But there is no loss of privilege - this is information the Pats (for whatever reason) want out there.  Or am I missing something?

You are not missing anything, plus this is really a work-product concern (not A/C) as these guys were very likely not represented by Goldberg (I assume they'd give Upjohn warnings ["I represent the company, and not you."]).  If he had an associate draft the interview memo for him, that would be in italics at the outset.  SOP for internal investigations.

 

[Ed Hillel]

 
Don't forget it also says all the Colts balls were above 12.5, when in actuality 3 out of the 4 tested were not based on one of the gauges. 

They should have leaked this stuff piece by piece, because this BS should be front and center. The only possible explanation I can come up with is that they were trying to squeeze the Patriots into a confession. Of course, if they didn't do it...

 

[MarcSullivaFan]

If Brady gets a court to give in injunction, then its more probably than not, so to speak, that he'd get the ban overturned.  (A federal court is very unlikely to lower a suspension; its going to be a process oriented decisions and may end up just kicking it back to the NFL to make a new decision [which they'd decline probably to do]).

This is exactly right and is a point that most people here are missing. A favorable decision on a petition to vacate will not include a modification of the penalty. The best result is a decision that precludes the NFL from applying a certain penalty, applying a certain standard of proof, or processing Brady's "grievance" without a neutral.

 

[HowBoutDemSox]

The part that I still can't get my head around is Gardi's letter to the Patriots. I mean, it explicitly states that one of the Patriots footballs measured in at 10.1 That's demonstrably untrue. An NFL Senior VP sent an NFL team a letter indicating facts that they KNEW were false. This board loves (LOVES) to Occam's Razor things, but I honestly can't come up with a single, plausible scenario that makes any sense here. It wouldn't have been a typo. It wasn't some rogue lackey firing off a letter with a bunch of second hand info he'd heard. It was a Senior VP outright lying about facts. Say what you will about The Tweedles' text messages; at least they're open to some sort of interpretation AND there's the jacket text that at least lends their explanation some level of evidence. Gardi's letter, on the other hand, is completely indefensible. And it's just skating by into the ether.
 
As much as Mort's ALL THE BALLZ WERE 10.5!!!!11!! report was awful and sucked and poured gasoline onto what otherwise would have been a minor footnote, I can at least wrap my head around it. Everyone in the league leaks misinformation. Teams, players, agents, coaches, GMs, it's all in the proverbial game. They're anonymous rumors and innuendo, and it happens. Gardi and the NFL knowingly outright put their names on demonstrably false information. That's just f*cking nuts to me. Perhaps I'm just naive, but what in the actual hell with that?

And the Patriots weren't even informed this was a lie until March 23. That's two months of an ongoing investigation in which you're defending yourself from a lie, that the league knew was a lie, that the world was allowed to believe even though the NFL knew it was a lie, but the league refused to tell the Patriots. Two months! How many people were interviewed during that time when the Patriots didn't even have all of the facts?

 

[SuperManny]

This is correct.  Matt Chatham and others have pointed out that if this goes as anticipated, and Brady shifts this to court after Goodell's BS response to Tom's current appeal, Tom will almost certainly be playing week one as the court appeal will not have been resolved by then.
 
The risk is that the Court rules and the suspension is reduced to 1 or 2 games late in the season or even in the playoffs.  Would Brady cut a deal at some point to avoid the latter risk?
 
Different point: Is it me or does the fact that THREE OF THE FOUR COLTS BALLS were below 12.5 at the half under one of the gauges totally destroy the Colts case?  That fact screams out to me.  If I were Brady, I'd be hammering home how that completely eviscerates Wells' case and this whole damn thing.  That would be my lead comment and I'd close with it.   

 
I agree that the Colts footballs being under the required limit is a huge deal considering the penalties levied against the Patriots. According to Wells' twisted logic, those readings are thrown out because the second gauge has the Colts within limit and the large discrepancy between the gauges is ignored even though it has implications on the starting PSI.

 

[kartvelo]

 
JM told him to "deflate" because he looks bulbous in the coat; give it to someone refers to the other coat he's holding in his hands.
 
That's how I'm reading that.
 
Too bad there wasn't a deflate reference in the Seinfeld episode where George is wearing that gore tex jacket and we'd really be on to something with all of this.

 

yeah, it reads to me like he saw his buddy on TV (camera was on Revis, but hey! there's DoritoDink!) and sent him a chop busting text. Very quickly, as he was commenting in real time, hence the abbreviated and "cryptic" nature of the text.
"Dude, I can see you, you're on camera... holy crap, you look like you need to lose 30 pounds. And what are you doing with that coat?"

 

[dcmissle]

Why in the world would you think that? Like its ROG, so literally anything is possible. Given he listened for public consensus before publishing and then sent Ted Wells out to double down, and given your plausible thesis that he is worried about the suspension sticking so he hit the team too, why would he reduce the penalty?

Remember, for every non Pat fan that thinks thus was overkill (and let's be real, those fans aren't losing sleep over it) there's a group that think ROG was lenient for not suspending Brady and BB for the season (BB under the Payton precedent). There's no reason he'd relent on team penalties.

The same reason I thought Goodell would take our first-round pick. It's the smart move.

The Patriots could have appealed the Vincent sanctions to Goodell and probably would have requested an independent reviewer as Brady did. Goodell then says, I can be impartial and will hear both. Demonstrating his impartiality, Goodell then cuts both a break. He doesn't say Vincent was wrong. In fact he says Vincent and Wells were right, but that the sanctions were a bit too harsh -- and after meeting with the Pats and TB, RG is confident it won't happen again.

This would diminish the witch hunt narrative that is going to drive TB's court case. Tom would bring it anyway, but if the suspension were cut, the League would end up looking better. And Kraft accepts this result, probably without saying much more. It really is in Goodell's interest to quiet this down as quickly as he can. What the hell does he really care whether the Pats lose a 1st or a 2nd instead?

Now I think Goodell is in FU mode, and after yesterday's display probably has solid support among ownership.

 

[JokersWildJIMED]

Seems as if this will likely play out with a one game reduction, assuming that Brady's team assures Goodell he will not pursue in court.  This lets Goodell play the role of mediator, keeps the mob happy, and gets the Dallas game back.  

 

[Ed Hillel]

In the midst of all this, another thing that stands out is the Patriots got destroyed for "lack of cooperation," mainly for not granting a second interview, and both sides agreed beforehand it would be one interview. Wells also had the information at the time of the interview and blew it.

 

[TheoShmeo]

If Brady gets a court to give in injunction, then its more probably than not, so to speak, that he'd get the ban overturned.  (A federal court is very unlikely to lower a suspension; its going to be a process oriented decisions and may end up just kicking it back to the NFL to make a new decision [which they'd decline probably to do]).

Yes, good point.  Thanks for noting.  

 

[jsinger121]

Seems as if this will likely play out with a one game reduction, assuming that Brady's team assures Goodell he will not pursue in court.  This lets Goodell play the role of mediator, keeps the mob happy, and gets the Dallas game back.  

 
And Brady and the NFLPA takes the league to court. 

 

[pappymojo]

Seems as if this will likely play out with a one game reduction, assuming that Brady's team assures Goodell he will not pursue in court.  This lets Goodell play the role of mediator, keeps the mob happy, and gets the Dallas game back.  

Why would Brady accept a three game suspension?

 

[jsinger121]

Why would Brady accept a three game suspension?

He won't and neither will the NFLPA especially after Goodell being the one handling the appeal.

 

[DJnVa]

Does no one in the media remember that the NFL basically forced NE to suspend/fire these guys?
 
That was the topic on ESPN Radio this morning--they fired these guys and now they are defending them.
 
Someone, possibly Jemele Hill then said, "Well, do we really think the Patriots fired them because they knew they were doing things against the rules and then assumed they wouldn't talk? That doesn't make sense. They won't have good feelings towards NE after getting fired."

 

[Stitch01]

The same reason I thought Goodell would take our first-round pick. It's the smart move.

The Patriots could have appealed the Vincent sanctions to Goodell and probably would have requested an independent reviewer as Brady did. Goodell then says, I can be impartial and will hear both. Demonstrating his impartiality, Goodell then cuts both a break. He doesn't say Vincent was wrong. In fact he says Vincent and Wells were right, but that the sanctions were a bit too harsh -- and after meeting with the Pats and TB, RG is confident it won't happen again.

This would diminish the witch hunt narrative that is going to drive TB's court case. Tom would bring it anyway, but if the suspension were cut, the League would end up looking better. And Kraft accepts this result, probably without saying much more. It really is in Goodell's interest to quiet this down as quickly as he can. What the hell does he really care whether the Pats lose a 1st or a 2nd instead?

Now I think Goodell is in FU mode, and after yesterday's display probably has solid support among ownership.

The only way there's a chance ROG would cut the draft penalties is if Kraft publicly apologized for the teams actions, IMO.  That was never happening.  Even then it was unlikely because it would make the penalty to the team less harsh than the one for Spygate.
 
The witch hunt narrative, frankly, doesnt exist at this point outside of New England.
 
I could see him reduce Brady's suspension (never overturning it, but a game or two reduction).  Then he could note that he still suspended their best player, hit them with a worse draft penalty than for spygate, but also wanted to be fair to both sides given there wasn't direct evidence or some happy horseshit like that.  But I just don't see anyway he takes less than for Spygate given that Spygate was directly referenced in the penalty letter (and Im pretty sure that wasn't Troy Vincent's idea)

 

[MarcSullivaFan]

The same reason I thought Goodell would take our first-round pick. It's the smart move.

The Patriots could have appealed the Vincent sanctions to Goodell and probably would have requested an independent reviewer as Brady did. Goodell then says, I can be impartial and will hear both. Demonstrating his impartiality, Goodell then cuts both a break. He doesn't say Vincent was wrong. In fact he says Vincent and Wells were right, but that the sanctions were a bit too harsh -- and after meeting with the Pats and TB, RG is confident it won't happen again.

This would diminish the witch hunt narrative that is going to drive TB's court case. Tom would bring it anyway, but if the suspension were cut, the League would end up looking better. And Kraft accepts this result, probably without saying much more. It really is in Goodell's interest to quiet this down as quickly as he can. What the hell does he really care whether the Pats lose a 1st or a 2nd instead?

Now I think Goodell is in FU mode, and after yesterday's display probably has solid support among ownership.

Agreed. They really stepped in it yesterday, and it is going to hurt Brady. The most likely outcome at this point is no reduction in any of the penalties, and a reduction in Kraft's stature in the league. I fully expect Brady to serve a 4 game suspension at some point next season.

 

[Average Reds]

Seems as if this will likely play out with a one game reduction, assuming that Brady's team assures Goodell he will not pursue in court.  This lets Goodell play the role of mediator, keeps the mob happy, and gets the Dallas game back.  

 
Why would Brady (or the Pats, for that matter) have an interest in allowing Goodell playing the role of mediator and keeping the mob happy? 
 
Brady won't accept a one-game reduction.  In fact, they should make it clear to Goodell that unless the suspension is completely overturned they are going to court.

 

[Average Reds]

Does no one in the media remember that the NFL basically forced NE to suspend/fire these guys?
 
That was the topic on ESPN Radio this morning--they fired these guys and now they are defending them.
 
Someone, possibly Jemele Hill then said, "Well, do we really think the Patriots fired them because they knew they were doing things against the rules and then assumed they wouldn't talk? That doesn't make sense. They won't have good feelings towards NE after getting fired."

 
To be fair, Jemele Hill is an idiot.

 

[LuckyBen]

Agreed. They really stepped in it yesterday, and it is going to hurt Brady. The most likely outcome at this point is no reduction in any of the penalties, and a reduction in Kraft's stature in the league. I fully expect Brady to serve a 4 game suspension at some point next season.

I'd put money that Brady doesn't serve a 4 game suspension. Once it goes to the courts, Goodell has no say so. Everything that the Patriots did yesterday has no negative effect of Brady's appeal.

As for why Kraft did what he did, he and Goodell probably had a conversation where Goodell told him the Pats were screwed and they were not going to get any help from the league.

 

[jsinger121]

Agreed. They really stepped in it yesterday, and it is going to hurt Brady. The most likely outcome at this point is no reduction in any of the penalties, and a reduction in Kraft's stature in the league. I fully expect Brady to serve a 4 game suspension at some point next season.

 
This is going to federal court where it is a pretty good bet the NFLPA will come out on top and the suspension will be vacated.

 

[riboflav]

has anyone else connected this?
 
16:39:40 JM “Nice dude…jimmy needs some kicks….lets
make a deal…come on help the deflator”
 
 

 
Ha! When I told my wife about the rebuttal yesterday and how everyone was making a big deal out of "deflator," she said isn't that just a Seinfeld reference?

 

[Ed Hillel]

That's another point, as well. These guys are free from the Patriots now. McNally seems to want nothing to do with it, but if JJ truly is innocent, I'd like to see him offer to sit down and give a lie detector with 60 Minutes or some such. The PR is already out of hand, might as well go for it.

 

[DJnVa]

Fuck, I hate Americans.

 
Well, I hate you too.

 

[Norm loves Vera]

Has Kessler ever lead an appeal where Goodell was the Mediator?
 
I am also wondering if McNally didn't have a few beers in him during the GB game when he texted JJ.. I know by half time of that game I had a few in me and I am sure if I was texting they would make little sense to even me the next day.

 

[lambeau]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/05/05/missouri-supreme-court-invalidates-commissioner-as-arbitrator/
 
What do the lawyers think of this  "inherent bias " case against Goodell as the arbitrator, given that his primary concerns are financial and political, not the pursuit of justice?
I would think Kessler would be all over this, giving that the 4-game suspension was message-sending and draconian, given the weak case against TB.

 

[DJnVa]

 
 
What makes you say this?
 
 
 

http://www.courts.mo.gov/file.jsp?id=86195
 
This decision was about a low-level employee with a statutory claim against the team being forced into arbitration by the lower court.  I don't see a second team mentioned at all in the summary.

 

 
IANAL but the point is the employee was "suing" the team. The team essentially employs the commissioner. The commissioner was ruling on the case. The employee said that's a conflict on interest.
 

 

[kartvelo]

Well, I don't believe polygraphs are generally considered reliable by disinterested evaluators. I know I wouldn't stake my reputation on one. Others, as with anything, may disagree.

 

[Otis Foster]

Well, I don't believe polygraphs are generally considered reliable by disinterested evaluators. I know I wouldn't stake my reputation on one. Others, as with anything, may disagree.

+1.

A very bad idea. A lot of things can go wrong.

 

[Kenny F'ing Powers]

Well, we know that Tom is a huge headcase when it comes to his balls, so anything is possible, Theo:
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xT9pygVQwgk

 

[Otis Foster]

Agreed. They really stepped in it yesterday, and it is going to hurt Brady. The most likely outcome at this point is no reduction in any of the penalties, and a reduction in Kraft's stature in the league. I fully expect Brady to serve a 4 game suspension at some point next season.

I'm on board With this also. It was a sophomoric idea, badly executed. I had to restrain myself from giggling over the Deflator business. A classic example of a situation where no comment is better than the alternative proposed.

 

[MarcSullivaFan]

 
This is going to federal court where it is a pretty good bet the NFLPA will come out on top and the suspension will be vacated.

That's not accurate. I've posted about this a number of times in this thread. It is very difficult to get a petition to vacate granted. The courts are highly deferential to the decisions of labor arbitrators--the function Goodell is serving here.

Brady will have arguments, and the fact that the appeal procedure in the CBA is essentially a sham may be very helpful. But it is always a tough row to hoe, so to speak. Remember, this is a collectively bargained process, as nutty as that may be.

 

[crystalline]

Agreed. They really stepped in it yesterday, and it is going to hurt Brady. The most likely outcome at this point is no reduction in any of the penalties, and a reduction in Kraft's stature in the league. I fully expect Brady to serve a 4 game suspension at some point next season.

You're considering only the legal analysis.

From Brady's point of view the worst punishment is the damage to his reputation. That calls for a PR response, not exclusively a legal response.

 

[Ferm Sheller]

Brady would file in Federal Court in Massachusetts, right?  Justice Lawyer Milloy or Ty Law presiding.

 

[RetractableRoof]

How many owners do we think Kraft has spoken to directly about this?  I'm betting not very many - guilt by association kind of thing.  There will come a time in the next two or three weeks that Kraft will be in person with these guys.  TV contract renewal meeting, what have you.  And he will have 'Krafted' his elevator pitch and have at his disposal some sort of a presentation to give his side.  Anyone willing to listen to him and be objective will understand the (imo) ghastly mistakes made by the league in pursuing this.  And all he has to do is ask, "which of you guys employs part time field personnel - which go out of sight of the league or unsupervised for 90 seconds?  That's all this took, and we lost out starting quarterback for 4 games, 2 draft picks and a million dollars.  And I'm here to tell you, as messy as it looks, we didn't do it."  If they don't believe him, they still resonate the harshness for the actions of 90 seconds of part time personnel.  If they do believe him, then he's good.
 
Frankly those that are with him or are objective are still there.  Those that aren't - likely never were (regardless of the on camera statements by Jones, et al).  He literally had nothing to lose here, and the way the league chased Brady, him and the teams, it deserves the spotlight shown on the dirty dealings.  If all he does is expose the lies of the office (the Giardi memo), it helps his case to say - this is NOT the office or man of integrity he claims to be - which is in the bylaws as a minimum requirement.  Does everyone think the commissioner was truthful about the Ray Rice video(s)?  More probably than not?
 
So at this point - I think he views the team punishments as sunk costs and he is getting his pound of flesh from the league and Goddell.  I'm not sure where the down side is.

 

[uncannymanny]

Does no one in the media remember that the NFL basically forced NE to suspend/fire these guys?
 
That was the topic on ESPN Radio this morning--they fired these guys and now they are defending them.
 
Someone, possibly Jemele Hill then said, "Well, do we really think the Patriots fired them because they knew they were doing things against the rules and then assumed they wouldn't talk? That doesn't make sense. They won't have good feelings towards NE after getting fired."

"Jamele Hill is your voice of reason and intelligence" is like the start of a bad joke. This whole thing is bonkers.

The Pats crucial mistake in releasing this report, if their primary target was public opinion, is not understanding how people in 2015 consume information. No one outside of the media (with whom you lose control of the narrative with this approach and allow them to pick it apart as a whole), the league and Pats fans (both their positions are set) are really going to read the whole thing and its supporting documents.

They should have released this info, bullet point by bullet point, 140 characters at a time, leaving them able to refute specific points to the mediots within those sandboxed points. Instead they let the media and the public choose which single 140 character set to latch onto and flushed most of a very good rebuttal down the toilet.

This is of course if the target was actually public perception.

 

[Devizier]

 
Well, I hate you too.

 
I mean, Christ, it's not like other countries are better.

 

[uncannymanny]

Brady would file in Federal Court in Massachusetts, right?  Justice Lawyer Milloy or Ty Law presiding.

Swish

 

[MarcSullivaFan]

You're considering only the legal analysis.

From Brady's point of view the worst punishment is the damage to his reputation. That calls for a PR response, not exclusively a legal response.

And they fucked that up royally. From a PR perspective, the strong points of the rebuttal (and there were many) were completely undermined by their attempt to explain everything. The focus is now on the deflator "excuse," which makes the organization look like buffoons. It may be entirely true, but it was never going to be perceived as anything but a desperate excuse.

 

[DJnVa]

Agreed. They really stepped in it yesterday, and it is going to hurt Brady. The most likely outcome at this point is no reduction in any of the penalties, and a reduction in Kraft's stature in the league. I fully expect Brady to serve a 4 game suspension at some point next season.

 

Nope. Goodell reduces to 2 games or Brady sues.
 
Is this where I make a wager?

 

[Ed Hillel]

+1.

A very bad idea. A lot of things can go wrong.

This is a guy whose reputation and livelihood have been shattered. Maybe he plans a lawsuit, but, if not, what does he have to lose?

You want to avoid a poly, that's fine, but if he's innocent he can likely provide much bettet context to those texts than the Patriots did yesterday. It may in fact be the same thing, but it will come off better from a factually innocent guy than on paper.

 

[JimD]

Do people really believe that the other NFL owners are willing to marginalize a guy like Bob Kraft - who has played an instrumental role in negotiating deals that have made them all a shitload of money - because of petty jealousy and a desire to prop up an empty suit like Goodell?  The league may be the quintessential Old Boy's Club, but most of these guys aren't that stupid.  

 

[crystalline]

And they fucked that up royally. From a PR perspective, the strong points of the rebuttal (and there were many) were completely undermined by their attempt to explain everything. The focus is now on the deflator "excuse," which makes the organization look like buffoons. It may be entirely true, but it was never going to be perceived as anything but a desperate excuse.

You might disagree with their PR strategy, but attacking the rebuttal for legal reasons misses the main point. The rebuttal was published for PR reasons.

Also, the short term focus is on the deflator excuse. The long term history of this event is yet to be written, and this rebuttal will affect that writing. Hopefully a few years from now the dominant story will a ham handed framing of Brady and the Pats, and the ESPN attacks on the deflator name will be a faded memory.

 

[Koufax]

At least half of them are egotistical enough to think they could have done as well as Kraft.

 

[Devizier]

And they fucked that up royally. From a PR perspective, the strong points of the rebuttal (and there were many) were completely undermined by their attempt to explain everything.

 
Agreed one million percent.
 
The PR perspective was to keep Goodell on the defensive. Releasing a statement puts the spotlight back on the Patriots.
 

 
 
Do people really believe that the other NFL owners are willing to marginalize a guy like Bob Kraft ... because of petty jealousy

 
Fuck yes. Have you seen NFL owners? We're talking about a club that includes Jim Irsay, Jimmy Haslam, and Woody Johnson. Not exactly the Manhattan Project.

 

[Kenny F'ing Powers]

 
Nope. Goodell reduces to 2 games or Brady sues.
 
Is this where I make a wager?

 
This move is all about RG's ego. 
 
He'll only reduce the suspension to 2 games if he's positive Brady will take it and not go to court. If he sniffs out that Brady is only willing to accept 0 games, RG won't remove a single game. He's only interested in showing good faith if it saves him the hassle of going to court.

 

[cshea]

The part that I still can't get my head around is Gardi's letter to the Patriots. I mean, it explicitly states that one of the Patriots footballs measured in at 10.1 That's demonstrably untrue. An NFL Senior VP sent an NFL team a letter indicating facts that they KNEW were false. This board loves (LOVES) to Occam's Razor things, but I honestly can't come up with a single, plausible scenario that makes any sense here. It wouldn't have been a typo. It wasn't some rogue lackey firing off a letter with a bunch of second hand info he'd heard. It was a Senior VP outright lying about facts. Say what you will about The Tweedles' text messages; at least they're open to some sort of interpretation AND there's the jacket text that at least lends their explanation some level of evidence. Gardi's letter, on the other hand, is completely indefensible. And it's just skating by into the ether.
 
As much as Mort's ALL THE BALLZ WERE 10.5!!!!11!! report was awful and sucked and poured gasoline onto what otherwise would have been a minor footnote, I can at least wrap my head around it. Everyone in the league leaks misinformation. Teams, players, agents, coaches, GMs, it's all in the proverbial game. They're anonymous rumors and innuendo, and it happens. Gardi and the NFL knowingly outright put their names on demonstrably false information. That's just f*cking nuts to me. Perhaps I'm just naive, but what in the actual hell with that?

The leak had to be someone either in the locker room during halftime, or someone who got a copy of this letter. My bet is Kensil. He was in the room at half time and would likely know the numbers, and pass them to Gardi.

My favorite part in the rebuttal is the Pash/Goldberg emails. the 1 request the Patriots made in this was for Wells to investigate the leaks and misinformation coming out of the league's office. The league shut that right down. No, no don't look here, we'll handle this on our own. And they bust the Pats on not cooperating and claim this was independent. They steered this thing towards the Patriots from the word go. Really mind boggling.

 

[dcmissle]

Jerry Jones weighed in; now Arthur Blank. Message -- we like you Bawb, but it's time to move on:

"I think the process that (the NFL) went through was very thoughtful", Blank said. "Mr. (Ted) Wells is a highly regarded independent investigator. I read the report . . . I read the appendix. I read the independent reports done by the experts, if you will."

Blank was quick to compliment Kraft though, so as not to alienate the Pats owner.

"What he's going through has nothing to do with my respect for (Kraft), Blank said. My respect for him is well earned over my 14 years of working with him as an owner. Hes one of the owners that when he stands up and talks in the room, everybody listens, and the reason is Robert has earned the reputation of thinking about the league first; not about my club first. He takes care of his club as well, but the league first."

 

[Myt1]

In addition to being subject to the actual malice standard, his claim is likely preempted by Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act. The analysis is laid out in the Vilma decision.

http://media.nola.com/saints_impact/other/Jonathan%20Vilma%20suit%20dismissed.pdf

Am I the only one who's going to be disappointed if we don't get a Garmon or Machinists' reference in the thread?

 

[MarcSullivaFan]

 
Nope. Goodell reduces to 2 games or Brady sues.
 
Is this where I make a wager?

I'm taking into account the likelihood that Brady will challenge Goodell's decision in federal court. When and if that occurs, the odds are in the league's favor (I've explained this in more detail in several places in this thread).

I'm not interested in betting on something I don't want to happen. And I'm not claiming that Brady would not have any chance of success--it's just not the most likely outcome.