NEW YORK (AP) — New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady can suit up for his team’s season opener after a judge erased his four-game suspension for “Deflategate.”
The surprise ruling by U.S. District Judge Richard Berman came Thursday after more than one month of failed settlement talks between the NFL and its players’ union. Many legal experts believed the judge was merely pressuring the sides to settle when he criticized the NFL’s handling of the case at two hearings in August.
But the judge wasn’t posturing.
He came out forcefully in Brady’s favor, maligning the NFL for its handling of the scandal that erupted after the AFC championship game in January, when officials discovered during the first half that Brady used underinflated footballs. New England beat the Indianapolis Colts 45-7 then won the Super Bowl two weeks later.
An NFL investigation led to Brady’s suspension, which Commissioner Roger Goodell upheld.
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Does Roger Goodell still have a job? The NFL is becoming almost as big a joke as the IOC.
I’m so relieved that Brady’s balls are back in action.
Wow, that picture. I think the court sketch artist wasn’t so far off the mark after all.
There was nothing surprising about this ruling. His questioning during the initial hearing made it it seem perfectly clear that the NFL didn’t have a leg to stand on.
The judge maligned the NFL (we are told), but no mention of what was said? Did he perhaps use sign language, preventing you from transcribing what happened? Is the judge a part-time mime and therefore maligned the NFL from inside an invisible box? I understand how that would make him hard to hear and understand.
So, WTF happened?