Now Tom Brady Must Wait

24 Jun, 2015

It’s back to the waiting game for Tom Brady.

After making his case in a 10-hour hearing, Brady’s fate is in the hands of Roger Goodell. Just when the NFL commissioner will announce his decision to uphold, reduce or eliminate Brady’s four-game suspension in “Deflategate” is uncertain.

“I think that’s going to be sooner rather than later,” Marc Ganis, who is the president of SportsCorp consulting firm and has a close relationship with many league owners, said Wednesday. “One of the criticisms of this whole matter has been the way it’s dragged on.”

The NFL announced in late January that attorney Ted Wells would head an investigation into the New England Patriots use of underinflated balls in their 45-7 win over the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC championship game on Jan. 18.

More than three months later, the 243-page Wells report was issued, saying it was “more probable than not” that Brady was “at least generally aware” that footballs he used were improperly deflated by team personnel.

Five days after that, on May 11, the NFL suspended Brady four games, fined the Patriots $1 million and docked them two draft picks. Patriots owner Robert Kraft has accepted the team penalties.

But Brady appealed and, more than six weeks later, had his hearing before Goodell in New York on Tuesday.

“I don’t know what the timetable is,” said Jeffrey Kessler, the attorney who represented Brady at the hearing. “I think we put in a very compelling case.”

Once Goodell reaches a decision, the league must craft the wording precisely so it would withstand legal scrutiny if Brady decides to challenge it in court.

Goodell must decide “as soon as practicable,” according to the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement.

AP

Image USA today Sports

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