Goodell: Deflategate Settlement Unlikely

Settlement talks between the NFL and Tom Brady don’t appear to be gaining traction, as John Wawrow of the Associated Press writes. “At this stage, no,” commissioner Roger Goodell said today when asked if a settlement was likely. “The courts will make their decisions, and we’ll move forward on that basis.”Tom Brady (vertical)

Brady, of course, will be suspended for the first four games of the 2016 season after a three-judge panel reinstated the ban that was incurred as a result of the Patriots quarterback’s role in the Deflategate controversy. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit overturned the 2015 decision by Judge Richard Berman, stating that Brady’s suspension should be upheld.

“We hold that the Commissioner properly exercised his broad discretion under the collective bargaining agreement and that his procedural rulings were properly grounded in that agreement and did not deprive Brady of fundamental fairness,” read the ruling from the Court of Appeals.“Accordingly, we REVERSE the judgment of the district court and REMAND with instructions to confirm the award.”

Brady and his legal team have since filed a petition for the case to be reheard, but reports have indicated that such appeals are rarely heard. The Wells report commissioned by the NFL more than a year ago determined that Brady was “more likely than not” to have been aware of footballs being deflated below their usual levels during the AFC Championship Game against the Colts in January 2015. The league issued a four-game suspension for Brady as a result of those findings, and that penalty was overturned by Judge Berman last summer, prior to the start of the 2015 campaign, allowing Brady to play the full season. The NFL appealed Berman’s decision.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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