Patriots file amicus brief in support of Tom Brady
The New England Patriots have filed an amicus brief against the NFL claiming commissioner Roger Goodell did not follow CBA rules when he suspended quarterback Tom Brady for his role in the Deflategate scandal.
An eight-page report was written by attorney Daniel Goldberg, who rebutted the NFL and Ted Wells's report.
“[T]he impact of the majority opinion is not limited to professional football,” the brief states. “It threatens to undermine vital principles governing arbitration of collective bargaining agreements throughout the national economy.”
The Patriots say that Goodell did not treat Brady's appeal as a continuation of the investigation.
“From the outset of this matter the League's conduct reflects less a search for the truth than pursuit of a pre-determined result and defense of a report which, despite no direct evidence of tampering or Mr. Brady's involvement, was relied on to impose penalties with no precedent or correlation to the alleged offense. The League's commitment to the conclusion of the Wells Report on which the penalties were based was so absolute that in Mr. Brady's appeal one of the chief Paul Weiss investigators and an author of the Report, Mr. [Lorin] Reisner, served as the League's counsel and examined witness.”
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There is no lawsuit being filed by the Patriots, but this is a legal brief against the NFL. The last team to take action against the NFL was Al Davis and the Oakland Raiders, when he tried to move the team to Los Angeles.
Brady was initially suspended for the first four games of the 2015 NFL season before his suspension was overturned by an arbitrator. But his four–game ban was reinstated on appeal in April.
