Tom Brady’s ‘Deflategate’ Appeal Denied By Second Circuit Court

The saga continues.

Tom Brady remains no closer to returning to the field for the New England Patriots season opener after his appeal to the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals was denied, according to USAToday.

Brady was seeking for his case to be reheard after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell levied a four-game suspension back on May 11, 2015, for violating the league’s policy on “the integrity of the game.”

Tom Brady’s ‘DeflatEgate’ Appeal Denied By Second Circuit Court

The only recourse for Brady now is to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court which would likely be unwilling to hear the case considering SCOTUS reviews 7000-8000 requests for cases to come in front of the justices and only 80 cases are heard.

“Appellees, National Football Players Association and Tom Brady, filed a petition for panel rehearing,” Second Circuit Clerk Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe wrote in the official decision.

“The panel that determined the appeal has considered the request for rehearing and the active members of the court have considered rehearing en banc,” a term used to mean a case heard by all justices in that court as opposed to a panel.

“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition is denied,” Document 184 for Brady’s case read.

All signs indicate that Brady, the NFLPA and their respective legal teams were aware of the slim prospects they faced in attempting to have the 2nd Circuit Court rehear the case.

Brady is afforded 90 days to formally request an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Should he choose to wait, it could possibly push SCOTUS’s timeline to determine whether they would hear the case back into 2017.

It is unclear whether an injunction would be granted to New England’s quarterback while the court determines whether the case will be heard, but if such an injunction existed, Brady would be permitted to play until a decision on the case was made.

BRADY GIVES DISSERTATION ON BALLS

After being handed the suspension, Brady initially won an appeal with when U.S. District Judge Richard Berman overturned the suspension on the grounds that the league had established no precedent or advanced notice of such penalties.

“Because there was no notice of a four-game suspension in the circumstances presented here, Commissioner Goodell may be said to have ‘dispensed his own brand of industrial justice,”’ Berman wrote.

The suspension being argued was given to Brady after the league inspected several footballs used during the 2015 AFC Championship, between the Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts.

Jimmy Garoppolo, entering his third season in the NFL after playing college ball at Eastern Illinois, will start in the future Hall of Famer’s place, should Brady not be successful in his appeal.

Article by Kevin Xavier