U.S. District Court Judge Richard Berman ruled on Thursday to overturn Tom Brady’s four-game suspension stemming from his alleged role in Deflategate, but NFL officials are not willing to accept Berman’s ruling and let an incredibly embarrassing situation go away.
Some NFL owners wish they would have.
According to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report, at least two NFL owners were hoping that the NFL would not appeal the decision to overturn Brady’s suspension.
“Two owners I’ve spoken to today have already indicated that they would rather not have the NFL appeal the decision and continue on this case,” Cole said Thursday. “They would rather let the matter die and get Deflategate off of the docket and out of the public eye. That’s in keeping with the opinions of numerous other owners I’ve talked to over the last month and a half who have indicated that they want to see Deflategate end once and for all.”
Earlier this week, we heard from one NFL owner who feels the Patriots are responsible for making Deflategate a massive issue by not cooperating. A report from several weeks ago indicated that some team owners were ready for Deflategate to end, while other “old-school” owners were encouraging the NFL to keep fighting.
With Thursday’s decision, Roger Goodell has now been overruled in several major disciplinary situations — Brady, the Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson domestic abuse cases, and the New Orleans Saints’ Bountygate scandal. Despite that, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that Goodell’s job is not in jeopardy.
“Everybody’s still behind Roger,” Schefter said on SportsCenter. “He’s not going anywhere.”
Goodell has already announced that the NFL will appeal Berman’s ruling, though there isn’t much optimism that the league will have luck at the second circuit. When you read some of the reasons Berman gave for arriving at his decision, you’ll understand why.
