Tom Brady won his battle against the NFL in court earlier this month, but could the league ultimately win the war against the New England Patriots quarterback?
On Friday morning, WFAN host Craig Carton reported that a “very influential person in the NFL” recently told him there is “no doubt in his mind” that Brady will serve his four-game suspension this season. The source expects the NFL’s appeal of U.S. District Court Judge Richard M. Berman’s decision to be heard at some point in the next three of four months and for the league to win out.
Carton’s WFAN cohost, former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason, said the opinion of Carton’s source reminded him of before Berman’s ruling, when plenty of knowledgeable people believed there was no way Brady’s suspension would be thrown out.
“What this person doesn’t realize is that they all felt the same way prior to Judge Berman’s ruling,” Esiason said. “But what they didn’t know is that Judge Berman was going out to The Hamptons to hang out with (Patriots owner) Bob Kraft.”
Esiason was referring to Kraft mingling with Berman at a party in the Hamptons not long after Brady’s suspension was overturned, though the Patriots insist it was a complete coincidence.
“I don’t buy it,” Esiason added. “I know they want to expedite an appeal, but there’s so many other things on the docket at these courts. Is this really that important to somebody? I know it’s important to the NFL.”
Brady isn’t necessarily out of the woods, as a Second Circuit judge could disagree with Berman. However, it still seems unlikely that an appeal will be heard in such short order.
In the meantime, the NFL may be intentionally trying to ignore Brady’s existence. When the time does come for a Second Circuit appeal, Brady and his legal team will be just as confident as they were the first time around.
UPDATE: Several legal experts say there is no way the NFL’s appeal of the Brady decision will be heard before the end of the season.
