Tom Brady is said to be considering his legal options in response to his four-game suspension for Deflategate being reinstated by an appeals court on Monday.
A three-judge panel from the Second Circuit in New York voted 2-1 to reinstate the suspension, saying that Roger Goodell was within his rights to suspend the New England Patriots quarterback. ESPN’s Adam Schefter says Brady is not planning to accept the suspension and instead is mulling his legal options.
“We’re looking at all the options now,” Brady’s attorney Jeffrey Kessler said on ESPN Radio Monday. “There’s nothing to announce at this point, except that this union always protects the rights of its players. That’s what we’ve done in all these cases, and we will now consider with Tom Brady and the union what other options there are to protect his rights.”
Brady’s legal team does have a few options. They can file to have the case heard again, but that seems unlikely to be granted because the judges already ruled against him. They can request an en banc hearing, in which all judges at the court hear the case rather than a panel of three, but such hearings are rarely granted, according to The Boston Globe. They could also petition for the Supreme Court to hear the case, but it would be highly unlikely for the court to accept the case as they tend to hear cases of more significant legal implications.
Kessler was asked about requesting another hearing.
“I can tell you, procedurally, there’s a step before that,” Kessler said. “If we were to pursue anything in court, the first step would be for what’s called a re-hearing. A re-hearing before not just the panel, but for the whole court of appeals. So, that would be the next procedural step to consider before deciding anything about the Supreme Court.”
While pursuing additional legal action, Brady’s team could request a court order for the quarterback not to serve his suspension while the matter is pending, which would effectively delay punishment.
Other legal options Brady could consider include filing a defamation suit against NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Such a suit would not help reduce Brady’s suspension, however. The NFL and NFLPA could also agree to a settlement in which the suspension is reduced, but it seems unlikely Brady would agree to such a settlement, as it would make him appear as if he is admitting to guilty or wrongdoing.
