New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady throws during a training camp at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, yesterday. (USA TODAY Sports)
AFP/New York City
A New York federal judge will hear American football star Tom Brady’s appeal of his NFL four-game suspension over the “Deflategate” scandal, after a judge yesterday transferred the case from Minnesota.
The National Football League players union filed the petition in the midwestern state on Wednesday on behalf of Brady, the New England Patriots quarterback and four-time Super Bowl champion.
The union wanted the case to be heard in Minnesota, where US District Judge David Doty has a history of ruling in favour of players in labour cases against the NFL. The case will be heard instead by US District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan.
In deciding to move the case to New York, US District Judge Richard Kyle of Minnesota wrote there was little reason for the case to be heard in Minnesota.
“Brady plays for a team in Massachusetts; the Union is headquartered in Washington, DC; the NFL is headquartered in New York; the arbitration proceedings took place in New York; and the award was issued in New York.”
The legal move follows NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s decision Tuesday to uphold the four-game ban he imposed upon the four-time Super Bowl champion quarterback for likely knowing Patriots employees had underinflated footballs in a playoff game last January, giving him and his offensive unit an edge in gripping, grabbing and holding the ball.
Brady maintained his innocence in a Facebook statement Wednesday and was backed by Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
The union move could set up a legal fight in federal court that delays the start of Brady’s suspension, now set for the start of the season in September.
The union based its appeal on several issues, including no direct evidence in the report by investigator Ted Wells. While Goodell cited Brady destroying his cellphone as a way of destroying evidence, he also said Brady had a “general awareness” of the matter, what the union called a justification for an “absurd and unprecedented punishment”.
A policy in the union contract with the NFL provides only for fines, not bans, regarding equipment tampering, according to the union, which says the policy applied to Brady only applies to teams and executives, not players.
The union called evidence of obstruction or non-cooperation “paper-thin” and noted no player in NFL history has served a ban for obstruction or non-cooperation.
The union also claims Goodell violated procedures for disciplinary hearings when it heard Brady’s appeal in the matter last month.