Nguyen: Goodell’s Final Decision: Does the Punishment Fit the Crime?
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
It has been reported that Brady intends to fight the Decision in federal court. The League filed a preemptive action in a federal court in New York on Tuesday, basically asking the judge to rule that the Decision is valid and enforceable.
Should Brady file a claim against the League or Goodell, it is likely that he will file it in the same case that is already filed in New York and seek an injunction, asking the court to keep the status quo while the case is resolved. In other words, allow him to play while the case in pending.
It will be interesting to see what the court does if Brady requests an injunction. Litigation takes a long time and it is unlikely that the court case here would resolve prior to the start of the regular NFL season. Granting Brady an injunction would mean that he plays the games from which Goodell suspended him. But what if the court ultimately finds that Goodell’s Decision is valid? How will Brady pay if the first four games are already played? Or vice versa, if Brady is not granted an injunction and it is ultimately determined that Goodell was wrong, how can Brady be made whole? More importantly, how can Patriots Nation be made whole?
The answers to these questions will happen very quickly – probably within the next month.
While Patriots fans are clamoring for Brady to take it to court, the question is, what exactly would Brady be challenging in court? Brady’s lawyers will likely rehash all the arguments they brought up already – that Goodell should not have been the hearing officer to preside over the appeal, that Goodell did not have a basis for finding that Brady was involved in deflating game balls, and that the punishment does not fit the crime.
Interestingly, the actual Decision may provide more fodder for Brady’s position that the punishment does not fit the crime. The Decision sheds light on why Goodell thinks a 4-game suspension is appropriate.
Here’s an excerpt of the Decision that summarizes Goodell’s findings:
For the sake of argument, let’s assume these two findings are true. Goodell now has to explain how
suspending Brady for the first 4 games is the right punishment. To do that, Goodell first relies on the argument that “[n]o prior conduct detrimental proceeding is directly comparable to this one,” which conveniently gives him some leeway in determining the “appropriate” punishment.
Brett Favre was fined $50,000 in 2010 for his failure to cooperate with an investigation in a forthcoming manner in connection with the Jenn Sterger scandal. Goodell makes it a point to say that Brady’s case is not the same given “his involvement with the tampering scheme and his destruction of relevant evidence” (his cell phone). However, I daresay that Brady’s case is not the same only because Goodell could not find any violation against Favre. Arguably, the precedent for failure to cooperate in an investigation should be a fine, and the more severe the non-cooperation, the bigger the fine.
Is that a fair assessment? Is deflating footballs during one game the same as steroid use? In other words should Brady be treated the same as a player who was accused of using steroids and stalled the investigation and was ultimately found to be guilty? Goodell’s comparison of deflating footballs to using steroids will probably be a hot topic in the sports world in the weeks to come.
What do you think?
AiVi Nguyen is a trial lawyer with the Law Firm of Bowditch & Dewey, LLP in Worcester.
Related Articles
- Nguyen: Appealing the Suspension: Brady’s Play Options
- What Legal Steps Will Tom Brady Take to Fight 4 Game Suspension?
- NFL Upholds Brady’s 4 Game Suspension
- NEW: Tom Brady’s Appeal Hearing Will be Held June 23
- NEW: NFLPA Releases Statement on Brady Suspension
- NEW: Brady’s Agent Responds, Calls NFL’s Appeal Process a ‘Sham’
- Brady’s Lawyer Has History of Winning Big Cases Against NFL
- NEW: Wells Report Released, Claims Patriots, Brady Cheated
- NEW: NFL Statement and Letters to Brady, Patriots Regarding Deflategate
- NEW: New England Patriots Statement on Brady Suspension
- REPORT: Tom Brady to be Suspended by NFL
- Brady’s Agent Releases Statement on 4 Game Suspension
- NEW: Tom Brady, NFLPA Officially File Appeal
- NEW: Tom Brady Suspended 4 Games
- GoLocalTV: NFL Upholds Brady’s Suspension as Pats Begin Training Camp
- 5 Things to Know About Tom Brady’s Deflategate Appeal
- NEW: Tom Brady and Brandon Spikes Went Out Together Last Weekend
- Decision on Brady Appeal Coming Soon, According to Goodell
Follow us on Pinterest Google + Facebook Twitter See It Read It