New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady successfully argued in front of U.S. District judge Richard Berman in the Eastern District of New York that his four-game suspension for his role in Deflategate was without merit. Berman vacated the suspension in September, allowing Brady to suit up for the Pats for a full season as defending Super Bowl champs. The NFL appealed that decision to United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the court has just announced that Brady's suspension has been reinstated, holding "that the Commissioner properly exercised his broad discretion under the collective bargaining agreement and that his procedural rulings were properly grounded in that agreement and did not deprive Brady of fundamental fairness."Whereas Judge Berman looked at whether Brady was actually involved in a scheme to deflate footballs below authorized levels, the Court of Appeals looked at the matter from a much narrower view: did Roger Goodell, acting as arbitrator of his own initial decision, have the authority to suspend Tom Brady, and did he exercise that authority reasonably. The standard is remarkably high to overturn an "arbitration award," in this case the award is Brady's four-game suspension, and reliant on the scope of the authority granted in the CBA. As you might suspect, given that Roger Goodell was permitted to name himself sole arbitrator of his own decision, the scope granted in this CBA is incredibly broad. Thus, according to the Court of Appeals as long as Goodell was "even arguably construing or applying the contract and acting within the scope of his authority," his decision should stand.The court then applied this framework to the three elements that Judge Berman relied upon to vacate the suspension—lack of notice that Brady's actions could serve as the basis for a suspension, the exclusion of NFL general counsel Jeff Pash's testimony, and the denial of access to the Wells Reports investigative notes—did not rise to the extraordinary level required to vacate a decision contemplated under such broad and collectively bargained powers.What this means now is anyone's guess, but Brady has been vociferous in his denial and, frankly, I hope he takes the fight all the way to the Supreme Court so we can keep talking about this for years to come.Here is the full opinion:Sad_Brady_Face.jpg
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