Am I the only one who absolutely loves the judge in the Brady vs. Goodell case? This guy's awesome. He, in not so many words, told them how stupid this entire thing is and how ridiculous it is that it's gotten to this point. And, by encouraging them to settle (which seems unlikely), he also indirectly told them that if he has to actually issue a ruling, neither side is going to like it.
Unfortunately, neither Brady or Goodell is budging, so the settlement ain't happening. Brady refuses to accept a suspension of any length and won't admit any guilt. That doesn't work for Goddell, who would probably agree to a reduced suspension if Brady wasn't so stubborn in his defiance. Of course, by settling, Goodell would be acknowledging that he overreached, which would be an incredible blow to his absolute authority and open the door to any player that doesn't like his NFL discipline challenging it in court. Still, compared to the alternative of the suspension being completely nullified, I think he'd probably take that.
Even though the judge told both sides to tone down the rhetoric, that hasn't stopped Brady's lawyers from taking shots at the NFL. They've called the whole thing a "smear campaign" and called Goodell's original written ruling a "propaganda piece" and said it showed "a clearly biased agenda, not an effort at fairness and consistency." How exactly is that toning down the rhetoric?
The Patriots' nonchalant, care-free attitude to the whole thing isn't helping either. They said that Brady wouldn't play in the first preseason game against the Packers, which was played in Foxboro the day after Brady was in New York for the first round with the judge. Yet there he was on the field, playing the entire first quarter. Was this Brady and Kraft saying a big "F.U." to Goodell? The Patriots to Goodell: "He's gonna play now, and he's gonna play in the first regular season game, too. And there's nothing you can do about it."
Now, even without a possible suspension looming, what's the point of Tom Brady playing the entire first quarter in the first preseason game (unless they were trying to stick it to the NFL)? Under normal conditions, we probably wouldn't have seen Brady at all in that game. And putting him in there really seemed counterproductive. Assuming the suspension sticks, whether it's reduced or upheld doesn't really matter. Either way, Brady will miss the first game. So, wouldn't you want Jimmy Garoppolo to start the game and play with the first team offense against Green Bay's first team defense, neither of which was going to be in there very long?
Neither side looks very good here. Brady's trying to salvage whatever's left of his Golden Boy image, but unless you live in New England, that's already long gone. To paraphrase Shakespeare, "the gentleman doth protest too much methinks." He reminds me of Roger Clemens with his continued defiance and cockiness about it. Clemens was found not guilty in federal court, but there isn't a person out there who doesn't think he took something during his playing career. Same thing with Brady. We don't know what he did, but we're pretty sure he's guilty of something.
Meanwhile, Goodell needs the suspension to stick to maintain any sense of credibility he has in these cases. He already had Bountygate voided and Adrian Peterson's suspension overturned. And after initially screwing up so badly on Ray Rice, a judge told him he couldn't suspend Rice again for the same thing. Goodell needs the judge to say he's right on this one. Otherwise, he can expect to do this again anytime he tries to levy discipline that the player being suspended doesn't like.
No matter what, there aren't any winners here. Brady's no longer the Golden Boy. And he's not going to get the complete vindication he's looking for. Sure, if he doesn't like the judge's ultimate ruling, he can appeal again, but when will it finally be enough? The public is already sick of this entire thing. No one wants it dragged into 2016. Except for maybe Brady's lawyers. Keep those billable hours piling up.
Both sides want this over with by September 4, which is a week before the Patriots play the Steelers in the NFL's opening game. By strongly encouraging the sides to settle, the judge is not-so-subtly telling them that he doesn't want to make a decision. I do give him credit for taking it seriously, though. Because if I was a judge and this case was brought into my courtroom, I'm not sure I'd be able to. It's so stupid.
Brady and Goodell will both be back in court on Wednesday. This time there might be witnesses, too. So who knows what new details are going to emerge? Either way, I think this will ultimately be decided by the judge, and it will likely resemble the settlement he's been urging the sides to make all along. The fine stays and the suspension is cut from four games to two. Hopefully that'll be enough to appease Goodell and Brady will be smart enough to waive the white flag. But we all know that's unlikely to happen. Get ready for Tom Brady to play the entire 2015 season only to miss the first four games of 2016. Because, unfortunately, it looks like that's where we're headed.
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