The latest chapter in the Deflategate saga unfolded in a Manhattan courtroom on Thursday as the three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit questioned lawyers for both the NFL and NFLPA in a hearing to determine if they will uphold Judge Richard Berman’s ruling that set aside Patriots quarterback
Tom Brady’s four-game suspension.
Observers in the courtroom noted that NFLPA lawyer Jeffrey Kessler faced stiff inquiries during his turn in front of the panel, including queries from Judge Barrington Parker about Brady’s destruction of his cell phone.
“Why couldn’t the commissioner suspend Brady
for that conduct alone?” Judge Barrington Parker said, via the
Providence Journal. “You have one of the most celebrated players performing in that fashion? Anybody within 100 yards of this proceeding knew that would raise the stakes.”
Parker went on to say that Brady’s explanation that he routinely destroys his phone “made no sense whatsoever.” Federal court reporter Max Stendahl of Law360 tweeted throughout the hearing and noted that Judge Denny Chin called evidence “compelling, if not overwhelming.”
