The NFL, of course, “has been adamant that Brady admits to the report’s findings, something he doesn’t seem willing to ever do,” Schefter writes. “With that in mind, settlement discussions have gone ‘nowhere,’ according to sources, and the two sides are back in court [Wednesday].”
Jeffrey Kessler, the NFLPA’s lawyer, offered a concession by Brady about a lack of cooperation as an opening settlement offer in last week’s hearing, and maybe it’s time for the NFL to put this to rest by cutting its losses. The season opener is now 23 days away and even New York Giants owner John Mara — one of the league’s more influential owners who has Goodell’s ear — has said that “I just want it to be over with one way or the other.”
Brady’s admission, as SI’s Michael McCann points out, would be carefully crafted to avoid legal issues.
On Wednesday, representatives for the NFLPA and NFL headed back to the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan to appear before Judge Richard M. Berman. Brady is back to work, participating in the New England Patriots’ practices in West Virginia and was quietly heard from early in the morning.
Goodell, presumably, is at work in his Park Avenue office.
If there is no settlement, Berman on Wednesday ordered the principles in the case — Brady and Goodell — to appear at the next hearing on the matter at 11 a.m. Aug. 31. Berman said he hopes to rule on the case by Sept. 4.
Meanwhile, Schefter muddies the DeflateGate issue further with a couple of tweets of the side of boxes containing the NFL’s official Super Bowl footballs.
