Deflategate
[column width=”1/1″ last=”true” title=”” title_type=”single” animation=”none” implicit=”true”]The NFL and its players have always been inundated with legal issues since its inception. From copyright to morality clauses, the legal issues of the league are almost as prevalent as the athletics. On another note, it’s funny how the laws of our judicial system has to sometimes rely on the laws of nature. For instance, look at this “Deflategate” issue.
If you’re a fan of the New England Patriots, surely you’d like the rest of the world – especially National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell – to put Deflategate behind and move on to possibly another championship. But football fans should be able to relate to and learn from the legalities of this case. Ponder on these for a minute:
1. QUARTERBACK SNEAK – Tom Brady is famous for his four Super Bowl wins, three Super Bowl MVP awards and marriage to his Brazilian supermodel wife Gisele Bündchen. But he will go down in history for his “quarterback sneak” and yardage gained, if you will, against Goodell. You see, Goodell suspended Brady for four games for his alleged role in the scandal. Brady fought back like Doug Flutie did in 1984 with that last-second Hail Mary against the University of Miami. Brady used the Scales of Justice to get the ruling overturned and the rest, as they say, is history.
2. UNNECESSARY ROUGHNESS – Now there’s the possible question as to whether Goodell unfairly punished Brady. This could call for further legal ramifications; so much so, the commissioner is considering leaving the crime and punishment department to a separate counsel. And then, there may be another investigation into Spygate, the Patriots alleged spying of teams. What gives Goodell so much insight and leeway to lay the legal smackdown, you ask? Well, none, except the fact he’s commissioner. By the way, his background is economics.
3. PASS INTERFERENCE – Finally, whatever Goodell thought he had for Brady, it was broken up by Judge Richard M. Berman of the U.S. District Court – Southern District. Berman didn’t rule on whether Brady had a role in Deflategate. He ruled on the NFL’s authority to suspend Brady, based on the collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the National Football League Players Association. So technically, unless you’re a Patriots fan or Brady loyalist, the jury is still out on whether the quarterback knew the footballs had a change in pressure.
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