TOM BRADY PREVAILED OVER GAME SUSPENSION OVERTURNED

In a major setback for the N.F.L. , New
England Patriots quarterback Tom
Brady prevailed in his battle to have his
four-game suspension overturned
Thursday, as a federal judge reversed a
ruling by Commissioner Roger Goodell
to bench one of the league’s biggest
stars in a dispute over underinflated
balls he used in a January
championship game.

Judge Richard M. Berman of Federal
District Court in Manhattan did not rule
on whether Brady tampered with the
footballs in a bid for competitive
advantage. Instead, he focused on the
narrower question of whether the
collective bargaining agreement
between the N.F.L. and the players
union gave Goodell the authority to
carry out the suspension. Judge Berman
ruled that it did not.
The 40-page decision picks apart the
N.F.L.’s case, finding a number of faults
and reflecting Berman’s skepticism in
recent court hearings.
Berman said Brady could not be
suspended for “general awareness” of
others’ conduct, as an N.F.L.
investigative report determined.
“Brady had no notice that such conduct
was prohibited or any reasonable
certainty of potential discipline
stemming from such conduct,’’ the
judge wrote.
Even if the league believed Brady had
obstructed the investigation, by having
a cellphone destroyed before it could be
fully examined, the judge sided with
Brady’s argument that “there is no
evidence of a record of past suspensions
based purely on obstructing a league
investigation.”
He found the N.F.L. did not give Brady
adequate notice of the potential penalty
for the misconduct he was accused of
and it had been denied sufficient access
to the N.F.L.’s investigative files.
An underinflated football would be
easier for a quarterback to grip and
throw. New England won the game in
question, the A.F.C. championship game,
against the Indianapolis Colts, 45-7,
scoring most of its points in the second
half after the Colts had complained
about the balls.
Brady’s lawyers had argued that the
N.F.L. did not warn him that he could
be suspended for not cooperating with
the league’s investigation, as a report
commissioned by the N.F.L. asserted, or
for playing a role in tampering with
equipment, something that normally
warrants a fine. Brady had denied any
knowledge, but the N.F.L. report said
the preponderance of evidence made it
likely he knew about the balls.
Judge Berman’s ruling is a blow to
Goodell, who has tried to expand his
authority to suspend players for what
he perceives to be violations of the
integrity of the game.
Unless the N.F.L. can get a federal
appeals court to issue an emergency
injunction, Brady will play in the
Patriots’ opening game Sept. 10 against
the Pittsburgh Steelers.