It was a forgone conclusion, but it still had to actually go down Monday. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has filed an appeal to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn his DeflateGate punishment. If a majority of the 13-judge panel doesn’t agree to an en banc session before the hearing, Brady could even decide to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Yes. That could all happen over deflated footballs.
An en banc session means that all 13 judges would hear and vote on the appeal. Back in April a three-judge panel from the same court re-instated Brady’s DeflateGate punishment, a four-game ban for ordering a couple of Patriots equipment flunkies to deflate his game balls below regulation air pressure. The three judge panel voted 2-1 to overturn the lower court ruling throwing out the punishment handed out by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
NFLPA says it officially filed petition with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals requesting the court rehear the Tom Brady matter En Banc.
— Jason La Canfora (@JasonLaCanfora) May 23, 2016
“A divided panel of this Court affirmed Goodell in a decision that repudiates longstanding labor law principles and that, if left undisturbed, will fuel unpredictability in labor arbitrations everywhere, Brady’s attorneys said in the their filing. “And make labor arbitration increasingly capricious and undesirable for employers and employees alike.
Brady has a new lawyer this time around on his team, Theodore B. Olson, but that’s hardly an ace in the hole for the NFLPA and the Brady Deflator Team. Olson represented the players during the 2011 labor negotiations that ended up in a lock out and all these new rules and powers for the NFL Commissioner that the NFLPA is fighting now.
https://twitter.com/danieltosh/status/734807133405908992
While the court considers the hearing the case, they have a few options of their own. They could grant the NFL a 14-day extension that gives them a chance to respond to Brady and the NFLPA’s filing. They could do nothing for 21 days, basically upholding the original judgement. The original three-judge panel could re-hear the case, though that seems very unlikely, or a new judge could be added to that three-person team. The en banc vote could happen, which is obviously what the Brady team wants or the court could just turn the whole thing down, which should really be the most likely outcome.
Jaguars lose another rookie to injury
This time at least it wasn’t a first-round pick. Seventh round draft choice Jonathan Woodard out of Central Arkansas injured his Achilles tendon in on-the-field workouts. And again, I say, the Jags really need to fire Cobra Kai as their training staff.
Woodard will now miss the entire 2016 season and will probably end up cut from the team. The rookie defensive end had 33 tackles, 10.5 for a loss and 5.5 sacks for Central Arkansas last season. While that production, especially at the NCAA Division I-FCS level isn’t that impressive, Woodard’s 6-foot-6 and 271-pound frame certainly meets the NFL requirements. That alone may be enough for the Jaguars to stick him on injured reserve for at least a season.
Maybe the Jags need to just literally have “walkthroughs.” Like, all the players do is walk with no contact whatsoever.
Falcons moving Vic Beasley to outside linebacker
Vic Beasley’s days as an NFL defensive end are already over. Undersized for that position, but athletic, Beasley was used as a DE his entire four years at Clemson and his first year with the Atlanta Falcons. After looking at Beasley, 6-foot-2 and 246 pounds, and his production last season (26 tackles, 4 sacks, two forced fumbles, one interception and three passes defended), Falcons head coach Dan Quinn has made the logical choice he should have made in the first place. Beasley is a natural NFL linebacker and that’s where the Falcons plan on using him this season.
Don't worry guys, I'm still hunting quarterbacks.
— Vic Beasley (@VicBeasley3) May 20, 2016
Last year, because of his size issues at defensive end, Beasley only played 51.3 percent of the Falcons’ defensive snaps. Football outsiders ranked him at No. 27 in power success and 22nd in stuffed percentage. Runs going his way averaged 4.74 yards per carry. None of that is good.
The change will make Beasley have to drop into coverage more. Something he’s more than willing to take on.
“I think I’ll do great,” Beasley told reporters. “I have great versatility and athletic ability that God’s blessed me with. I also played it a little bit in college so that adds and should help.”
