starrymessenger

That makes sense to me. I would not expect a judge in appeal to embark on a fact finding mission. He must accept the facts as disclosed in the evidence and gathered in the proceedings below. However, whether those facts meet the "preponderance of evidence" standard required by the CBA in order to justify disciplinary action is to me a question of law that the judge can and indeed should consider in coming to a decision. So I found the judge's comments referencing the lack of direct evidence of Brady's involvement in a scheme to deflate footballs interesting and I interpreted them in this light ie he is telling the League that they may not have discharged the required burden of proof with regard to this matter (leaving open the issue of having failed to cooperate, which he also spoke to). I wonder if he is not pointing them in the direction he would like them to go as a basis for settlement.

All depends on what exactly you have in mind I guess.

Rhonda. Geno Smith vs Betty White? Toss a coin.

He'd have to get them out of his mouth first tho.

Good catch FM.

IK has also been compared with David Harris, except Harris ran a 4.59 40. Big difference. His short area quickness looks pretty good though to the eyeball test anyway. Must be pretty strong too given his bull rush of Chance Womack (not to mention his KO of Geno).

Agree 100%.

Disagree. This buys the Bills respect and the goodwill of players throughout the league. Not a bad thing. I don't think this guy will be a problem. I also doubt that anyone will be sticking a finger in his face and daring him to hit them. If he can't play he will be cut loose.

Take it with a grain of salt. It would mean that both the League's and Brady's attorneys were out to lunch and that only this guy knows what he's doing. Highly doubtful. Note also his concluding reference to the League's alleged forum shopping. He fails to mention that a Minny Judge rejected the player's bid to have the matter heard in Minnesota because the matter had no legal, factual or logical connection with that jurisdiction. Isn't that forum shopping? This looks a lot like a partisan piece to me. Brady has more trolls than Vladimir Putin.

Now that's a player's coach. I absolutely love it. Welcome to Buffalo IK!

Thanks again. Just a guess on my part but I would have thought that the Commissioner could not be considered to have acted arbitrarily in making reasonable inferences especially since these arbitration appeals seem to allow for new evidence and therefore presumably for findings of fact (unlike what goes on in real appellate courts which strictly review matters of law). Otherwise the person hearing the appeal would be very much hamstrung. As for deciding what is within or without the CBA would seem to involve simply construing the document, though I can appreciate that this exercise might not be straightforward.

That would be odd since Brady wanted Minny and the League wanted NY.

Thanks, that is very helpful. So Brady's position is that as a factual matter he had no knowledge of their wrongdoing but that, in any event, even if he did he is not responsible for their conduct. When hearing the appeal is the Commissioner allowed to make "reasonable" inferences from the facts before him, including for example the testimony of the appellant in the appeal itself, his course of conduct etc...or is he limited to opining only on the adequacy of the decision under appeal?

Well my assumption was that the process, however it might offend someone's sense of "fairness" as not having the trappings and outward appearance of a truly independent proceeding, would pass legal muster if it was contemplated by the CBA and if the participants were not bias, in other words, were not plainly acting fraudulently. It's possible though that the standard is different and if so it would help advance the discussion if a real expert could weigh in.

As a lawyer you're in a better position to comment on this than most other posters, especially if you have special insight into the practice and procedure of federal courts in adjudicating labour disputes. How exactly did the League fail to observe its own policies and the CBA. Whether it was "fair" or not I think most of us were under the impression that the League had the authority to act as it did.

Apparently the CB was dissing him. Newton was in position to tackle him after a shallow pass was intercepted. Like doing a slow trot around the bases after hitting a home run.

IK is done with the Jets. Who knows, maybe Geno is too.

Exactly. This wasnt about $600. The situation gave rise to a $600 loss, but who should bear it? Smith was being a good guy in agreeing to show up at the guy's camp. He was just asking to be made whole for his out of pocket expenses. He had a good reason beyond his control for not attending. Nobody was at fault. Each guy felt like he was being disrespected by the other. Throwing a punch is not nice, but not a big deal. People kill when they perceive that they are being disrespected all the time. Countries go to war. But these guys are just kids. Where were the vets in that locker room?

Well a dark cloud certainly seems to hang over him.

Just yesterday NFLN did a one on one segment with Geno who said how the Jets players were all for one and one for all and how he was working on his leadership skills. I guess he meant leading with his chin. I can hardly wait for the follow up tonight.

As far as I know there is no doubt that McNally took two bags of balls out of the locker room, which he was not authorized to do, and went into a bathroom with them. But I defer to those who have been following this episode more closely if there is anything to add.

Giselle: "Did you cheat on me?" Tom: "I don't think so". Not that we will likely ever know, but the extent of the possible cheating can be an ongoing risk to Brady's reputation. In a worse case scenario, which personally I tend to doubt, where Tom knows that balls are being secreted and deflated and where he rewards his then coconspirators with autographed items, IMO he's just about in Charlie Hustle land.

He must have lost a step if the cops chased him down.

Gotcha.

Agreed. And if he told me to kill my first born I'd encourage him to seek professional help.