New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) have added an additional lawyer to their defense and there are some pretty serious implications.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Judge Richard Berman's decision over whether or not NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had the authority to make up a story in order to suspend a player for a set period of time. This reversal means that Brady is currently slated to be suspended for the first four weeks of the 2016 season.
In order to lift Brady's suspension, the NFLPA is going to have to argue in front of all 21 judges of the Second Circuit, or appeal to the Supreme Court. It's possible that the latter is in play, no matter how laughable the reason.
The NFLPA added Theodore Olson as counsel and, according to his bio, the former Solicitor General has won more than 75% of his cases before the Supreme Court. Olson also worked on behalf of the NFLPA during the 2011 lockout.
Brady and company have until May 9th to file an appeal, but the NFLPA just filed a motion for an extension that would allow the NFLPA to submit the paperwork on May 23rd, buying the team some additional time.
The NFLPA is arguing that the Second Circuit ruling is extremely dangerous for labor law issues across all industries because the Court essentially ruled that arbitrators like Goodell has full power over the future of every single person beholden to the collective bargaining agreement, severely limiting the potential recourse when dealing with inept or corrupt arbitrators.
This is far from over.