While Monday Morning Quarterback’s Peter King is on vacation, ProFootballTalk scribe Mike Florio stepped up to handle the weekly column. Florio, a former lawyer, has been heavily involved in analyzing DeflateGate and all of the legal proceedings and he has an update worth sharing.
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has decided not to ask for a stay of his suspension and will serve his 4-games at the start of the season, but the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) will continue to fight in the courts.
“The appeal can’t go forward without Brady,” Florio writes. “If Brady truly wants it to be over, there will be no further appeal. The reality is that Brady has (per a source with knowledge of the situation) authorized the NFLPA to proceed with the appeal on his behalf. It won’t keep him from missing the first four games of the season, but it could ultimately restore his lost pay of more than $253,000, reduce the Commissioner’s power in player disciplinary cases, and provide Brady with genuine vindication.”
According to Florio, Brady has given the NFLPA the green light to continue with the appeals process in order to fight against the absurd power granted to the NFL commissioner. While an ultimate victory by the NFLPA won’t give Brady and the Patriots back those four games, there are some financial benefits for Brady in the case of a successful appeal.
Most will probably tune out future updates on DeflateGate, but just remember that this is not over yet.