NEW YORK—A federal judge let the air out of “Deflategate” Thursday, erasing New England quarterback Tom Brady’s four-game suspension for a controversy the NFL claimed threatened football’s integrity.
U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman criticized NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for dispensing “his own brand of industrial justice.”
Berman said Goodell went too far in affirming punishment of the Super Bowl winning quarterback. Brady has insisted he played no role in a conspiracy to deflate footballs below the allowable limit at last season’s AFC championship game.
The suspension was “premised upon several significant legal deficiencies” including the failure to notify Brady of potential penalties, Berman wrote in his opinion, noting that an arbitrator’s factual findings are generally not open to judicial challenge.
“Because there was no notice of a four-game suspension in the circumstances presented here, Commissioner Goodell may be said to have ‘dispensed his own brand of industrial justice,’” Berman wrote, partially citing wording from a previous case.
