In a stinging rebuke to the National Football League and Commissioner Roger Goodell, Tom Brady’s four-game suspension for his role in the alleged deflation of footballs at a New England Patriots playoff game in January was vacated Thursday in federal court.
Calling the arbitration hearing heard by Goodell “fundamentally unfair,” Southern District Judge Richard Berman said Brady lacked notice that he could be suspended for tampering with footballs by New England Patriots personnel, as Goodell exceeded his powers under the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association and ran afoul of federal arbitration law.
