geoduck no quahog said:
Riddle me this.
1. It's clear that Brady never had any intention of turning over his private phone (or emails, or voice messages...). As a member of the NLPA he needed to draw a line and not set precedent for future players.
2. The NFL PR machine will keep stating that he was allowed to personally vet all messages and only turn over those that related to their investigation. That's irrelevant, given item (1) above.
3. If he wanted to look like he was cooperating (rather than upholding players' rights), he could have handed over to them 1,000 messages that were exculpatory.
4. He had no intention of setting even that precedent. He also knew that if he handed over 1,000 - the NFL would just say there were 5,000 more that confirmed his guilt.
Except if he knew that Goodell might suspend him and that this matter might ultimately make it to court, perhaps locking it in a safe deposit box was the way to go?
So, with that said - and thinking back to a previous discussion about the preliminary injunction:
1. Brady still is the one with risk of irreparable harm from a suspension.
2. The balance of hardships still weighs on Brady rather than on the league.
So the question becomes whether there's any impact here on:
3. Likelihood of success on the merits.
Does the destruction of the cellphone cast doubt on point #3, even if he wasn't obligated to hand over a personal phone under the CBA?
Legal experts, since I am out of my depth here and did not stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, do I have this right? And if I haven't bungled it completely, what say you on point #3?
