Tom Brady changes mind after settlement talks yield no progress, rejoins team

Tom Pelissero | USA TODAY Sports

Show Caption Hide Caption Tom Brady missed practice Tuesday and will not attend hearing New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady did not participate in practice Tuesday, and he apparently has scrapped plans to attend Wednesday's hearing in New York regarding his appeal of his four-game suspension from Deflategate.

Tom Brady was in New York for settlement talks Tuesday that yielded no progress, so the New England Patriots' star quarterback changed his mind and doesn't plan to attend Wednesday's federal court hearing, two people with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports.

Brady missed Tuesday's practice because he was attending the latest settlement talks between his attorneys and the NFL's with a magistrate as ordered by U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the case publicly.

But with little chance of a settlement in the so-called Deflategate case, Brady is now expected to skip Wednesday's hearing before Berman and practice with his Patriots teammates in West Virginia, where they're scheduled to hold the first of two joint sessions with the New Orleans Saints at The Greenbrier.

The NFL had no comment on whether NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who authorized Brady's four-game suspension in May and upheld the discipline last month, would attend Wednesday's hearing.

Berman told the sides last week that it wasn't necessary for Brady or Goodell to attend.

Both were at the first hearing last week on the lawsuit filed by the NFL, which is seeking confirmation of Goodell's decision, arguing the commissioner acted within the scope of his authority to protect the integrity of the game. The NFL Players Association wants the decision vacated on grounds including lack of notice, insufficient procedures, a fundamentally unfair process and Goodell's partiality.

A primary hang-up in the talks has been the NFL's insistence Brady accept the findings of the league-commissioned Wells Report, which found it more probable than not that Brady was at least generally aware of the actions by two low-level team employees that led to footballs used by the Patriots being deflated below permissible levels in January's AFC championship game.

Goodell upheld Brady's suspension, ruling that the four-time Super Bowl champion participated in the scheme, based in part on his assessment of Brady's credibility, which Goodell made clear was impacted by Brady's admission he gave his cell phone to an assistant for disposal on or around the date of a March interview with Wells.

Brady, 38, has steadfastly denied any involvement.

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