NEW YORK — Deflategate took an unexpected turn Thursday at the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse, as the three-judge panel tasked with reviewing the NFL's appeal seemed to hold a view on the case dissimilar to the one held by Judge Richard Berman in September.
This may be oversimplifying, but Berman, who eventually vacated Roger Goodell's award to confirm Tom Brady's suspension, always appeared more skeptical of the NFL's argument. These three judges -- Denny Chin, Barrington Parker Jr. and Robert A. Katzmann -- posed questions to Brady's attorney, Jeffrey Kessler, that hadn't been asked by Berman in the initial appeal.