NEW YORK -- Judge Richard Berman cautioned everyone in the courtroom prior to the proceedings that questions he posed to either Tom Brady's side or the NFL's should not be interpreted as being indicative of his leanings.
That's good news for the NFL, because Berman battered NFL Management Council attorney Daniel Nash on a few different points during an approximately 45-minute period in which Berman asked for clarity on the NFL's investigation into Tom Brady.
Berman first peppered Nash with questions about the independence of the Wells report, noting that when Berman was an attorney and he was retained, "we were fierce" on behalf of the people who had retained his firm. Berman also questioned why some notes from the Wells investigation were not made "equally available" to both sides.
Nash kept trying to re-direct Berman, stressing that those details weren't as important as Roger Goodell's right to retain Wells and to operate as arbitrator. Nash got strident saying, "This argument of Wells independence is a complete red herring . . . It sounds good in the media . . . But (the NFL) is not bound to (an independent investigator) by the collective bargaining agreement."