The pages and pages of testimony from Tom Brady's appeal hearing on June 23 that were published on Tuesday? Turns out one side wanted them out there, and the other didn't.
And after reading certain excerpts, maybe it's not all that difficult to determine which side -- the NFL or the NFLPA -- was which.
"I would like the NFL to think about this,” NFLPA attorney Jeffrey Kessler said during the hearing. “We have had this issue back and forth and we propose that there not be confidentiality in this matter and the NFL said they wanted confidentiality and we agreed to something and it was there. I would like to propose on behalf of the Union that we can release this transcript of this [hearing] today. I would like the NFL to think about that. That’s our proposal. . .
"I think there is a great public interest in this and in the interest of transparency, that would be something that we would like to see done."
The NFL disagreed. It wanted the transcript to remain private. Given what appears to be the public relations loss that the league has taken since the transcripts have been published, perhaps commissioner Roger Goodell and his team had good reason to want to keep the transcript sealed.
But now that everything's out there, their desire to keep things quiet is just another loss in the ongoing, roller coaster battle in the court of public opinion.