FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) – Tom Brady is down to his last chance, and it’s not a very good one.
If the New England Patriots quarterback is to avoid a four-game suspension in the scandal known as “Deflategate,” he will have to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to take his case. Only about 1 percent of the appeals submitted to the nation’s highest court are accepted, and they tend to be about grand constitutional issues.
Not, you know, deflated footballs.
Brady’s latest appeal was rejected on Wednesday by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which turned away his request with a one-paragraph ruling. The NFL Players Association said it was disappointed but declined to say whether it planned to appeal.
Here are some things to look for as “Deflategate” mercifully, winds down:
APPEAL
Should Brady choose to appeal, he would ask the 2nd Circuit for a stay of the ruling and, if unsuccessful there, make the same request of the Supreme Court. (Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg is in charge of such requests from the 2nd Circuit.) A stay would allow him to play this season while the high court decides whether to take the appeal and, if so, hears the case.
The Supreme Court accepts around 80 cases from about 7,000 requests each year.
