Patriots quarterback Tom Brady should have used the NFL Players Association in connection with the Ted Wells report. Brady didn’t. But he apparently won’t make the same mistake twice.
Per Adam Schefter of ESPN (via Phil Perry of CSN New England), Brady has added Jeffrey Kessler to the legal team that will handle the appeal. And Brady would be wise to let Kessler handle the whole thing, with agent/lawyer Don Yee taking a seat and watching.
It still would have been better for Brady to seek -- and to implement -- Kessler’s advice from the get go. Kessler would have nudged Brady in directions that would have established a better foundation for success on appeal or in court.
Kessler also may have been able to cajole Brady into accepting the league’s offer to allow Brady’s legal team to lift from his phone and email account any messages that may be relevant to the investigation, without supervision or involvement of the NFL.
Indeed, it’s possible that Yee simply wasn’t able to talk sense into Brady. Kessler, fully able to see how refusal to fully cooperate may have undermined Brady’s interests, may have been far more persuasive -- and ultimately far more effective.