Attorney Jeffrey Kessler has battled the NFL and its owners for years in court on behalf of the league's players. So it was unusual he found himself agreeing Wednesday morning with a regular adversary: New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
Hours after Kraft ripped the NFL in the wake of Commissioner Roger Goodell's decision to uphold quarterback Tom Brady’s four-game suspension, Kessler — retained by the NFL Players Association to represent Brady at his appeal hearing last month — also derided the decision, and in particular the gravity Goodell gave to the destruction of Brady’s old cellphone.
“It’s just grasping at straws to try to divert attention from their complete lack of evidence or legal process to justify what’s happened here,” Kessler told USA TODAY Sports by phone.