How Tom Brady can fight (and overturn) his suspension in court

Now that Roger Goodell has held firm on upholding a four-game suspension, Tom Brady's camp has opted to take this battle to court.

Brady won't be pulling a Robert Kraft — he'll fight the good fight, and his court options are fascinating. The NFL took preemptive measures after announcing the four games stood by seeking an immediate confirmation in New York, not Minnesota where the NFLPA has had great success on appellate decisions involving the league.

Doty presides in the 8th District Court in Minnesota, where the league is trying to avoid this potential case being heard and where the courts have tended to lean pro-labor in their findings.

No matter the court, the legal rule of thumb is that many judges prefer not to upset established, collectively bargained agreements between parties. In other words, the union (of which Brady is a member) made its bed by signing the CBA back in 2011, which allowed for Goodell to be an arbitrator, and now must sleep in it.

The union's parry to this could be that Goodell's handling of the case lacked due process, was rendered with an arbitrary ruling and was handled in a volatile and capricious manner. Brady's team can ask for an injunction, allowing Brady to sidestep a suspension until a final verdict is reached, and injuctions typically aren't that hard to get. Or it can request an expedited process that rules before the New England Patriots season opener on Sept. 10, which is 44 days from Tuesday's ruling.