The Sports Xchange

The transcript of Tom Brady’s appeal hearing apparently will be made public at some point.

That would seem to be the result of a ruling by Judge Richard M. Berman, who ordered the NFL and the NFL Players Association not to submit materials under seal for the hearing on Brady’s suspension ruling, according to a ProFootballTalk.com report on Tuesday.

Berman had hinted Friday that he was unlikely to allow the NFL and NFLPA to keep the 10-hour transcript secret. Now the ruling has come.

The NFL players union had made the transcript an exhibit to the filing made under seal in federal court in Minnesota. The case has since been transferred back to New York, and the players union will file its initial submission again, including the appeals transcript as an exhibit. At that point, the appeals transcript presumably will become public record.

Brady was suspended for four games by the NFL for his role in tampering with the inflation of footballs. He appealed the ruling and his appeal was heard by commissioner Roger Goodell on June 23.

After Goodell and the NFL upheld the four-game suspension, the NFLPA appealed that ruling to federal court.