NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and contingents of lawyers for the league and players’ union have left a federal courthouse after a full day of talks with a judge aimed at settling the “Deflategate” scandal that’s enveloped football this offseason.

The public portion of the hearing lasted for just over an hour, ending at 12:45 p.m. Berman then convened individually with each side to continue settlement discussions in private. Berman seemed “skeptical”, and was eager to get the parties into his chambers to discuss settlement privately.

On Wednesday, Berman sharply questioned whether the NFL had enough evidence to suspend Brady for using under-inflated footballs in the AFC Championship Game.

Nash said that there is no text message specifically showing that Brady instructed someone to put a needle in a football. “There is no direct evidence that ties Brady to specifically conspiring or having something to do with deflating these footballs”, says ABC 6 Legal Analyst Ken Schreiber.

Their regular season begins at home on September 10, in a nationally televised game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell upheld Brady’s suspension on July 28.

The NFL Players Association is backing up Brady in the “DeflateGate” issue, per ESPN.

The league sued the union to confirm Goodell’s decision and the union countersued to reverse it.

Brady has denied knowing about the deflated footballs or any scheme by Patriots employees to carry it out.

When you go up against Tom Brady, Mr. Perfect, it’s hard to look good.

Hand-drawn portraits released from the hearing portray Brady looking pensive and, some say, not like himself.

In an unexpected twist, Judge Berman spent much of the nearly 90-minute hearing discussing the particulars of the Wells Report, rather than the league’s collective bargaining agreement.

Goodell was greeted by a smattering of boos as he walked inside.

This is what it’s come to in this never-ending national nightmare: Brady and Goodell can’t stand the sight of each other. Kessler acknowledged Brady didn’t cooperate out of privacy concerns and said Brady “should have conducted himself differently with Wells”.

The judge overseeing his four game suspension appeal, said he wants Tom Brady and the NFL to reach a settlement.