New York judge Richard Berman issued an order on Thursday, telling all parties in the current DeflateGate litigation to "tone down their rhetoric," as you can see in this Tweet from a Houston appellate lawyer. In other words, the judge wants both the NFL Players Association and the NFL itself to stop litigating in public and making a grand showing of each statement and each filing made.
Berman also makes it clear that the decision made earlier on Thursday by Judge Richard Kyle of Minnesota to defer the case to New York, as that is where the NFL filed first, was appreciated. The NFLPA filed in Minnesota initially and ... Kyle wasn't having any of it, in so many words.
It seems like Berman isn't going to let this drag on. In his order, he directed both parties to "actively begin to pursue a mutually acceptable resolution of this case," and suggested that the court will be "fully prepared to devote the time and attention necessary to help the parties resolve this case via litigation and/or by mutual consent."
Obviously, a resolution outside of the courtroom would be preferable at this stage, and Berman is trying to cut out as much of the nonsense as possible to facilitate such a resolution. In referencing the court's rules regarding filing motions and the timetables this case is working with, Berman said that "the earth is already sufficiently scorched."
Maybe this will end quickly after all.