After 35 long days the NFL has decided to uphold Tom Brady’s 4 game suspension due to the deflategate scandal. On May 11th Brady was officially punished by the NFL but the appeal came much later on June 23rd. After finding evidence that Mr. Brady destroyed his cell phone the league felt comfortable enough to uphold the suspension.
Below is the official statement released by the NFL:
“On or shortly before March 6, the day that Tom Brady met with independent investigator Ted Wells and his colleagues, Brady directed that the cell phone he had used for the prior four months be destroyed,” the NFL said in a release accompanying Goodell’s full 20-page ruling. “He did so even though he was aware that the investigators had requested access to text messages and other electronic information that had been stored on that phone. “?During the four months that the cell phone was in use, Brady had exchanged nearly 10,000 text messages, none of which can now be retrieved from that device. The destruction of the cell phone was not disclosed until June 18, almost four months after the investigators had first sought electronic information from Brady. “Based on the Wells Report and the evidence presented at the hearing,” the NFL added, “Commissioner Goodell concluded in his decision that Brady was aware of, and took steps to support?, the actions of other team employees to deflate game footballs below the levels called for by the NFL’s Official Playing Rules. The commissioner found that Brady’s deliberate destruction of potentially relevant evidence went beyond a mere failure to cooperate in the investigation and supported a finding that he had sought to hide evidence of his own participation in the underlying scheme to alter the footballs.”
This story is far from over as the NFLPA and Brady’s legal team are preparing sue to league according to NFL.com’s Ian Rappoport.
Tom Brady & NFLPA will see the NFL in court. 2 options: fast-track it with an injunction or slow-play, keep it going until after the season
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 28, 2015
It’s unclear how long this long this legal process could take but if it’s anything like the Adrian Peterson scandal the suspension could be halted until 2016 if it’s not removed entirely. If everything does hold status quo, second year quarterback from Eastern Illinois Jimmy Garappolo will start the first four games for New England. Of course this may not be a bad thing as Garappolo may be one of the best kept secrets in the league reminding me of a young Tony Romo. Either way I expect the Patriots to once again win the AFC East regardless of whether Tom Brady is ultimately suspended for good.
