NFL Upholds Brady’s 4 Game Suspension

Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Joe Calabro, GoLocalWorcester Sports Team

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has upheld Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's four game suspension for his role in deflategate.

Read Roger Goodell's Final Decision here.

Goodell's announcement sites that, "by the time of the AFC Championship Game, the inflation level of the footballs was a matter of particular interest to Mr. Brady," and that Brady told the Patriots equipment staff that he wanted the footballs inflated at the lowest permissible level.

Brady Not Cooperating

One of the biggest talking points throughout the appeal process was the fact that Brady did not hand over his cell phone. Goodell had the following to say:

"Mr. Brady explained that when he changes cell phones, he gives his old cell phone to an assistant with the instruction 'to destroy the phone so that no one can ever, you know, reset it or do something where the information  is available to anyone.'"

Goodell  goes on " Mr. Brady's direction that his cell phone (and its relevant evidence) be destroyed on or about March 6 is very troubling. Rather than simply failing to cooperate, Mr. Brady made a deliberate effort to ensure that investigators  would never have access to information that he had been asked to produce.

Goodell goes on to say that, "Mr. Brady's denials of involvement in the tampering scheme were not credible, I found that Mr. Brady had failed to cooperate with the investigation. "

Goodell Concludes

Goodell concludes his reasoning by saying, "The four-game suspension is confirmed. In response to a concern raised by the NFLPA, this will confirm that compensation of the intervening bye week will be paid to Mr. Brady in equal installments over the remainder of the season once he returns from suspension."

What is Next

According to reports, Tom Brady has given the NFLPA authorization to appeal in federal court.

Barring a court ruling in his favor, Brady will miss the first four games of the NFL season and return in week six against the Indianapolis Colts. Brady is eligible to practice ad play in all preseason games with the team.

The Patriots first preseason game is August 13 against the Green Bay Packers at Gillette Stadium.

Training Camp Opens

The New England Patriots are set to open training camp on Thursday, July 30 at the practice fields behind Gillette Stadium. The camp is free and open to the public.

  • The Suspension

    Tom Brady was suspended for four games by the NFL on May 11 for his role in deflating footballs.

    According to the Wells Report, "It is more probable than not that Tom Brady (the quarterback for the Patriots) was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities."

    Tom Brady has yet to make a public comment on the report, except at a speaking engagement at Salem State, where he claimed to "have no reaction" to the report. 

    However, his agent, Don Yee, came out very strongly once the suspension was handed down.

    “The discipline is ridiculous and has no legitimate basis. In my opinion, this outcome was pre-determined; there was no fairness in the Wells investigation whatsoever. There is no evidence that Tom directed footballs be set at pressures below the allowable limits," said Yee in a statement.

    As it stands now (pre appeal result), Brady's first game back would be against the Indianapolis Colts in mid-October.

     

  • Jeffery Kessler

    Shortly after the suspension was handed down, Tom Brady hired attorney Jeffery Kessler to represent him at hs appeal hearing.

    Kessler has a histroy of winning big cases against the NFL, most recently a case in which Adrian Peterson was accused in May of 2014 for beating his son with a branch of a tree. 

    The case went to federal court and Peterson's suspension was vacated. He was reinstated on April 15, 2015.

    Kessler has also represented player associations in all major sports (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL) and individual athletes in the NFL, NBA, AFL and MLS.

     

  • Goodell the Arbitrator

    In mid-May, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell appointed himself as the arbitrator in the hearing, despite the NFLPA demanding that an independent arbitrator be hired in a letter to the league.

    Excerpt From Letter

    This letter will serve as a formal demand that the Commissioner follow the Rice precedent and appoint an independent person to serve as arbitrator over Mr. Brady’s appeal. If the Commissioner does not appoint such a neutral arbitrator, the NFLPA and Mr. Brady will seek recusal and pursue all available relief to obtain an arbitrator who is not evidently partial.

    Despite the NFLPA asking Goodell to recuse himself on a few other occasions, Goodell has refused to do so saying "I look forward to hearing directly from Tom if there is new information or there is information that can be helpful to us in getting this right."

     

  • Ted Wells at the Appeal

    On Monday, June 22, it was reported that Ted Wells will be at Brady's appeal hearing and will likely testify.

    Since the release of the report, Ted Wells has come under criticism from all angles, including a Wells Report Rebuttal, released by the Patriots, and has gone on a conference call with media members to defend his report.

    “It is wrong to criticize my independence, just because you disagree with my findings," Wells said on the call.

    With Jeffery Kessler doing the questioning, Wells will have to defend his report again.

     

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