Well, well. This is an interesting turn of events for those New England Patriots fans who were hellbent on excusing Tom Brady for everything involving Deflategate. 2015 was the Year of Deflategate (not really) and many people had strong opinions about what Tom Brady knew and when and what he did about that knowledge. There were also strong opinions about whether he should be punished, whether NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell had the right to punish/suspend Brady, or whether something something union. Goodell initially suspended Brady for four games, and Brady (and the players’ union) took Goodell to federal court, where Brady’s suspension was overturned. Immediately after that federal judge’s ruling (nullifying Brady’s suspension), Goodell filed an appeal. And now Goodell has gotten the suspension back.
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will be suspended after all, following 2015’s football-tampering “Defaltegate.” An appeals court ruled on Monday to reinstate the star QB’s suspension for four games, according to the Associated Press and Reuters. The initial four-game suspension came down for Brady’s part in allegedly deflating footballs for an unfair advantage during an AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts.
CNN reports that in Monday’s ruling, the majority of the federal appeals court panel said it believed that Goodell “properly exercised his broad discretion under the collective bargaining agreement and that his procedural rulings were properly grounded in that agreement and did not deprive Brady of fundamental fairness.”
“We are pleased the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled today that the Commissioner properly exercised his authority under the collective bargaining agreement to act in cases involving the integrity of the game,” the NFL said in a statement. “That authority has been recognized by many courts and has been expressly incorporated into every collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and NFLPA for the past 40 years.”
The Patriots had no official comment when reached by ESPN.
According to Around the NFL, “Brady still has legal recourse, and might seek a stay on the decision which would allow him to operate normally while the decision backs its way through the court system again.”
This makes sense to me. To me, the NFL is a weird, arcane, backwards bros-only club, and while I would love to see significant changes in how the NFL is managed, I never doubted that as the NFL functions today, Goodell had the RIGHT to suspend Brady following a thorough in-house investigation. Many sports analysts believe that this drawn-out process was all about money for Brady, considering he renegotiated his contract just last month, and if (and when) he forfeits four games, he’ll be able to save nearly $2 million now – go here to read Deadspin’s breakdown.
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet, WENN, Getty.
This is ridiculous. Hate Tom Brady all you want. I get it. But the guy is being suspended the same amount of games as Greg Hardy did last year…in case you didn’t know. Greg Hardy beat his girl friend up. So according to the NFL beating up your girl friend is the same thing as allegedly deflating some footballs. This is all nonsense. I hope Tom Brady sticks it to the NFL and Rodger Goddell.
Agree 1000% Sam
While what the other guy ( I have no idea who any of these people are) did is muc much MUCH worse, it was not directly connected to the game. Brady’s was. No?
The other guy should have been crimminally charged and spend some time in jail.
The standard penalty for tampering with a football is $25,000 against the team; no suspensions.
The Patriots beat the Colts down 43-7 and ran the ball for like 250 yards. The Patriots running back carried the ball more than Tom Brady held onto the ball. But yes let’s use the “it directly affected the game,” excuse. Even still the punishment is typically a fine not a suspension. And just an FYI other QBs like Aaron Rodgers and Eli Manning have admitted to changing the pressure of the football. Where is their punishment? This is just Rodger Goddell’s ego not being able to handle Tom Brady’s and the Patriots.
Additionally, Brady’s “punishment” is actually not for anything involving the football- the NFL admits it has no proof that anyone deflated the ball or that Brady even knew. The four game suspension is for refusing to give Goodell his personal telephone, which frankly is an issue all employees should be concerned about. Our employers should not be able to demand we hand over our telephones for them to rummage through.
I’m tired of comments about “it didn’t matter, they won by a huge amount, it didn’t win the game for them” – it was still cheating!! The intent was there. That’s all I came to say.
So because they cheated inefficiently they shouldn’t be penalized?
@susiecue, well, except for the facts that 1 the NFL has admitted it never actually found proof that anyone deflated the balls, 2 the NFL admitted it lied to ESPN about its findings; 3 the lower court found that the person with the most opportunity and most motivation to tamper with the Patriots ball was the Colts equipment manager, who had a ball to himself for over 5 minutes before he turned it over to the referee, claiming it felt light
There’s a new article which says 10 sources from around the league have said they hate the patriots but they now don’t believe they did anything. People have taken the time to read information and realize that they didn’t do anything. Teams also recently saw the chiefs get a bizarre, over the top tampering punishment and they’re realizing that Goodell really can do whatever he wants. Goodell also heard their appeal and didn’t reduce it despite other teams clearly getting less punishment for doing the same thing
The patriots hate is fading and people are seeing the real consequences of Goodell having this power.
Brady will likely try to appeal though. The chief judge dissented and there were numerous factual errors in the order to overturn the original ruling. Still a long shot but those things mean he has a better chance than most at getting an appeal.
We can also all lol but if the Adrian Peterson appeal is won by the player’s association, there will be a circuit split when it comes to interpreting article 46 in the cba. Which makes this a real supreme court possibility
The Appeals Court is not debating about the merits of Brady’s actions that led to the suspension. The appeal is based on this simple premise: Does the NFL Commissioner have the right to mete out punishment to players? Did the player get due process?
That’s the simple premise and the Circuit responded to that. They are not going to debate the merits of whether Tommy should be punished for his balls (pun intended).
but maybe the answer is to suspend people who commit violent crimes for longer periods, rather than shorten Brady’s punishment? Also, the NFL is clearly making an example of the Brady situation, and to me it is a clear “cover up is worse than the crime” issue.
How about apply the standard $25,000 fine to the situation?
As a Dolphins fan (and them facing the Patriots week 2), I should be happy about this. I just want it to go away though. I’m over it. Give the pretty boy his legacy and let’s move on to dealing with you know, important problems with football like CTE and domestic violence.
Besides, the Dolphins beat them week 17 last year and made them lose home field in the playoffs with Brady under center so whatever.
Just when Brady though he was out they pull him back in.
But the question is, why now?
The timing isn’t related to anything. The NFL appealed the lower decision. The case was argued months ago with no reason to seek an expedited decision. The appeals panel just processed it in its usual course of business, which is normally several months.
I don’t even like the patriots. Hate tom for supporting Donald.
Most of their players are racist iditios. But it does bother me that men who commit domestic violence get a slap on the wrist in the NFL by Rodger goddell. Remember goddell also denied that cte is a medical condition caused by the sport and stopped funding it. He’s corrupt. That being said tom should accept this punishment and not appeal to the Supreme Court
The next level of appeal is not to the Supreme Court; it is to the full Appeals Court bench.
I hope Brady goes for an en banc appeal. Screw Goodell. Free Brady! There was one dissenter out of the 3 judges so it wasn’t like a grand slam. They’re probably Giants fans anyway 😉
As a Pats fan living in North Carolina, I must say on the top of my “most hated” list are Roger Goodell and Pat McCrory. I vote we send them both to the same deserted island and leave them there.
maybe Jets or Seattle fans…but the Giants fans have no reason to hate the Pats. the Pats did them right.
twice.
But it is a very longstanding hatred that goes back decades.
well, I don’t agree with that…
I’ve been a Giants fan and amongst Giants fans my entire life. never heard any “hatred” for the Pats. Eagles? yes. ‘skins? yes. dallas? OF COURSE.
but it’s the Jets fans that hate the Pats. got a ton of those in my family, too. both Jets and Pats fans, and it’s those two that have the rivalry, at least what I’ve seen.
@Doofus, on the Giants issue, LeeAnnstinks, a Giants fan, just proved my point below
As to the Jets rivalry, that’s a natural rivalry and it makes sense; they’re in the same division. The Giants thing makes no sense
Lilac flowers, Brady can skip all of that and go directly to the Supreme Court. ESPN was discussing his options last night. He only has 1 of 2. Supreme Court or the court of appeals
He has a better chance with the appeals court
You think the Supreme Court will spend time on this nonsense when they have bigger fish to fry (such as cases regarding discrimination, encroachment of people’s rights etc)? If he tries to by pass an en banc hearing at the circuit level, the Supreme Court is just going to slap a rubber stamp cert. denied on the case and close it.
The Supreme Court receives hundreds of cases for potential review. However, they don’t review everything that enters its doors. Only a handful are reviewed each year. So yeah, requesting an en banc review at the circuit level is the better shot.
Whether one thinks this is deserved, or not, in my opinion, this is hardly even a “punishment.”
If they really wanted to hit the Pats where it hurts, they would have suspended Brady for the last four games of the season, when it really counts. Benching him at the start of the season is a joke, why even bother?
Regardless of this one incident, Bellicheat should have been banned from the league ages ago. He is a snake.
Amen @ LeAnn