It was announced this afternoon that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has upheld the 4 game suspensions levied to Tom Brady in the Deflate-gate scandal. In recent days rumblings around the league have surfaced that some NFL owners have been very outspoken with Goodell asking him not to reduce the suspension on Brady.
Goodell in a statement said he found that Brady's act "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 scheme." Goodell confirmed new information that somewhere around March 6, Brady had destroyed the cell phone that was used to send text messages to the ball boys he allegedly ordered to deflate the balls.
What happens from here will be very interesting. Brady, through his legal team, has threatened to take the matter to federal court should the penalty not get reduced. Now that there is no reduction, will Brady carry this threat through?
If Brady takes this to court, he most likely would not have his case heard until after the season. That would mean that Brady could get an injunction and doesn’t miss any games this season as he waits for his trial to take place.
I fully expected Roger Goodell to reduce the suspension to just a fine. The fact that he is holding Brady’s feet to the fire tells me that Brady destroying his phone was the smoking gun for Goodell, and rightfully so. Brady was arrogant enough to think he could get away with this. He even laughed it off when originally asked about it. Who is laughing now Tom?
The Tom Brady legacy as we know it will forever have the “cheater” cloud hanging over it. It will be interesting to see how he is treated going forward.
Will Brady accept the suspension and take his medicine or will he push forward on his threat to take this to federal court? The deflated ball is in his court..