Staff Writer
Super Bowl winning quarterback Tom Brady has been suspended four games without pay and the Patriots have been fined $1 million and will lose a first-round pick in 2016 and a fourth-round pick in 2017 in relation to the “Deflategate” case. Attorney Ted Wells was hired by the NFL to investigate the case, and the suspension comes just a week after Well’s report was released. The report found that "it is more probable than not" that Brady was "at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities" of locker room attendant Jim McNally and equipment assistant John Jastremski. Both attendants have been suspended without pay by the Patriots, and if they were to be reinstated, the two would be prohibited from managing the locker room or overseeing preparation of the game footballs. The 243-page report also stated that Brady, who answered questions over the course of a single day, refused to turn over his phone for printouts to be made of his e-mails and texts. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell felt the punishment matched the crime in this case, stating, "We relied on the critical importance of protecting the integrity of the game and the thoroughness and independence of the Wells report."
Brady’s agent, Don Yee, blasted the
report and guaranteed an appeal. "In my opinion, this outcome was
predetermined; there was no fairness in the Wells investigation
whatsoever," Yee said in a statement. "There is no evidence that Tom
directed footballs be set at pressures below the allowable limits." Yee
went on to say, “…the discipline is ridiculous and has no legitimate basis,”
and that once the appeal is heard by a neutral party, Well’s report “will be
exposed as an incredibly frail exercise in fact-finding and logic." The
team, though, has not wavered on Brady, giving him their unconditional support.
The Well’s report itself never said
Brady tampered with the footballs, rather that interviews and texts involving
McNally and Jastremski were Brady’s downfall. Brady’s legacy has been discussed
as well, some saying he will forever be seen as a cheat from here on. Others
point to the document’s repeated use of words such as “probable” and
“generally” in their case that Brady’s legacy will remain untarnished. Either way,
nothing is official of course with the news that the NFL Players Association
filed an appeal on Thursday, May 14, saying a neutral party should hear the
argument. Later that day it was announced that neutral party will be
Commissioner Goodell. The NFLPA stated, "Commissioner Goodell will hear
the appeal of Tom Brady's suspension in accordance with the process agreed upon
with the NFL Players Association in the 2011 collective bargaining
agreement." Only time will tell how things pan out in Foxborough.
