Your move, Tom Brady.
The NFL didn't budge on Tuesday. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, five weeks after hearing Brady's appeal over the deflate-gate issue, kept his suspension at four games. That's the same suspension for Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy in his domestic violence case. The NFLPA, via reports, has been planning to take the NFL to federal court if Brady's suspension wasn't completely overturned.
Brady destroying his cell phone before he met with investigator Ted Wells was the crux of Goodell's ruling. Here's the NFL's statement in the ruling:
"In the opinion informing Brady that his appeal had been denied, Commissioner Goodell emphasized important new information disclosed by Brady and his representatives in connection with the hearing.
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. 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, 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."
The full report said that Brady testified it's his practice to destroy his cell phones and/or SIM cards, or give them to his assistant to destroy, at about the same time he began using his new cell phone. He did so on or about March 6, which is when he met with Wells.
The NFLPA presented its case during a lengthy appeal on June 23 at the NFL offices. According to reports more than 40 people were at the hearing. There was more than 10 hours of testimony.
While few details of the appeal hearing were leaked, it was expected that the NFLPA's attorneys would attack holes in Wells' report, specifically the lack of evidence tying Brady to any specific wrongdoing, and the union's lawyers would also attack the scientific findings found in Wells' report.
The drama started shortly after the AFC championship game, when a report said the Colts claimed the Patriots were using footballs that were under the 12.5 pounds per square inch (psi) requirement set forth by NFL rules. Many of the Patriots' footballs were found to be under-inflated when the officials inspected them at halftime of that game. In a news conference before the Super Bowl, Brady said he didn't alter the ball in any way.
The NFL tabbed Wells to investigate, and his 243-page report famously and ambiguously said it was "more probable than not" that Brady was "at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities of" two Patriots employees, equipment assistant John Jastremski and officials locker room attendant Jim McNally. The report never said specifically what Brady knew or how it figured he was a part of any conspiracy. Brady was suspended four games by the NFL, the Patriots were fined $1 million and were stripped of two draft picks, including a 2016 first-round pick. Brady appealed the suspension, and although the NFLPA objected, Goodell decided he would oversee the appeal and rule on it. On May 19, Patriots owner Robert Kraft accepted the punishment by the NFL, saying it was best for the league as a whole if everyone moved on from deflate-gate.
The entire ordeal has spawned plenty of conversations about Brady's legacy. Brady strengthened his case as the greatest quarterback in NFL history when he won his fourth Super Bowl last season, winning Super Bowl MVP honors after a fantastic fourth-quarter comeback against the Seattle Seahawks' top-ranked defense. When Brady was asked, in his only public comments on the matter immediately after Wells' report was released, if the controversy tainted the Patriots' latest Super Bowl win, he replied, "No, absolutely not."
The Patriots start their Super Bowl defense on Thursday, Sept. 10 at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL's regular-season opener.
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