Make Your Prediction: Brady's Suspension Appeal

[Greg Ambrosius]

And this is what Goodell created: Before the upcoming season this is all anyone is going to talk about. He really wants Deflategate to be the buzzword of the 2015 NFL season when he could have easily handled this differently right away. The incompetence of the NFL is that they didn't have better guidelines, measuring procedures and punishment standards for the air pressure in the balls. This is all on the NFL.

But more importantly, we should all be thankful that there are still 6 more years left on the Collective Bargaining Agreement because Goodell's power is going to be a MAJOR negotiating point next time. Nobody wanted the Strike of 2011 to continue over this battleground, but it will definitely be a top negotiating item next time around. There's no way the players trust Goodell or the owners going forward that discipline will be handed out fairly under the current setup. The Strike of 2021 could be a long one folks, so be prepared. Or maybe we'll just have a new commissioner by then.

[BigBlueNation]

I've always wondered!!! If the deflated balls were such an egregious act, at halftime of the Colts/Pats game when the officials found the balls deflated, which they reinflated, why weren't the Pats penalized before kickoff of the second half for a rules infraction? Do you think if a penalty had occurred, we wouldn't be where we are today? Or is this just wishful thinking?

[Tom Kessenich]

If this was such a horrific transgression why didn't a single game official notice the difference in the balls during the game? The lead official handles the ball AFTER EVERY SINGLE PLAY and never noticed anything. This was considered such an enormous offense that Ted Wells even acknowledged in his report the NFL didn't take the complaints of the Ravens and Colts seriously before the AFC Title Game.

What a joke.

[Old School]

Your'e deflecting Tom. There may be answers to all those questions you ask. In fact, I dont care that he deflated them.
Doesnt make much difference IMO. If he would have just come clean...and not lied and destroyed his phone...I think it all goes away.

I dont think Brady serves any suspension this season honestly. The only reason he will go to court is to get an injunction to appeal thereby allowing him to play until the case is done...which wont happen for months and months.. I think by the time he folds the lawsuit and is ready to serve his suspension, it will be at least next season and Tommy may decide to retire.

[Tom Kessenich]

Your'e deflecting Tom.

I disagree. I produced two relevant and comparable cases in which the punishment each time was a fine. Yet somehow Brady now deserves to miss the same amount of time as someone who beat up and threatened to kill someone. Sorry, but I'm struggling to wrap my brain around any of this from a common sense perspective.

[Jim Wiseheart]

The punishment seems to be more about the coverup and Brady's destruction of his phone and less to do with ordering deflation of footballs. I agree the deflategate should have been one game max or a fine. However, Brady claims he destroyed his phone as "ordinary practice" yet investigators found two of Brady's other old cellphones. Brady used three cellphones from Spring 2014 until April 8 2015 and the only one destroyed is the one with the incriminating texts. This is per today's USA Today article.

[Tom Kessenich]

Actually, the NFL is saying Brady destroys his phones. Brady is saying it was simply broken and at no time was he told failing to turn it over would result in punishment. I found Brady's post on Facebook today to be a very credible rebuttal to what the league had to say on Tuesday.

Here's what Brady said regarding his cell phone:

“I also disagree with yesterdays narrative surrounding my cellphone. I replaced my broken Samsung phone with a new iPhone 6 AFTER my attorneys made it clear to the NFL that my actual phone device would not be subjected to investigation under ANY circumstances. As a member of a union, I was under no obligation to set a new precedent going forward, nor was I made aware at any time during Mr. Wells investigation, that failing to subject my cell phone to investigation would result in ANY discipline.

[Jim Wiseheart]

That seems possible, but the ruling does say Brady instructed his assistant to destroy the phone (not sure why Tom couldn't destroy his own phone). I'm assuming the NFL interviewed the assistant and is not making that part up. I'm also assuming the assistant is not making up the story. Maybe he was just destroying an already broken phone. Who knows.

I agree with you Tom that Goodell could have just reduced it to one game and everyone could have moved on. Everyone could have handled this much better though, including Mr. Brady.

Greg, what's up with disparaging my man Andy Griffith by comparing him with Roger Goodell?

[Tom Kessenich]

Bob Kraft just pulled out both guns and took aim at Roger Goodell. The war is on now.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Greg, what's up with disparaging my man Andy Griffith by comparing him with Roger Goodell?

One of my favorite shows is the "Andy Griffith Show". There Andy was sheriff of a small town and he could arrest a guy in the morning and be the judge for his hearing in the afternoon. Goodell is the same way: He decides who gets punished and then slips on his appellate judge robe to determine if he made the right decision. It's totally unfair and the NFL is being run like Mayberry RFD. It's more like Barney Fife is running the NFL.

Do we all agree that four games for Brady is absurd? Especially when you consider a federal judge agreed that Greg Hardy's 4-game suspension for unthinkable acts was justified, down from Goodell's 10-game suspension. So if an unbiased judge saw this evidence, couldn't we all agree that it would be less than 4 games? Goodell could have easily reduced it to 1 or 2 games and forced Brady's hands to still appeal it. But to do nothing seems arrogant and more about Roger trying to look tough to the other owners than fair to the players.

I predict that Tom Brady lasts in the NFL longer than Roger Goodell. No player is bigger than the shield, no doubt about that. But no commissioner is bigger than the shield, either. He's lost Kraft's support for good, which will be key. And the players will never agree to a deal with Roger in charge. I see things unraveling on that front.

The MVP in all of this is Kraft. Who wouldn't want an owner like that? Kudos to him today for ripping the league and Goodell. Deflategate is a joke and not worthy of the attention it has received. Let's move on and start a new season.