By Mike McCarthy
New England Patriots Quarterback, Tom Brady has been suspended for four games due to his “probable” involvement in the “Deflategate” scandal. The two-time league MVP has been at the center of the investigation after 11 of 12 footballs were found to be inflated less than the minimum allowed in the AFC Championship against the Indianapolis Colts.
There has been a long process of investigation by Ted Wells, the same man who investigated the concussion issue that been going on in the NFL. Four months after the investigation the punishment came down on the Patriots by using words like “probably” and “generally aware”. There was no definitive answer as to if the Patriots or Tom Brady actually knew about the balls being deflated, but the punishment still came down on the team. Not only will Brady be suspended, but the team has been fined $1 Million, a 1st round pick in next years draft and a 4th round pick in the 2017 draft. This is the harshest punishment any team has ever received by the league. This is what the Patriots owner, Robert Kraft had to say about the punishment:
“Despite our conviction that there was no tampering with footballs, it was our intention to accept any discipline levied by the league. Today’s punishment, however, far exceeded any reasonable expectation. It was based completely on circumstantial rather than hard or conclusive evidence.
“We are humbled by the support the New England Patriots have received from our fans throughout the world. We recognize our fans’ concerns regarding the NFL’s penalties and share in their disappointment in how this one-sided investigation was handled, as well as the dismissal of the scientific evidence supported by the Ideal Gas Law in the final report.
“Tom Brady has our unconditional support. Our belief in him has not wavered.”
The Patriots and Brady will obviously be appealing the suspension as soon as possible. Compared to the suspensions given over the last season to crimes that were much worse, Brady’s will go down as the worst of our time.
Jared Zero