Ruling says Brady’s punishment for deflated balls will stand.
Re-Deflated: Brady must serve his 4-game suspension.
The on-again and off again punishment of QB Tom Brady for his role in “Deflate-Gate” is back on.
“2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled 2-to-1 that Commissioner Roger Goodell did not deprive Brady of “fundamental fairness” with his procedural rulings. The split decision may end the legal debate over the scandal that led to months of football fans arguing over air pressure and the reputation of one of the league’s top teams, “ according to AP.
Regardless, if it’s justified or not, “IF” this ruling stands, Tom Brady will end up permanently wearing Deflate-Gate on his legacy like a stained bib on a baby and no matter how much crying he or his fans do, it will never be removed.
His only recourse after this would be the Supreme Court – which would be highly, highly unlikely even for the best pay per head bookie to bet on.
Now the ruling reached wasn’t based on their belief that Brady was guilty or innocent of “Deflate-Gate”, but whether Goodell had acted properly in cases involving the integrity of the game.
The one dissenting judge said, “I am troubled by the Commissioner’s decision to uphold the unprecedented four-game suspension,” Katzmann said. “It is ironic that a process designed to ensure fairness to all players has been used unfairly against one player.”
The destruction of Brady’s cell phone ends up not so slick, after all.
The league argued that it was fair for Goodell to severely penalize Brady after he concluded the prize quarterback tarnished the game by impeding the NFL’s investigation by destroying a cellphone containing nearly 10,000 messages.
Bottom line is that Brady’s defenders can no longer use the lower court ruling to defend Brady. More importantly, Patriots fans will be without their star quarterback for four games this season.
For Dolphins fans this could offer a small window of opportunity as Miami’s week 2 games verse the Patriots would be without Brady. The brutal early schedule might just have become a bit lighter.