Apparently, in the eyes of the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell, one does not need to be found guilty to be punished for an alleged crime.
The NFL hammered Tom Brady and the New England Patriots for their role in Deflategate Monday. Brady was unjustly issued a four-game suspension. The Patriots were handed a $1 million fine. They will also be forced to fork over a future 2016 first-round pick and 2017 fourth-round pick.
Brady’s agent Don Yee responded to the announcement saying, the suspension “is ridiculous and has no legitimate basis.” Yee could not be any more accurate with his assessment.
For those blinded by Patriots hate, the punishment seems fit. But lets be real here, being “probably at least generally aware,” of deflated footballs does not equate to such a dramatic punishment. Goodell needed to please the uproar among the masses and he certainly succeeded in doing just that, but issuing such a stiff punishment based off the questionable Wells Reports is a definite outrage.
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The harshness of Brady’s four game suspension most likely in part stems from his refusal to turnover his cell phone to investigators when Ted Wells and his group was conducting their investigation. That clearly ticked off the NFL, but Brady was in no way out of line. Wells was not conducting a criminal investigation, therefore Brady was not obligated to cooperate with such a request.
Secondly, the NFL deemed Brady’s alleged actions as “detrimental” to the integrity of the game.
“Your actions as set forth in the report clearly constitute conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the game of professional football. The integrity of the game is of paramount importance to everyone in our league, and requires unshakable commitment to fairness and compliance with the playing rules. Each player, no matter how accomplished and otherwise respected, has an obligation to comply with the rules and must be held accountable for his actions when those rules are violated and the public’s confidence in the game is called into question,” the NFL wrote in a letter to Brady.
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Upholding the integrity of the game is certainly of great importance, but the NFL is still out of line to assume Brady violated the rules when the Wells Report cited no concrete evidence of his involvement in Deflategate.
Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount summed the NFL’s ruling up with absolute perfection, tweeting “THIS IS ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!”
Brady will appeal the suspension along with the NFL Players Association. It’s believed at least a pair of games could be shaved off the suspension, but that remains to be seen. As things stand right now, Brady will square off against the Indianapolis Colts when his suspension expires.