The Patriots beat the Colts 45-7 on their way to winning the Super Bowl, the fourth NFL crown from Brady.
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Brady, it should be noted, denied in a statement on his Facebook page Wednesday that he exchanged any texts or emails whatsoever regarding air pressure in footballs before the Deflategate story broke nationally in the wake of the AFC Championship Game on January 18.
Garoppolo is in line to start the first four weeks of the season if Brady’s suspension is upheld in federal court.
The Patriots remain uncertain who will be the starting quarterback when they face Pittsburgh in September in the NFL season opener since Brady, a four-time Super Bowl victor, has been suspended for four games by the league but is taking the case to court in a union-backed appeal.
The NFL Players Association has been asked to have a response to the NFL complaint ready by August 13.
In the statement, Brady said he is disappointed in the league’s decision, but he stands by his assertion that he and no one on the Patriots did anything wrong.
“There is no ‘smoking gun, ‘ and this controversy is manufactured to distract from the fact they have zero evidence of wrongdoing”, the 37-year-old quarterback said in his post. He outlines his side of the “destroyed” cell phone story that has been generated by the latest NFL report. Additionally, U.S. District Judge David Doty has heard many cases related to the NFL and has at times sided with the NFLPA, including when he overturned the suspension of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.
“I have come to the conclusion that this was never about doing what was fair and just”, Kraft said, apologizing to fans and to Brady.
In Goodell’s appeal decision, he outlined convincing evidence that Tom Brady was indeed involved in a scheme to deflate game-day footballs below acceptable limits.
Jeffrey Kessler, the lead attorney for Brady and the union, said the location is irrelevant.
What Goodell did not say was how he knew that Brady’s phone contained “10,000” text messages – except in a single footnote, in which he acknowledged that the source of that figure was Brady himself.
“We presented the commissioner with an unprecedented amount of electronic data, all of which is incontrovertible”, said Don Yee, Brady’s lawyer.
“As the NFLPA points out, the NFL did not investigate or discipline the Jets kicker for “general awareness” or specific involvement, even though the Jets kicker (like Brady in this case) was the player most likely to benefit from the behavior and, in turn, the player most likely to be aware of the conduct”. The coach, as is his practice, declined to comment on the scandal. “We’re going to take it day to day, just like we always do”.
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Kraft said he expected Brady’s suspension to be reduced on appeal, and repeated the team’s claim that the league failed to prove its case.
