“Mr. Brady’s failure to cooperate and his destruction of potentially relevant evidence are significant because of the ability to conduct an investigation – whether by NFL staff or by independent parties retained by the NFL – ultimately depends on cooperation”, Goodell said in Tuesday’s ruling.
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In addition to having knowledge of the deflated balls, Brady is accused of destroying his cell phone prior to his meeting with Ted Wells – the investigator hired by the league to determine whether the Patriots broke the rules (again). Brady had exchanged almost 10,000 text messages with Patriots ball-boys, none of which can now be retrieved from that device. The league might have solidified its decision when it learned Brady had ordered that his phone be destroyed, as noted in Goodell’s 20-page report.
Records of an inordinate and unusual amount of phone calls and text messages with equipment assistant John Jastremski in the days after Deflategate broke were now conveniently gone.
Reported by Pro Football Talk, Goodell and the NFL released a statement on Tuesday, saying that “important new information” in the appeal process played into the outcome of the decision, including what Brady did regarding his cell phone from the time of the alleged incidents.
Last week, I editorialized that Brady should get two games, that two games would be appropriate given the fact that while the Wells Report had evidence on Brady, the fact is, the report connected a number of dots while failing to summarily prove that Brady initiated the ball-deflation scheme. The Patriots were fined $1 million and docked a pair of draft picks but haven’t appealed that penalty.
Tom Brady has authorized the NFLPA to appeal his case in federal court, per source. The Patriots then beat Baltimore 35-31 and Indianapolis 45-7 to reach the Super Bowl for the sixth time in the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era.
Second-year quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is expected to start in place of Brady. “And the NFL has no evidence that anything inappropriate occurred”. While Brady will likely not back down and instead focus his efforts on legal warfare against the NFL, he may be disappointed with the results. While Brady isn’t the normal person by any means, destroying his cell phone on the day he was interviewed by Wells and his investigative team seems more than suspicious. We can not comprehend the league’s position in this matter. The 31-year-old Portland resident is convinced that a federal judge will exonerate Brady and reduce his suspension to zero games. According to NFL Media Insider, Ian Rapoport, Brady will sue and seek an injunction on his suspension in hopes of staying on the field.
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Goodell himself decided to hear the appeal, a move that has been derided by the NFL Players Association but within his rights as defined by the labor agreement.
