Robert Kraft, the Jewish owner of the New England Patriots, criticized the National Football League for suspending Patriots’ star quarterback Tom Brady for the first four games of the upcoming season.
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Appearing at team headquarters Wednesday, a day after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell upheld a four-game suspension of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, Kraft angrily targeted the league for its handling of the case.
The lawsuit was filed a day after Goodell upheld Brady’s suspension and after the league asked a federal court in New York to affirm that decision. Brady said he did nothing wrong, breaking down his decision to switch from a Samsung to an iPhone. New England advanced to the Super Bowl where they beat Seattle 28-24.
“Brady plays for a team in Massachusetts; the Union is headquartered in Washington, DC; the NFL is headquartered in New York; the arbitration proceedings took place in New York; and the awared was issued in New York”.
“Six months removed from the AFC championship game, the league still has no hard evidence of anybody doing anything to tamper with the PSI levels of footballs”, Kraft said. The three-time Super Bowl MVP also denied allegations that he destroyed his cell phone to prevent investigators from gaining access. He said this ruling by the NFL was never about being “fair or just”. “He only can control what he can do, and his job is to perform on the field for the Patriots and their fans – and that’s what he wants to get back to”. Brady said he replaced a broken phone only after his lawyers told the league they couldn’t have it.
Brady lashed out on social media Wednesday, claiming there is no Deflategate smoking gun, no evidence that he had any involvement in deflating footballs.
The NFLPA, in their petition, argued that Minnesota – not New York – was where the petition should proceed because there was precedent for Brady’s appeal that the Minnesota court dealt with during appeals of discipline given to Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.
Aaron Shea, a former teammate of Brady’s at Michigan who had No. 12 as a groomsman in his wedding, said that it’s common practice for the ultra-famous Brady to discard of his cellphone.
“Of course, I think Tom Brady is arguably as great a quarterback as we have ever competed against since I have been in pro football”, Jones said.
In the Facebook post, Brady said he authorized the players’ union to make a settlement offer but the league didn’t make a counteroffer.
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The players union said it will soon file a motion seeking an injunction for relief from the ruling prior to September 4, when the Patriots begin final preparations for their first regular season game against Pittsburgh on September 10.
