There shouldn’t be much doubt behind Brady’s candidacy for the Hall of Fame based on his numbers, even if he never stepped foot on a football field again.
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“Eventually the two sides will reach a settlement in court and Brady will serve a one-game suspension – you certainly don’t want to risk being suspended too late in the year, a.k.a. the playoffs – with my guess being Week 3 (home against the Jaguars) or Week 9 (home against the Redskins)”.
Brady has professed his innocence since the onset of the investigation. Ira Kaufman, Tampa Tribune: In terms of Brady’s credentials for Canton, Deflategate will not substantially alter my view of him as a certain first-ballot Hall of Famer. It’s unclear how long the commish will take to make his ruling, but ESPN Boston’s Mike Reiss thinks it’s highly unlikely that the four-game ban will be thrown out completely. And if Goodell rules against Brady’s appeal, fans should prepare for this story to last well into training camp and preseason as Brady’s team will prepare for a legal battle in federal court. But with Roger Goodell only suppose to get the appeal briefs by then, there maybe a delay in the decision from the league office.
The Patriots first preseason game comes on August 13 against the Green Bay Packers at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. When Brady went down with an injury in the opening game of the 2008 campaign, Matt Cassel played the remainder of the season and led New England to an 11-5 record.
Another report, this one from Ian Rappoport of the NFL’s own media outlet NFL.com, offered a somewhat more optimistic assessment, saying that Goodell would likely offer his decision after the first weekend in July.
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“I don’t know what the timetable is”, said Jeffrey Kessler, the attorney who represented Brady at the hearing.
