Tom Brady Appeals 4-Game Suspension For DeflateGate Involvement

New England Patriots quarterback filed an appeal of his four-game suspension stemming from his involvement in the infamous “DeflateGate” scandal on /4/14.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has officially appealed his four-game suspension. 

The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) (via NFL.com’s Kevin Patra) made the announcement on /4/14. Brady’s agent, Don Yee, said he will appeal Brady’s suspension as soon as the league announced it on Sunday. 

The NFLPA issued a statement regarding the matter, per Patra:

“Given the NFL’s history of inconsistency and arbitrary decisions in disciplinary matters, it is only fair that a neutral arbitrator hear this appeal. 

“If Ted Wells and the NFL believe, as their public comments stated, that the evidence in their report is ‘direct’ and ‘inculpatory,’ then they should be confident enough to present their case before someone who is truly independent.”

Tom Brady, NFLPA appeal 4-game suspension: http://t.co/CUojzgFSQB pic.twitter.com/PRypducBWS— NFL (@nfl) /4/14, 2015

The NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) states commissioner Roger Goodell “can hear Brady’s appeal or designate an officer to hear the appeal,” says Patra. NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith can lend advice on who the designated aribtrator will be. 

The NFL.com update says labor lawyer Jeffrey Kessler, who has a good track record against the NFL, will be one of Brady’s representatives. Kessler was one of the New Orleans Saints’ lawyers in the “BountyGate” scandal a few years ago. 

Patra stresses Brady will have to sit out the Patriots’ first four games of the 2015 NFL season without pay should the suspension be upheld. 

The Patriots also issued a response to the 243-page Ted Wells report saying it was “more probable than not” that Brady “was generally aware of the inappropriate activities” which have something to do with deflating game balls used for the Jan. 18 AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts. 

New England’s 20,000 word rebuttal to the report can be read on WellsReportContext.com. According to CNN, it was written by the team’s attorney Daniel L. Goldberg. 

The introduction to the Patriots’ response reads:

“The conclusions of the Wells Report, are, at best, incomplete, incorrect and lack context. The Report dismisses the scientific explanation for the natural loss of psi of the Patriots footballs by inexplicably rejecting the Referee’s recollection of what gauge he used in his pregame inspection.

“Texts acknowledged to be attempts at humor and exaggeration are nevertheless interpreted as a plot to improperly deflate footballs, even none of them refer to any such plot. There is no evidence that Tom Brady preferred footballs that were lower than 12.5 psi and no evidence anyone even thought that he did.

“All the extensive evidence which contradicts how the texts are interpreted by the investigators is simply dismissed as “not plausible.” Inconsistencies in logic and evidence are ignored. 

In another development former Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre told FOX News’ Greta Van Susteren on Tuesday he believes Brady did not cheat:

“I don’t think by any stretch, in my opinion, that Tom was cheating. It sounds crazy. Historically, there’s been stealing of signs — and that goes to baseball and football. Just whatever advantage you could get. 

“Lester Hayes put Stickum on his arms for the (Oakland) Raiders. Pine tar. It’s just endless, the advantages that players would try to get. 

“I don’t know if Tom can honestly say he has completed more passes because of it. I think more than anything, it helped with the grip based on conditions. Not every game. And would other players do it? Sure, I have no reason to think otherwise.” 

Aside from Brady’s four-game suspension, the NFL also fined the Patriots $1 million and forfeited their 2016 first-round draft pick ,per CNN.  

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