BRADY AIMS TO DEFLATE RULING IN COURT
Patriots owner says the league ‘continues to disparage one of its all-time great players’
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Tom Brady took the fight over his “Deflategate” suspension to social media and federal court Wednesday, and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft backed the three-time Super Bowl MVP, saying “I was wrong to put my faith in the league.”
One day after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell rejected Brady’s appeal, the star quarterback posted a 507-word statement on Facebook with his firmest denial yet, writing: “I did nothing wrong.” Kraft followed with an unscheduled address to the media.
“It is completely incomprehensible to me that the league continues to take steps to disparage one of its all-time great players, and a man for whom I have the utmost respect,” Kraft said. “I have come to the conclusion that this was never about doing what was fair and just.”
Just before the courts closed in Minnesota, the NFL Players Association asked the court to overturn Brady’s four-game suspension — or at least put it on hold until the case can be heard. The union asked the court to throw out the suspension before Sept. 4; that would keep Brady from missing any practices before the Patriots’ Sept. 10 season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The lawsuit argues the NFL made up its rules as it went along and misapplied the ones already on the books. In an interview with the AP, union attorney Jeffrey Kessler called it “offensive” that the league accused Brady of destroying his cellphone to obstruct the investigation, a claim Goodell made in upholding the suspension on Tuesday.
Brady defended the cellphone swap on Facebook.
“To suggest that I destroyed a phone to avoid giving the NFL information it requested is completely wrong,” he said. “There is no ‘smoking gun’ and this controversy is manufactured to distract from the fact they have zero evidence of wrongdoing.”
Brady was suspended four games and the Patriots were docked $1 million and two draft picks in May for what the league found was a scheme to provide improperly inflated footballs for the AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts.