DEFLATING DAY
NFL commissioner shoots down appeal; Brady ban stands.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has upheld the fourgame suspension of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, one of the league’s biggest stars, for his role in the deflation of footballs used in the AFC Championship game in January.
The league said in a 20-page statement Tuesday that its decision was partly based on Brady’s ordering the destruction of potential evidence, a cellphone that he had used during the week of the game and afterward. The destruction of the phone, which occurred shortly before Brady met with the league-appointed investigator, was not revealed by Brady until his appeal hearing in June.
“He did so even though he was aware that the investigators had requested access to text messages and other electronic information that had been stored on that phone,” Goodell said in his decision.
“During the four months that the cellphone was in use, Brady had exchanged nearly 10,000 text messages, none of which can now be retrieved from that device.”
The text messages were critical to Wells’ investigation because they could have shown details of Brady’s messages with equipment managers blamed for deflating footballs.
Wells’ investigation had no subpoena power and Brady was under no legal obligation to co-operate.
The report, commissioned by the league and released on May 11, found “substantial and credible evidence” that Brady was “at least generally aware” that two Patriots employees tampered with game balls, prompting the NFL to suspend him for four regularseason games without pay.
The NFL Players Association has previously said it would challenge the decision in court if Brady’s suspension wasn’t erased. The union said Tuesday afternoon it would have a statement later in the day. The Patriots said they had no comment on the decision.
A deflated football is said to be easier to grip, especially in the cold and wet conditions that the Patriots faced at home against the Indianapolis Colts on Jan. 18.
In assessing the penalty, which included fining the Patriots and taking away two future draft picks, Troy Vincent, the league’s executive vice president for football operations, said it was unlikely
During four months, he had exchanged nearly 10,000 messages
that the team employees could have deflated the balls without Brady’s knowledge. He also said Brady did not fully cooperate with the league’s investigation.
Brady denied knowing anything about the tampering of footballs and appealed the suspension. The NFL Players Association called for an independent arbitrator to hear the case, but Goodell said he would hear the appeal, despite what many saw as a conflict of interest.
In May, Goodell hinted that Brady’s reluctance to cooperate with the investigation was critical to the league’s decision to suspend him and that the league would look more kindly on him if he was more forthcoming.
Goodell heard Brady’s appeal in New York on June 23.
Patriots owner Robert K. Kraft disputed the league’s decision to fine his team $1 million and take away two draft picks, including a first-round choice in 2016. But teams are unable to appeal league penalties, and Kraft eventually said he would no longer dispute the league’s findings.
Brady, who will be allowed to participate in off-season, training camp and preseason activities, can still sue the league in court. This year, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson successfully argued in federal court that the arbitrator who heard his appeal was not independent.
The Patriots, who have won four NFL titles since the 2001 season, have often been viewed as a team willing to bend or skirt rules. It is the second time in eight years the Patriots have been disciplined by the league. In 2007, New England and coach Bill Belichick were fined $750,000 and lost a first-round draft pick after the Patriots videotaped New York Jets coaches’ signals in violation of league rules.
On July 10, a league-appointed arbitrator ruled on an appeal by Greg Hardy, a defensive lineman on the Dallas Cowboys who was suspended in April for 10 games for his role in a domestic violence case last year, when he played for the Carolina Panthers. His suspension was reduced to four regular-season games.
Hardy had received the stiffest penalty handed out under the league’s new and stronger personal-conduct policy because he was convicted in North Carolina of domestic abuse. Although the decision was overturned on appeal because his former girlfriend Nicole Holder refused to testify against him, the league’s own two-month investigation found that Hardy had used physical force against Holder in at least four instances.
Hardy’s appeal was heard by Harold Henderson, who has been criticized by the players association as being biased. When Henderson upheld a ruling against Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, the players association went to court on his behalf. A federal judge then vacated Henderson’s ruling, allowing Peterson to return to the Vikings.