'Deflategate' punishments handed down: Now what?

The NFL came down hard on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots for the football-deflating incident. What are people saying around the league? And is this just the beginning? 

|
Lucy Nicholson/FILE/Reuters
FILE PHOTO- New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady warms-up ahead of the start of the NFL Super Bowl XLIX football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Glendale, Arizona, in this photo from February 1. Brady was suspended for the first four games of next season, and the Patriots were fined $1 million in the wake of the scandal for using under-inflated footballs in last season's AFC Championship game. REUTERS/

For the second time in less than a decade, the New England Patriots are being punished for breaking the rules. 

In 2007, the team was fined $250,000 and docked a first-round draft pick for "Spygate," in which the Patriots were found to have videotaped an opposing team coach's signals, in violation of the rules. The Patriots' head coach, Bill Belichick, was fined $500,000.

And on Monday, the NFL came down on the team again, this time for intentionally deflating footballs for the AFC Championship game in January, in an incident that has come to be known as "Deflategate."

This time, the penalty is more severe, including a $1 million fine against the team, and the loss of the Patriots' 1st round pick in the 2016 draft and their 4th round pick in the 2017 draft.

But what has Patriots' fans most upset is that the team's star quarterback, Tom Brady, has been suspended for four games "for conduct detrimental to the integrity of the NFL," according to a statement from the league. An investigation commissioned by the NFL found that Mr. Brady was "generally aware" of the release of air from the balls, and said that Brady did not cooperate with the inquiry by not making text messages he exchanged with clubhouse personnel available to investigators.

As one might expect, Twitter has been awash with outpouring from Patriots supporters and detractors alike: 

In addition to changing their Twitter avatar, Patriots owner Robert Kraft issued a statement saying that the team viewed the punishment as excessive.

Mr. Kraft originally said that the team would accept any punishment handed down by the league, but "[t]oday’s punishment," he wrote, "far exceeded any reasonable expectation. It was based completely on circumstantial rather than hard or conclusive evidence."

Kraft added that Brady “has our unconditional support. Our belief in him has not wavered.”

For his part, Brady's agent, Don Yee, announced that the quarterback would appeal the league's decision. 

Sports Illustrated's Peter King went as far as to say that Brady could theoretically take the matter to court.

According to Mr. King, there is still the possibility that Brady's appeal could be granted and his suspension is commuted or lifted entirely because of the lack of definitive proof that Brady ordered Patriots' employees to deflate the balls. But this appeal could hinge upon making Brady's testimony to the NFL's investigation available, which was omitted from the league's final report. 

Kevin Kaduk at Yahoo! Sports suggested that, if Brady really wants to show up the league, now may be the time for him to retire. After all, with four Super Bowl wins, Brady has accomplished nearly everything the game has to offer.

Brady's suspension seems harsh compared to punishments handed down to other players. For instance, in 2008 former quarterback Brett Favre received no suspension for refusing to hand over his cell phone to league investigators after being involved in a sexual harassment case while with the New York Jets.

Other quarterbacks have discussed their personal preferences for footballs, such as Green Bay Packers star Aaron Rodgers or former player Brad Johnson, who admitted to paying ball boys to scuff up footballs used in the 2003 Super Bowl against Oakland. Neither has come under investigation by the NFL.

Therefore, Brady may have some leverage to gain if he opted to walk away. It would make NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell appear as though he chased one of the all-time great quarterbacks into retirement. As Yahoo! Sports' Kaduk wrote: 

Quit and the irreplaceable Brady becomes a hero to all the NFL players who are consistently told they’re replaceable by the league and left vulnerable by the weakest of professional player unions.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to 'Deflategate' punishments handed down: Now what?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2015/0512/Deflategate-punishments-handed-down-Now-what
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe