Tom Brady ‘Deflategate’: Reaction and memes

Steve asked Jason if he was surprised by the decision of Judge Berman to overturn Tom Brady’s 4 game suspension.

U.S. District Judge Richard Berman s decision in New York was a major setback for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who had suspended Brady for his alleged role in a scheme to deflate footballs used in the Patriots January playoff victory.

Brady broke his silence Friday night.

Brady has insisted he played no role in a conspiracy to deflate footballs below the allowable limit at last season’s AFC championship game. The commissioner argued Brady knew that game balls in a playoff game against Indianapolis past year were being inflated to pressure below league standards. Yet conclusions about Brady himself were sparse after reviewing the NFL’s investigative report, Goodell’s arbitration hearing with Brady and other evidence.

Another person familiar with the league’s inner workings said Friday it is too soon to know whether enough owners favor such a change for the NFL to engage the players’ union in discussions about possible modifications to the disciplinary process.

The new ruling will allow Brady to play against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the September 10 season opener.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, however, is not happy with Judge Berman’s decision. Goodell upheld that four-game suspension upon review. “I am sorry the league had to endure this”, he said.

Feitelberg, who has previously been arrested for protesting the NFL’s punishment of Brady and the Patriots wrote, “Tom wants to make America great again”, and a card above the locker says it belongs to Brady. “I think they should have kept it because it was true and they proved it to be true”, said Colts fan Raegan Southwood.

Brady said he told the equipment manager to make sure referees saw the air-inflation rules before games “because really I don’t want that to ever happen again”.

Though the NFL is appealing the ruling, it could take months for the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hear the case because the league would have to show it would suffer irreparable harm to speed up the timetable. Berman also said that the suspension was “premised upon several significant legal deficiencies”.

ESPN radio’s Mike Salk said that Thursday may have been a win for Brady, but the ordeal over deflating the footballs is something he may never be able to escape.