Tom Brady’s ‘Deflategate’ appeal rejected by federal court

“Deflategate” has crept into a third National Football League season, and with the federal court’s rejection on Wednesday of the New England quarterback’s appeal of his suspension, it certainly appears that Brady will be sidelined into early October. To recap, it was back in April when Brady’s four-game suspension was reinstated by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, with the case being heard in front of a limited panel of judges. The next step would be to petition the Supreme Court and ask the 2nd Circuit to grant him a stay while that process plays out.

Tom Brady’s appeal for an en banc hearing by the Second Circuit of the US Court of Appeals has been denied. We have a broken system that must be fixed. “The panel that determined the appeal has considered the request for panel rehearing, and the active members of the Court have considered a request for a rehearing en banc“.

“IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the petition is denied”.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Brady for four games, alleging the quarterback knew of a scheme to deflate footballs in the AFC Championship Game in early 2015 against the Baltimore Colts.

This means that Brady only has one card left to play if he wants to continue fighting in order to try and avoid a four-game suspension. Given how Brady has fought the suspension the entire way, it wouldn’t be surprising if he tries.

The response of Brady and the NFLPA likely won’t stop with words, however.

Well, looks like even Tom Brady can’t beat the NFL. The league would then be given permission to respond.

So, despite the 2nd Circuit choosing not to rehear Brady’s appeal, the DeflateGate saga isn’t dead just yet. “And we’re not going to hand that integrity of the game off to somebody who doesn’t have any involvement in the game”.

With Brady nearly certainly out for the first four games of this season, the Patriots will turn to Jimmy Garoppolo to start at quarterback.

Instead of squaring off against Brady, one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history as a three-time Super Bowl MVP, a two-time league MVP and an 11-time Pro Bowl selection, the defending AFC South champions would face Patriots backup Jimmy Garoppolo during a nationally televised Thursday night game.