After a long process which took just about all year, Tom Brady is off the hook for a 4-game suspension to start the 2015-2016 season. This controversy, which has dated all the way back to before Super Bowl XLIX, has been a cloud over the National Football League, making Tom Brady look bad, along with the entire Patriots organization and Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Every NFL fan that is not a die-hard Brady or Patriots guy is quick to jump all over this situation and call the Pats a bunch of cheaters, citing Spygate as textual evidence supporting their wild accusations. The fact of the matter is, Spygate happened, and if you want to call their Head Coach Bill Belichick a cheater, that is fine by me.
But if we are talking about Brady, I do not think it would be smart to label Brady as a cheater. To be honest, I do not care one bit if Brady destroyed his cell phone. For all we know, Mr. Brady decided to destroy his cell phone because he did not want his personal life to be exposed, and I cannot blame him for that.
I will admit, when you destroy your phone after learning you are under investigation by your employer for cheating the rules, you look like a shady human being. A destroyed cell-phone however is not enough evidence to suspend Brady for the first four games of the season, and this is was Judge Richard Berman’s decision in the end. According to espn.com, this is what Patriots owner Robert Kraft had to say about the issue.
“As I have said during this process and throughout his Patriots career, Tom Brady is a classy person of the highest integrity. He represents everything that is great about this game and this league,” Kraft said. “Yet, with absolutely no evidence of any actions of wrongdoing by Tom in the Wells report, the lawyers at the league still insisted on imposing and defending unwarranted and unprecedented discipline. Judge Richard Berman understood this and we are greatly appreciative of his thoughtful decision that was delivered today. Now, we can return our focus to the game on the field.”
As for the legacies of all the men involved, Brady should not be looked at differently now that his suspension has been revoked. After all, people have seemed to forget what actually happened in the AFC Championship Game. Just to jog your memory, the final score of the game in which the Colts did not take the next step in the state of their franchise, was 45-7.
I am neither a Tom Brady lover or hater in my own sporty opinion, but when a football team blows out another in a playoff game by a score-differential of 5 touchdowns and a field-goal, I do not care what footballs are being used, the winning team deserves to win.
For Roger Goodell, I hate to be another one of these guys that bashes the commissioner, but Goodell has simply done an awful job the last few years at his position. Just add this petty scandal to a list of issues that has been growing ever since Spygate. Goodell has failed time and time again to squash these issues with an iron fist.
For as big and strong as Goodell looks and acts, his protocol for dealing with suspensions and punishment is weak. Matt Gagne of si.com said it best.
“Your ego has been as hard-charging and indestructible as an armored tank, but when Sports Illustrated put you on the cover of its Game of Thrones-inspired Power issue in 2013, no one thought you had it in you to turn so medieval” said Gagne.
“Your decision to appeal Judge Richard Berman’s ruling that vacated Tom Brady’s suspension is another PR disaster in the making, and you’re about to squander what little public trust you have left after going 0-for-your-last-5: Bountygate, Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, Greg Hardy and the Golden Boy.”
Also, I’m all for owners standing up for their coaches and players, but Robert Kraft has got to step up his attitude with the media. He just comes off as old, winy, and too big a fan of his team’s quarterback, Tom Brady.
Finally, Bill Belichick’s career, although illustrious, is now completely tainted. He will undoubtedly go down as the coach that tried anything, and I mean anything, it took for his team to get the win.