Brady has three days to appeal the suspension to Commissioner Roger Goodell or his designee. The Patriots will also lose a first-round pick in 2016 and a fourth-round pick in 2017. The punishment was announced five days after the release of a lengthy report that found that Patriots personnel deliberately deflated footballs before the AFC Championship Game on Jan. 18, 2015, and that Brady “was at least generally aware” of the violations. “With respect to your particular involvement, the report established that there is substantial and credible evidence to conclude you were at least generally aware of the actions of the Patriots’ employees involved in the deflation of the footballs and that it was unlikely that their actions were done without your knowledge,” NFL executive vice president Troy Vincent wrote in a letter to Brady. The 243-page report by league-appointed attorney Ted Wells said it was “more probable than not” that Brady was aware of plans to prepare the footballs to his liking, below the NFL-mandated minimum of 12.5 pounds per square inch. The report identified two Patriots employees — officials’ locker room attendant Jim McNally and equipment assistant John Jastremski — as the ones who executed the plan. The Patriots suspended both indefinitely last week. Neither can be reinstated without the approval of the NFL, the league said. Reaction in the sports world was widespread in the aftermath of the news, and Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount took to Twitter to voice his objections to the discipline. The fine matches the largest the NFL has handed out, to Ed DeBartolo Jr., then the San Francisco 49ers‘ owner, who pleaded guilty to a felony in his role in a Louisiana gambling scandal in 1999. Vincent told the Patriots the punishment was handed out regardless of whether the flatter footballs affected the outcome of the blowout win over the Colts. Vincent said the flattening of balls probably began much earlier. “The activities of the Patriots’ employees were thoroughly documented in the report, including through a series of text messages and telephone communications, as well as evidence of a breach in pre-game protocol,” Vincent wrote in a letter to the Patriots. “In addition, the conclusions were supported by extensive scientific analysis, as detailed in the report.” It is the second time in eight years that the Patriots have been punished for violating league rules. In 2007, the team was fined $500,000 and docked a first-round draft pick and coach Bill Belichick was fined $250,000 for videotaping opposing coaches as a way to decipher their play signals. Brady repeatedly stated that he did not know about the efforts to deflate the game balls, but Wells’ report found those claims “not plausible and contradicted by other evidence.” Brady’s agent, Don Yee, said last week that the report contains “significant and tragic flaws” and suggested that the NFL cooperated in a “sting operation” with the Indianapolis Colts, who had alerted the league of their suspicions of the Patriots’ use of underinflated footballs. New England defeated Indianapolis 45-7 in the AFC title game before beating the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl two weeks later. Brady said last week the scandal hasn’t taken away from the team’s Super Bowl win — its fourth NFL title since the 2001 season. “Absolutely not,” he said at a previously planned appearance in Salem, Massachusetts, last Thursday night. “We earned everything we got and achieved as a team, and I am proud of that and so are our fans.” Fans chanted “Brady” and “MVP,” then gave him a standing ovation as he entered the arena in the town made famous by the colonial witch trials. Since the airing of the scandal in the hours after the Colts game, New England fans have been unwavering in their support for the team, blaming the investigation on grudges by opponents jealous of the team’s success. The NFL allows each team to provide the footballs used by its offense — a procedure Brady played a role in creating — but it requires them to be inflated in that range of 12.5-13.5 pounds per square inch. Footballs with less pressure can be easier to grip and catch, and Brady has expressed a preference for the lower end of the range. Information from The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Blistering penalty handed down to Tom Brady, Patriots
4:10Adam Schefter discusses the four-game suspension handed to Patriots QB Tom Brady and how New England’s “conduct detrimental to the integrity of the NFL” led to a $1 million fine and the forfeiture of two draft picks.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft had demanded an apology if the NFL couldn’t definitively determine that his organization tampered with the air pressure on the footballs. He didn’t get it. Not even close.
Instead, Kraft, quarterback Tom Brady and the Patriots have received a blistering penalty from the league. Knowing how steadfast the club has been in its stance that it did nothing wrong, I have little doubt that this ruling sent shock waves through the team’s facility on Monday. A few initial things stand out to me: Harsh sentence. No sugarcoating it. The NFL just crushed the Patriots. This is an extreme reaction despite having definitive proof. Brady’s first game would be against Colts. While Brady is likely to appeal, and could potentially have his suspension reduced, if the four-game penalty holds it would mean that the first game he is eligible is against the team that blew the whistle on the Patriots, the Indianapolis Colts. That game is scheduled to be played in Indianapolis. The Patriots open the season with a home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, a road game versus the Buffalo Bills, a home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars and then, after a bye, a road game against the Dallas Cowboys. Past history and lack of cooperation cited a factor. NFL Executive Vice President Troy Vincent cited the club’s prior record, specifically videotaping signals of opposing defensive coaches, as a “strong consideration” in determining the severity of the punishment. Vincent also said another important consideration was level of cooperation with the investigation and the league came down hard on two things — the club not making Jim McNally available for an additional interview and Brady not producing any emails or text messages. The third factor cited by Vincent was the belief that equipment assistant John Jastremski and officials locker room attendant Jim McNally weren’t fully candid. When the league first announced that it was conducting an investigation, the Patriots pledged full cooperation, but the league felt otherwise. NFL supports Wells report. While some were critical of parts of the Wells report (hand raised), the NFL was not. Commissioner Roger Goodell cited the “thoroughness and independence of the Wells report” in helping the league reach its level of punishment. How Goodell can call it an independent investigation warrants considerable scrutiny from this viewpoint, but make no mistake, he holds the hammer based on the way the league is structured. We now wonder how the Kraft-Goodell dynamic plays out. Kraft has been one of Goodell’s biggest supporters. Does that now change?
