New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady denied any wrongdoing Wednesday morning — saying “I did nothing wrong” — after his four-game suspension for his role in Deflategate was upheld by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Goodell issued a statement Tuesday in upholding the suspension for Brady’s role in using underinflated footballs during the AFC Championship Game in January.
Brady posted on his Facebook page early Wednesday morning that “neither I, nor any equipment person, did anything of which we have been accused” in a strongly worded and lengthy response to Goodell’s decision to uphold his suspension.
“I am very disappointed by the NFL’s decision to uphold the 4 game suspension against me,” Brady wrote on Facebook. “I did nothing wrong, and no one in the Patriots organization did either.
“Despite submitting to hours of testimony over the past 6 months, it is disappointing that the Commissioner upheld my suspension based upon a standard that it was ‘probable’ that I was ‘generally aware’ of misconduct. The fact is that neither I, nor any equipment person, did anything of which we have been accused. He dismissed my hours of testimony and it is disappointing that he found it unreliable.
“I also disagree with yesterdays narrative surrounding my cellphone. I replaced my broken Samsung phone with a new iPhone 6 AFTER my attorneys made it clear to the NFL that my actual phone device would not be subjected to investigation under ANY circumstances. As a member of a union, I was under no obligation to set a new precedent going forward, nor was I made aware at any time during Mr. Wells investigation, that failing to subject my cell phone to investigation would result in ANY discipline.
“Most importantly, I have never written, texted, emailed to anybody at anytime, anything related to football air pressure before this issue was raised at the AFC Championship game in January. To suggest that I destroyed a phone to avoid giving the NFL information it requested is completely wrong.
“To try and reconcile the record and fully cooperate with the investigation after I was disciplined in May, we turned over detailed pages of cell phone records and all of the emails that Mr. Wells requested. We even contacted the phone company to see if there was any possible way we could retrieve any/all of the actual text messages from my old phone. In short, we exhausted every possibility to give the NFL everything we could and offered to go thru the identity for every text and phone call during the relevant time. Regardless, the NFL knows that Mr. Wells already had ALL relevant communications with Patriots personnel that either Mr. Wells saw or that I was questioned about in my appeal hearing. There is no ‘smoking gun’ and this controversy is manufactured to distract from the fact they have zero evidence of wrongdoing.
“I authorized the NFLPA to make a settlement offer to the NFL so that we could avoid going to court and put this inconsequential issue behind us as we move forward into this season. The discipline was upheld without any counter offer. I respect the Commissioners authority, but he also has to respect the CBA and my rights as a private citizen. I will not allow my unfair discipline to become a precedent for other NFL players without a fight.
“Lastly, I am overwhelmed and humbled by the support of family, friends and our fans who have supported me since the false accusations were made after the AFC Championship game. I look forward to the opportunity to resume playing with my teammates and winning more games for the New England Patriots.”
Goodell’s ruling followed weeks of conjecture that the league and the NFL Players Association were working on a settlement following the June 23 appeal hearing.
The NFL filed suit Tuesday in Manhattan to confirm Brady’s suspension. The prompt action is considered an attempt to keep the case out of the hands of a federal arbiter, and an attempt to prevent the NFLPA from taking the case to a federal court in Minnesota that is viewed as being more favorable toward the labor side.
The league’s statement Tuesday referenced “new information” disclosed by Brady and his representatives that includes Brady directing that that the cell phone he used for the four months leading up to his meeting with independent investigator Ted Wells’ team on March 6 be destroyed.
“He did so even though he was aware that the investigators had requested access to text messages and other electronic information that had been stored on that phone,” the league said in a statement. “During the four months that the cell phone was in use, Brady had exchanged nearly 10,000 text messages, none of which can now be retrieved from that device. The destruction of the cell phone was not disclosed until June 18, almost four months after the investigators had first sought electronic information from Brady.
“Based on the Wells Report and the evidence presented at the hearing, Commissioner Goodell concluded in his decision that Brady was aware of, and took steps to support, the actions of other team employees to deflate game footballs below the levels called for by the NFL’s Official Playing Rules. The commissioner found that Brady’s deliberate destruction of potentially relevant evidence went beyond a mere failure to cooperate in the investigation and supported a finding that he had sought to hide evidence of his own participation in the underlying scheme to alter the footballs.”
The NFLPA said in a statement Tuesday that it “will appeal this outrageous decision on behalf of Tom Brady.”
“The Commissioner’s ruling today did nothing to address the legal deficiencies of due process,” the NFLPA statement said. “The fact that the NFL would resort to basing a suspension on a smoke screen of irrelevant text messages instead of admitting that they have all of the phone records they asked for is a new low, even for them, but it does nothing to correct their errors.”
The Patriots’ veterans report to training camp Wednesday, with the first practice Thursday.
With Tuesday’s ruling by Goodell, Brady is currently slated to miss the Patriots’ first four regular-season games: the Sept. 10 home opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Sept. 20 at the Buffalo Bills, Sept. 27 at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars. After a bye Week 4, the Patriots return to action Oct. 11 at the Dallas Cowboys. Second-year quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo is expected to start in place of Brady.
Brady would be eligible to return in Week 6 at the Indianapolis Colts in a Sunday night game against the team that helped pave the way for the “Deflategate” investigation after it was determined the Patriots used underinflated footballs during the AFC title game. New England beat Indianapolis 45-7 to advance to the Super Bowl, in which the Patriots beat the Seattle Seahawks 28-24.
