Many people said the commissioner of football would not punish the Patriots adequately because he is such good friends with the owner, Robert Kraft. Well, now that punishment has been handed out, what do you think? Do you think Brady’s appeal will get him off?

A bit too tricky?

Many people thought there was too little evidence to justify anything being done to the Patriots or Brady. They thought wrong. They probably would have been right if the Patriots had been forthcoming. But instead they were evasive. They didn’t turn over emails, they gave dubious answers to questions,  didn’t show up for follow up interviews. Generally were either arrogant or evasive. It hurt Brady that he and his lawyers decided not to turn over any of his texts.

The Patriots and Brady have been anything but contrite. They have almost taken the offensive unlike in 2007 when they got in trouble for improperly recording other teams signals. In that case Belicheck was apologetic. In this case, Kraft and others have insisted that they did nothing wrong. He has backed Brady and basically said he is getting a raw deal.

The Punishment

– Brady suspended for 4 games without pay

– Patriots fined $1 million (seems like chump change for an NFL team)

– Lost their first round pick next year

– Lost a fourth round pick in 2017

– Two equipment staffers were suspended indefinitely

Differences of Opinion

Some NFL players and former players thought the punishment was warranted and liked the fact that Brady getting punished sent the message that nobody is exempt from the rules. Others thought the punishment was too harsh and that it was ridiculous to give Brady the same penalty as someone who was using performance enchancing drugs.

Colts and more Colts

The first team Brady will face when he gets back is the Colts who were the ones who complained in a playoff game. At halftime, the balls were tested and most were below the lower limit for pressure. The Patriots said it was because of cold weather. Yet, one of the equipment managers in text messages or emails called himself, The Deflator. Hmmm.

The punishment was based off of a report by Ted Wells, an attorney hired by the NFL to investigate.His report said it was “more probable than not” that the balls were deflated and that it was likely that Brady was aware of what was being done. As a retired NFL football player said, you would have to be an idiot to think that an equipment manager would take it on himself to do something like this. They aren’t going to do anything the quarterback doesn’t want.