The New England sports world is in frenzy over the decision by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to uphold Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s four-game suspension for his alleged role in under-inflated footballs.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick and Patriots owner Bob Kraft spoke at a news conference today at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, with Kraft saying, “six months removed from the AFC Championship game, the league still has no hard evidence with anyone doing anything with the PSI (pounds-per-square inch) level of footballs.”
Kraft is criticized Goodell’s decision to uphold Brady’s punishment calling it “unfathomable” and says he was “wrong to put his faith in the league.”
Belichick steered clear of the deflate gate topic and would only focus on the team’s upcoming regular season training camp that opens at Gillette Stadium tomorrow.
Northeastern University Law Professor, Roger Abrams, met with WGBH’s Morning Edition to explain what Goodell’s decision means for Brady as well as the team. Abrams says that Goodell’s decision is not quite a done deal. Goodell cited several reasons for his decision to make the suspensions stick, in particular the destruction of Brady’s phone.
“If you read the Commissioner’s report, and it has become a full-fledged conspiracy headed by the quarterback, which is non-sense of course, and has nothing to do with the facts set forth. This is Commissioner Roger Goodell just being spiteful.”
Patriot’s Quarterback, Tom Brady, issued a statement on his official Facebook page Wednesday morning over recent developments saying he “did nothing wrong.”
Brady vehemently denied destroying his cell phone saying, “ I replaced by 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.”
Brady added, “I have never written, texted, emailed anybody at anytime, anything related to football air pressure.”
Abrams says, “There could be some other things that Brady didn’t do. Who knows whether or not he brushed his teeth? And none of it has anything to do with the allegation which was a deliberate conspiracy to violate the NFL rule.”
In a press conference Patriot’s owner, Robert Kraft said “I was wrong to put my faith in the league.” Kraft also said that the statement towards Brady destroying his phone made by the media were “nefarious” and skewed the decisions of the court.
The legal battle continues in New York as Brady and his attorneys and the players union take their appeal before a federal judge.
