Tom Brady Suspension Upheld

even as a colts fan, I can say that Brady is a great QB. He does not NEED to cheat, but he has. the cheating tarnishes his greatness.

He always destroys his phone when he gets a new one. Doesn't everyone? It was pure coincidence he got a new one on the same day he was to meet with league investigators.

It's a good thing Mr. Brady didn't have his own personal server for storing all his e-mails. Having to destroy that could've run into some real money.

Who is the backup qb?

Interesting that Buffalo (Rex Ryan's new team) is on the schedule. I think the pats could be 1-3 & if they lose to the Colts they would be 1-4.

Since the Pats will now have to use properly inflated balls, it will be interesting to see if their offensive stats go down.

I think you are correct that they can go 1 and 3 or 1 and 4. Pittsburgh will be missing several key defensive players. The Super Bowl winner has a history of winning this opening season game, but I don't believe any team has ever had a missing quarterback of the magnitude of Brady. Even if they go 1 and 3, there could be a timing problem with the receivers. I'm absolutely loving this. Tom Brady has so much talent, but he stoops to cheating to get even more of an edge. If you read the text messages, the equipment people are already referencing that Brady is in decline. This is going to make great theater.

Pittsburgh will also be missing it's 4-star running back Le'Veon Bell, suspended the first 2 games for DUI and marijuana possession charges.

Please correct me if i am wrong, but the league was interested in his communications with other personnel within the Pats organization, correct?
The league got the "ball boys" and Coach Bill's phones, correct?
Would not any communications between Brady and any of them be in their cell phones?
So what was he hiding by destroying his phone?

He may have had some stuff on there he did not want his wife to know about.

"[Ted] Wells [the NFL’s special investigator in Deflategate] had developed potentially damaging evidence of tampering from the cellphones of Patriots football ball attendants Jim McNally and John Jastremski, and he began asking for Brady’s phone records more than two weeks before he interviewed the quarterback March 6. Wells did so again during the session.
At no time during that period did Brady disclose that his cellphone had been destroyed, according to Goodell."
[boldface added - DD]
Ref: The Boston Globe

So, apparently the telephones of the ball boys did provide incriminating evidence.

From poor old DonDiego's brief research, he concludes that the NFL Commisioner does not have any sort of subpoena power; he can request a cellphone, f'rinstance, but he has no power to compel compliance. DonDiego supposes Mr. Brady directed an assistant to destroy his cellphone specifically so that he did not have to say "No, I will not give it to Mr. Goodell", but instead could say "The cellphone has been destroyed.

Or, perhaps, as nuggettboy surmises there were texts on Mr. Brady's cellphone about topics even juicier than deflated footballs.

Now it looks like the Patriots and/or Mr. Brady are going to appeal the Commisioner's decision. But DonDiego supposes they may face a legal problem.

"The primary source of Commissioner Goodell’s power derives from the NFL CBA. However, Article VIII of the NFL constitution details the commissioner’s power to resolve disputes and to take action against a person connected with the league, when the person engages in conduct detrimental to the league.88 With regard to detrimental conduct, the commissioner has the power to:
Take or adopt appropriate legal action [which] he deems necessary and proper in the best interest of . . . the League or professional football, whenever any party . . . employed by . . . connected with the League or any member thereof is guilty of any conduct detrimental either to the League . . . or to professional football.
Thus, the NFL Commissioner possesses the authority to discipline a player for 'conduct detrimental' to the League under the NFL constitution, the NFL [Collective Bargaining Agreement] CBA, and a standard form NFL player contract."
[boldface added - DD]
Ref: Sports League Commisioner Disciplinary Power

It seems the authority of the NFL Commissioner is well rooted in a legal instrument establishing the League, an enforceable labor contract between the National Football League Players Association and the League, and an enforceable player employment contract.
This would severely limit the possible scope of any appeal. There is no mention of an appeal of the decision to a higher authority of the NFL Commissioner's disciplinary decision.
The only basis for a Federal Judge ruling would be a violation of one of the legal documents specified above. And even then there is no provision for overruling/changing the NFL Commissioner's decision.

If, in fact, a Federal Judge does more, DonDiego suggests the Patriots and Robert Kraft and Tom Brady and Roger Goodell and the National Football League will all be worse off for it. Not to mention Fox Sports and CBS Sports and NBC Sports and ESPN.

Autumn would no longer be the best time of the year and poor old DonDiego would fall into an inescapable funk.

I can't believe all this misdirected moral outrage.

There's a dead lion, ya know.

Poor Cecil. They should throw Brady to the Dentists.