Deflategate: NFL upholds Tom Brady’s four-game suspension, says he destroyed cell phone

The NFL has denied New England quarterback Tom Brady’s appeal of his four-game suspension for his role in the scandal forever known as Deflategate. Commissioner Roger Goodell said that new information shows that Brady destroyed a cell phone that would have been helpful to investigators.

The Deflategate scandal stems from allegations that the Patriots used underinflated footballs during the first half of the Jan. 18 AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. In May, Ted Wells finally released the findings of his investigation, determining that Brady was aware that Patriots staffers Jim McNally and John Jastremski underinflated balls.

A week after the report was released, the NFL suspended Brady four games and fined the Patriots $1 million. The franchise also lost two draft picks. While the Patriots chose not to appeal their punishment, Brady moved ahead with his appeal.

It wasn’t until today, over seven months after the game, that the NFL and Goodell announced that they have upheld the decision. According to a statement from the NFL, new evidence discovered after the Wells report showed that Brady ordered a cell phone destroyed on March 6, the same day that he was interviewed by Wells.

€Ž"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,” Goodell wrote in his decision. “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."

Therefore, it appears that Brady is being punished more for the fact that he didn’t completely cooperate with the investigation. As a result of the suspension being upheld, he won’t be able to play until Week 6 against the Colts. For the first four games of the season, the Patriots will have to play Jimmy Garoppolo, who was Brady’s backup last year. Brady can still participate in preseason activities.

The Patriots did win the AFC Championship game 45-7 and then won the Super Bowl.

You can read Goodell’s full decision right here.

image courtesy of Jennifer Graylock/INFphoto.com