Judge Overturns Patriots’ Tom Brady’s Four-game Suspension
Judge Richard Berman has overturned the National Football League’s decision to suspend Tom Brady for the first four games of the 2015-16 season for his role in “Deflategate.”
For a little over seven months, Brady’s eligibility to play for the beginning portion of the season was open to doubt. For those who are unaware of the reasoning behind the controversy, Tom Brady, along with New England equipment personnel, allegedly conspired to under-inflate footballs used against the Indianapolis Colts in last season’s AFC Championship game on Jan. 18, 2015.
It’s clear that Tom Brady is one of the most dominant quarterbacks in the NFL. The 38-year old superstar is entering his sixteenth season in professional football. Brady has thrown for 392 touchdowns and a total of 53,258 yards. He has averaged 254.8 yards a game in his 209 career games. Brady has a career passer rating of 95.9, an unbelievable feat. He’s rushed for 823 yards and 14 touchdowns, which isn’t bad at all for a pocket-passing quarterback.
Berman’s ruling has stunned and embarrassed NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. In a statement to Fox News, Goodell stated, “We are grateful to Judge Berman for hearing this matter, but respectfully disagree with today’s decision. We will appeal today’s ruling in order to uphold the collectively bargained responsibility to protect the integrity of the game. The commissioner’s responsibility to secure the competitive fairness of the game is a paramount principle, and the league and our 32 clubs will continue to pursue a path to that end. While the legal phase of this process continues, we look forward to focusing on football and the opening of the regular season.”
Additionally, the NFL has announced that Goodell will not attend the 2015 NFL season opening game featuring the Patriots vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night, Sept. 10, in Foxboro, Mass.
Twitter was the spot to be in the minutes and hours following Berman’s extremely controversial decision. Fellow teammates of Brady have been ecstatic over the events, along with celebrities ranging from Mark Wahlberg to Donald Trump.
Presidential candidate Donald Trump tweeted, “Congratulations to Tom Brady on yet another great victory – Tom is my friend and a total winner!” Baseball great Barry Bonds tweeted, “Congratulations to Tom Brady on today’s decision. Best of luck this season, Tom.”
On the other hand, Bob Kevoian, one of the hosts of the nationally syndicated radio show “The Bob & Tom Show,” out of WFBQ’s studios in Indianapolis, Ind., tweeted, “Tom Brady’s greatest football move? Destroying his phone.”
All football fan knows that the New England is already a scary-tough team. Add in a vindicated Tom Brady and his revitalized teammates, and they should absolutely terrifying.