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Indianapolis Colts: NFL Upholds Tom Brady’s Four-Game Suspension

By Dave McKee

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The Indianapolis Colts will be Tom Brady’s first opponent in Week Six. The NFL upheld Tom Brady’s four-game suspension imposed for his role in Deflategate.

Due to a bye week in week five, Tom Brady’s first opponent will be when the Indianapolis Colts host the New England Patriots. Perhaps this is the end of the Deflategate saga, perhaps its just another episode, but for the moment Tom Brady will miss four games.

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NFL Insider Ian Rapoport reported earlier that “Tom Brady & NFLPA will see the NFL in court. 2 options: fast-track it with an injunction or slow-play, keep it going until after the season.”

Both the NFL and NFLPA had exchanged settlement offers, but Brady has refused any settlement unless it precluded suspension. Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com highlighted the details of the possibility of those settlements:

"However, Brady was not been willing to accept any offer that includes him sitting out games, while the league would almost certainly want an acknowledgement of contrition from Brady. Rapoport indicated on NFL Network Tuesday that Brady will continue to examine his legal options."

Whether anyone believes Brady was guilty in his role of deflategate, or innocent, his actions are indicative of someone trying to cover up their tracks. According to the report released by Goodell, The day Brady was to meet Ted Wells, to discuss his role in the matter, Brady ordered an assistant to destroy his cellphone:

"The most significant new information that emerged in connection with the appeal was evidence that on or about March 6, 2015 — the very day that he was interviewed by Mr. Wells and his investigated team — Mr. Brady instructed his assistant to destroy the cellphone that he had been using since early 2014, a period that included that AFC Championship game and the initial weeks of the subsequent investigationDuring 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. 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."

If Brady was truly innocent as he claims and wanted to keep his career untarnished perhaps he would have thought better of destroying his phone. We can only speculate on the details but it seems that Brady has incriminated himself by his lack of cooperation and poor judgement.

The impact of this decision to the Indianapolis Colts is two-fold. First, if the Colts and Ravens were the ones who pushed hardest for the enforcement – as reported by Sal Paolantonio of ESPN – then it was a success (for the moment) for all teams that thought “the Patriots had got away with murder.”

Secondly, The ratings for the week six match-up between the Colts and Patriots was projected to be a game-of-the-week. Now, it may very well be the game of the century. Consider this, if the Patriots struggle under Jimmy Garoppalo the week 6 game could completely alter the course of the regular season for both teams.

To say the least, lets just hope that any court proceedings to follow will wrap up quickly, because the entire NFL community just wants this to end and training camp to begin.

You can find the full decision by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell here.

If you’d prefer the lighter side of football, then you can enjoy this fan submitted music video by Ed Hendel, “The Cheater.” Instead of reading the 20 page report.

Next: When Will Robert Mathis Return

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