On Monday, May 11, the National Football League punished Tom Brady and the New England Patriots for their roles in the “Deflate Gate” scandal and its subsequent investigation.
Relying on the importance of protecting the integrity of the game, the NFL suspended Brady without pay for the first four games for the 2015-2016 season, fined the team one million dollars, and stripped the team of their 2016 first round draft pick and 2017 fourth round draft pick.
The punishments come only 5 days after the release of the Ted Wells independent investigation report was released. Wells spent over 100 days investigating the events leading up to January’s AFC Championship game between the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots, at which the Patriots’ game balls were found to be deflated below the league minimum. The Wells report indicated that two of the Patriots’ equipment personnel likely deflated the balls intentionally and have likely done so before. The report also found that Tom Brady was “at least generally aware” of these violations.
Brady’s punishment isn’t predicated solely on a general awareness that such violations were occurring. The punishment was handed out because of his failure to cooperate with the investigation. Brady refused to turn over emails and his cell phone. Additionally, the report indicated that Brady provided testimony that was not plausible and was contradicted by other reliable evidence. Brady’s attorney identified their intent to appeal, which they have three days to complete.