A federal appeals court has ruled that New England Patriots Tom Brady must serve a four-game "Deflategate" suspension imposed by the NFL, overturning a lower judge and siding with the league in a battle with the players union.
According to The Jerusalem Post, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday, April 25 in New York reversed a federal judge's ruling that had overturned the National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell's decision to penalize Brady, 38, over his alleged involvement in a scheme to deflate footballs used in a 2015 playoff game.
The decision by a three-judge panel end the legal debate over the scandal that led to months of football fans arguing over air pressure and the reputation of one of the league's top teams. The three-judge panel sided 2-1 with the NFL, saying the league's discipline was properly grounded in the collective bargaining agreement and Brady was treated fairly, Huffpost Sports reports.
The New England Patriots league argued that it was fair for the NFL commissioner to penalize Tom Brady after he concluded the prize quarterback. This is because Brady tarnished the game by impeding the NFL's investigation by destroying a mobile phone containing nearly 10,000 messages.
Because of that, Judge Barrington D. Parker stated, "The cellphone destruction raised the stakes from air in a football to compromising the integrity of a proceeding that the commissioner had convened. So why couldn't the commissioner suspend Mr. Brady for that conduct alone? With all due respect, Mr. Brady's explanation of that made no sense whatsoever," The Big Story has cited.
At oral arguments in March, appeals judges seemed skeptical of arguments on Brady's behalf by the NFL Players Association. The appeals court settled the issue well before the start of the 2016 season, avoiding the tension built last year when Brady didn't learn until a week before the season that he would be allowed to start in the Patriot's opener.
