Brady Responds
Tom Brady posted this on facebook this morning.
I am very disappointed by the NFL’s decision to uphold the 4 game suspension against me. I did nothing wrong, and no one in the Patriots organization did either. Despite submitting to hours of testimony over the past 6 months, it is disappointing that the Commissioner upheld my suspension based upon a standard that it was “probable” that I was “generally aware” of misconduct. The fact is that neither I, nor any equipment person, did anything of which we have been accused. He dismissed my hours of testimony and it is disappointing that he found it unreliable. I also disagree with yesterdays narrative surrounding my cellphone. I replaced my broken Samsung phone with a new iPhone 6 AFTER my attorneys made it clear to the NFL that my actual phone device would not be subjected to investigation under ANY circumstances. As a member of a union, I was under no obligation to set a new precedent going forward, nor was I made aware at any time during Mr. Wells investigation, that failing to subject my cell phone to investigation would result in ANY discipline. Most importantly, I have never written, texted, emailed to anybody at anytime, anything related to football air pressure before this issue was raised at the AFC Championship game in January. To suggest that I destroyed a phone to avoid giving the NFL information it requested is completely wrong. To try and reconcile the record and fully cooperate with the investigation after I was disciplined in May, we turned over detailed pages of cell phone records and all of the emails that Mr. Wells requested. We even contacted the phone company to see if there was any possible way we could retrieve any/all of the actual text messages from my old phone. In short, we exhausted every possibility to give the NFL everything we could and offered to go thru the identity for every text and phone call during the relevant time. Regardless, the NFL knows that Mr. Wells already had ALL relevant communications with Patriots personnel that either Mr. Wells saw or that I was questioned about in my appeal hearing. There is no “smoking gun” and this controversy is manufactured to distract from the fact they have zero evidence of wrongdoing. I authorized the NFLPA to make a settlement offer to the NFL so that we could avoid going to court and put this inconsequential issue behind us as we move forward into this season. The discipline was upheld without any counter offer. I respect the Commissioners authority, but he also has to respect the CBA and my rights as a private citizen. I will not allow my unfair discipline to become a precedent for other NFL players without a fight. Lastly, I am overwhelmed and humbled by the support of family, friends and our fans who have supported me since the false accusations were made after the AFC Championship game. I look forward to the opportunity to resume playing with my teammates and winning more games for the New England Patriots.
First: In the Grand Scheme of Things, who fucking cares?!
Second: If I'm Brady, no fucking way would I ever give up my phone to Goodell, especially when it would be the target of hackers and leaks the minute it was out of my hand.
to get a man purse to carry it. Come on man!
Need to add the /s for the guy who negged you.
For some reason your comment made me think that The Spy Who Negged Me would be a great MGoBlog movie title. Anyway, I digress.
Brady will get unlikely fan support from fans in NOLA, where Goodell's de facto first name is still "Fuck."
I would love to see Tom get #5 and ignore that fucker Roger and do this on the podium, would certainly deflate Roger's balls.
I'll bet if you asked 100 casual fans and asked, "Did the Patriots use inflated footballs in their Super Bowl win?" a high percentage would say "Yes." They have no idea what actually did or didn't happen, in large part due to the ineptness and leaking of false info by Roger G and the NFL.
The Patriots (led by an all-time great game by Brady) beat an all-time great defense in the Super Bowl when there were *zero* questions about inflated footballs. Yet people are still up in arms about an issue that wasn't important to them, or the NFL, for 99.9% of its history. But here we are today, talking about this *again*!
So even if Brady personally has Bill Nye the Science Guy weigh footballs, in public, before every possession this season, while leading them to a 19-0 record and throwing for 6,000 yards, people will still believe this stupid issue is somehow relevant.
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I wonder if his attorney had any input in this statement...?
Fire Roger!
the owners are the reason there was no reprieve at all from the non-supported penalties...He is doing exactly what they pay him for...to be a puppet. I hope Brady embarasses them.
that does not sound like a healthy koala.
My mantra though this has been " I feel like I'm taking crazy pills". I'm not a Brady homer or a Pats homer. But damn, it really takes some sort of twisted logic to think THIS supposed cheating (which cannot be definitively proven anyway) is somehow worse for football than players who beat their wives or children. I mean, what in the actual fuck? I'm just so damn sick of the ridiculous bloviating.on the most inconsequential rule you could possibly break.
Boss Goodell to distract everyone from his incompetence in mishandling all the other recent and far more significant cases (Peterson, Ray Rice, Bountygate, et al). The Patriots and Tom Brady proved the perfect patsies (sorry for the pun) around which he could create a bogus media storm and shameless witch hunt. People even fell for the rigged Wells investigation as "impartial" evidence that Brady was guilty. Then, by issuing these outrageous penalties to the Patriots and Brady for extremely minor alleged violations of letting air out of footballs, he made himself appear to be the "tough guy who was righting a great wrong". The whole thing makes me want to vomit. I hope Tom Brady sues the NFL and Goodell for a shit ton of money for defamation of character and wins. Then, maybe, then Goodell will finally get dumped by the owners for his gross incompetence.
are the worst.
Pitt, @ Buff, Jax, @ Dal.... with the departures of Wilfork, Revis and Browner the D has taken a step back. 1-3 is looking the Pats in the face.
last year and now add a great defensive mind in Rex Ryan. Garropolo puts fear in no ones heart either.
It's levels to this shit!
This shit has Tom "Charged Up".
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but you should just come clean. It's not about PSI or text messages, it's the lie that gets you.
Yeah, but they haven't really proven the lie beyond a reasonable doubt either.
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This isn't a criminal case with someone's life on the line. The burden of proof is more reasonable. I love Brady but come on any common sense reading of the circumstancial evidence has to conclude that Brady had to know what was going on. No smoking gun is needed to see this. On top of that he hasn't offered a credible alternative explanation and refused to cooperate with the investigation. If he had nothing to hide there is no valid explanation for that..all it did was escalate the mess. He tried to cover it up and failed. If you think Tom is innocent because the League didn't prove anything beyond a reasonable doubt, then you must also think OJ Simpson didn't kill his wife. Do I think the punishment is harsh? Yes. That is probably Goodell and the other owners just sticking it to Kraft.
It is amusing to me how people see things differently. I feel any common sense reading of the circumstancial evidence has to conculde that this is all smoke and mirrors by the NFL.
Plus, the old, "If you don't have anything to hide, then you must do this" argument is McCarthyism at it's worst. You have no evidence that he tried to cover anything up. You just want to read it that way. Fine. Just don't expect everyone to agree with you.
I think he's innocent because the NFL hasn't even been able to prove the balls were underinflated. They keep saying they were, but they haven't shown it.
He really left no "wiggle" room, did he... very clear statement. Brady for President.
Kraft now says he was wrong to put his faith in the league.... lip service, or did Goodell go back on his word after getting Kraft to drop his suit? Either way, now there's at least one owner actually on Brady's side...
Were you expecting Kraft to say something different? Like, to reiterate his support for Goodell? This is easy for him to say at this point. Like he or anyone else really cares about his "faith" in a league that has made him even richer many times over. Owner discord is normal and usually a diversion from what is really going on with the league.
Everyone that I talked or read pretty much agreed that there was some kind of agreement that Goodell would back down on Brady in exchange for Kraft dropping it.
You're right that it's not unusual for owners to voice displeasure, but those were some pretty strong words and Kraft and Goodell used to be pretty close.