FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) – Tuesday afternoon the NFL announced that Tom Brady’s 4-game suspension was going to be upheld.
The decision comes from accusations by members of the Indianapolis Colts organization that Brady and the Patriots deflated footballs below the approved league level in the Jan. 18 AFC Championship game.
A report filed by investigator Ted Wells determined that Brady likely had knowledge of the deflation and thus a 4-game suspension was handed down by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
Brady and the NFL Players Association appealed the decision in June.
“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 investigative team – Mr. Brady instructed is assistant to destroy the cellphone that had been using since early November 2014, a period that included the AFC Championship Game and the initial weeks of the subsequent investigation,” a release from Goodell said.
>>Read the full NFL release about the decision here
League investigators said they weren't informed about the destruction of the cellphone until they requested access to it at the time of Brady's appeal.
“At the hearing, My. Brady testified that it is his practice to destroy (or to give to his assistant to destroy) his cellphone and SIM cards when he gets a new cellphone. Mr. Brady also testified that, based on his typical practice, he would have asked to have the existing cellphone destroyed at or about the same time that he began using his new cellphone,” Goodell said.
Goodell's release outlines the process by which Referee Walt Anderson "confirmed that they were all inflated to a pressure at or slightly above 12.5 psi."
At halftime of thee game, officials again measured the pressure of the balls and determined that several of the balls were no longer inflated to the proper level. During the investigation by Ted Wells a scientific study conducted by the Exponent group determined that natural elements acting on the football would not have caused the level of deflation as seen.
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“My finding of tampering with the game balls is not based solely on the Exponent sty and the testimony of the scientific experts, but instead on consideration of all of the evidence in the record, including the conduct, text messages, and other communications discussed in both the Wells Report and at the hearing,” Goodell said in his report.
It is alleged that Patriots assistant equipment employee James McNally took the footballs to a bathroom and deflated them after Anderson's measurement but still prior to the game. A process Brady said he had not ordered or even had any knowledge of.
“Mr. Brady denies having been involved in the scheme to deflate the footballs. But in considering the entire record, including Mr. Brady’s testimony, the credibility of other witnesses and the documentary evidence, I cannot credit this denial,” Goodell said.
In the end, Goodell said he believes between Brady's destruction of the cell phone and he did not act in the best interest of the league.
“The evidence filly supports my findings that (1) Mr. Brady participated in a scheme to tamper with the game balls after they had been approved by the game officials for use in the AFC Championship Game and(2) Mr. Brady willfully obstructed the investigation by, among other things, affirmatively arranging for the destruction of his cellphone knowing that it contained potentially relevant information that had been requested by investigators,” Goodell said. “All of this indisputably constituted conduct detrimental to the integrity of, and public confidence in, the game of professional football.”
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