NFL hands down punishment for New England Patriots
May 11, 2015, 2:34 PM | Updated: 4:28 pm
The NFL has punished Tom Brady and the New England Patriots for their role in “DeflateGate”.
Filed to ESPN: Tom Brady suspended four games, Pats lose 1st round pick in 2016 and a 4th in 2017, and team fined $1 million, per source:
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 11, 2015
And now NFL has announced it. Tom Brady suspended four games, Patriots fined $1 million, lose two picks.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 11, 2015
Last week, an investigation into the Patriots allegedly deflating footballs found that the team’s employes likely did it, with Brady being “at least generally aware” of the rules violations.
Brady is slated to miss the home games against Pittsburgh and Jacksonville as well as road tilts at Buffalo and Dallas. The first game Brady would be eligible to play in is a Sunday Night Football matchup in Indianapolis against, coincidentally, the Colts.
As you probably know, the issue of the Patriots possibly deflating footballs became a story when, after defeating the Colts 45-7 in the AFC Championship Game, word leaked that the majority of footballs used by New England were not inflated to league specifications.
It became known as DeflateGate, and was one of the more-discussed themes during the weeks leading up to Super Bowl XLIV in Glendale. The Patriots went on to defeat the Seattle Seahawks 28-24, earning the organization its fourth Super Bowl title.
“We reached these decisions after extensive discussion with Troy Vincent and many others,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. “We relied on the critical importance of protecting the integrity of the game and the thoroughness and independence of the Wells report.”
Vincent, the NFL’s Executive Vice President, wrote in a letter to the Patriots that even though they cannot be sure, it stands to reason this was not the first time the Patriots had done this.
“While we cannot be certain when the activity began, the evidence suggests that January 18th was not the first and only occasion when this occurred, particularly in light of the evidence referring to deflation of footballs going back to before the beginning of the 2014 season,” he wrote.
This is also not the first time the Patriots have been accused of trying to skirt the rules, as in 2007 they were punished for illegally videotaping New York Jets’ defensive coaches’ signals during a September game. At that time, the league fined Patriots coach Bill Belichick $500,000, the Patriots $250,000 and docked the team its first-round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft.
