The NFL Throws the Book at Tom Brady

The long awaited results of the “deflate gate” investigation into the New England Patriots’ partially deflated footballs in the AFC Championship game are in and the NFL has meted out punishment. The team loses its first round draft pick in 2016, and 1 fourth rounder in 1017, and will be fined $1 million. Quarterback Tom Brady is suspended for the first four games of the 2015 season and will lose his pay for those games; the report concluded that he ”was at least generally aware” of what was going on. The hapless Patriot employees who deflated the footballs are suspended indefinitely and can’t return without NFL approval; we suspect they’ll lose their jobs.

The severity of the punishment surprised us. We figured fines would be involved, a mid to late round draft pick forfeited, and at most a one game suspension for Brady, who benefited by having a better grip on the softer football. Brady is loudly protesting through his agent and will appeal the decision, and it may end up in court (of course) at some point.

Clearly, the NFL is sending a message, and Brady was obviously not expecting anything like this. We have a hunch a lot of this has to do with the lack of cooperation Brady provided in the investigation, i.e. not turning over text messages and other evidence, as much as it was about the violations themselves. The league is in a difficult position. Punishment that is too lenient would get criticism that the superstars can get away with anything and just get a slap on the wrist. These more draconian measures have left the league open to charges that it cares more about a rules violation than about the instances of domestic abuse that have plagued the league in recent years, where suspensions and fines, at least in some cases, have been viewed as inadequate.

It remains to be seen how the NFL will deal with future instances of domestic abuse or criminal activity but we think the message is clear on the consequences of breaking the NFL’s on the field rules: no one, including future Hall of Famers, is above them. Some, like Keith Olbermann, think Brady should have gotten a longer suspension:

Perhaps the most unfortunate aspect of this is the fact that New England easily crushed the Indianapolis Colts 45-7 in the AFC Championship, and none of this was necessary for a Patriots victory in the first place.