When the New England Patriots begin their title defense next season, it looks like they'll be without Tom Brady for the first four games. Earlier today, the star quarterback lost his appeal with the NFL and will have to serve the four game suspension handed to him earlier this year for his involvement in the 'Deflate-gate' scandal that rocked the NFL.
Brady slammed the decision as 'unfair'. In a lengthy facebook post he said:
"I am very disappointed by the NFL's decision to uphold the four-game suspension against me, I did nothing wrong, and no one in the Patriots organisation did either."
Brady also responded to critics saying that he destroyed evidence related to the case when he ordered his personal assistant to destroy his cellphone prior to his questioning in March:
"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. I did nothing wrong. There is no 'smoking gun,' and this controversy is manufactured to distract from the fact they have zero evidence of wrongdoing."
Patriots owner Robert Kraft also spoke up regarding the ruling, saying he regrets not fighting back harder when the initial charges were handed out last May. In a press conference he addressed the decision saying:
"I was wrong to put my faith in the league. Six months removed from the AFC Championship Game, the league still has no hard evidence of anybody doing anything to tamper with the psi levels of footballs. I continue to believe and unequivocally support Tom Brady."
The deflategate drama started during the AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. During the halftime break of the game, Brady together with members of the Patriots staff, were accused of deflating footballs below the league mandated limited in order to gain a competitive advantage on the field.
