VIDEO Discussion: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Seems to be holding New England quarterback Tom Brady accountable for Deflategate

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has not budged off the 4-game suspension for New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. The suspension is based on The Wells Report which said Brady probably knew something regarding the New England Patriots' deflation of game balls in the 2014 AFC Championship game vs the Indianapolis Colts. The fact that Brady took three months to reveal that he destroyed his personal cell phone back in March was probably hugely influential in Goodell's decision.

Will New England Patriots' Tom Brady be able to survive DeflateGate?

The Ted Wells Report is in and it’s not looking good for the New England Patriots and Tom Brady. The Wells Report is based on the investigation into the deflation of footballs by the New England Patriots during the AFC Championship game. The Wells Report determined that Tom Brady had more than probable knowledge that the footballs used during the AFC Championship game were deflated.

VIDEO: Glenn Gilliam Tired of Robert Kraft and Tom Brady Dragging Out DeflateGate

I am putting Robert Kraft, owner of the ne patriots and QB Tom Brady on the bench. They are making me sick trying to defend the defenseless and dragging this deflategate on beyond need. Kraft had the nerve to make it sound as if he had some guarantee from Commissioner Goodell to reduce or remove Tom Brady's 4-game suspension, while apologizing to the Patriot fans and Brady. And Brady continues to try and restore something that cannot be restored, the genie is out of the bottle and to insist that you're completely innocent but destroyed your phone knowing the league's interest in seeing it, has guilty written all over it and only New Englanders are buying the BS he's selling. It's offensive and only reminds fans of why this persists and that when it comes to the integrity of the game, New England plays by its own rules.

Tom Brady’s NFL Four-Game Suspension Scrapped

Judgement day has arrived for the NFL and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

After more than seven months of bickering about deflated footballs, a federal district court judge has rendered a decision. Judge Richard M. Berman ruled today that Tom Brady’s four-game suspension by the NFL will be vacated. In layman’s terms, Tom Brady, the reigning Super Bowl MVP, will be on the field for the season opener on September 10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

With the judge’s decision, they are dancing in the streets in Foxboro and the NFL Commissioners Office is nursing another black eye. To be clear, Judge Berman’s decision was not about whether Brady deflated or ordered footballs to be deflated. It was about process and procedure. According to Judge Berman, the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NFL and the NFL’s players union did not give NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell the authority to suspend Tom Brady.

The National Football Players Association (NFLPA) released a statement in reaction to Berman's ruling and the league's Collective Bargaining Agreement:

“The rights of Tom Brady and of all NFL players under the collective bargaining agreement were affirmed today by a Federal Judge in a court of the NFL’s choosing. We thank Judge Berman for his time, careful consideration of the issue and fair and just result.

This decision should prove, once and for all, that our Collective Bargaining Agreement does not grant this Commissioner the authority to be unfair, arbitrary and misleading. While the CBA grants the person who occupies the position of Commissioner the ability to judiciously and fairly exercise the designated power of that position, the union did not agree to attempts to unfairly, illegally exercise that power, contrary to what the NFL has repeatedly and wrongfully claimed.

We are happy for the victory of the rule of law for our players and our fans. This court’s decision to overturn the NFL Commissioner again should signal to every NFL owner that collective bargaining is better than legal losses. Collective bargaining is a much better process that will lead to far better results.”

Given that this case was not about Tom Brady’s guilt or innocence, Judge Berman had three options in this case: uphold the NFL’s suspension of Tom Brady; send it to an arbitrator or vacate the NFL’s ruling.

Judge Berman chose to vacate the NFL’s ruling. You can read Judge Berman’s ruling here.

So, to those who are rejoicing, celebrate now because the legal battle may not be over.

The NFL can appeal Judge Berman's ruling in this case to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. If so, the NFL could seek a stay of Judge Berman’s decision.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Full unedited text of the statement released on Wednesday by Tom Brady:

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.

Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, today held a press conference at the NFL Spring Meeting in San Francisco and stated that he “won’t appeal” the NFL’s punishment for #DeflateGate.

Kraft did make it clear that he still doesn’t agree with Commissioner Roger Goodell's decision to fine the Patriots $1 million and take away two draft picks for the team's role in using underinflated footballs during the AFC championship game against the Indiana Colts.

Kraft’s decision is showing is pragmatic side because only a few days ago, Kraft went in hard on NFL Commissioner Goodell’s decision saying the penalty was “way over the top, unreasonable and unprecedented.”

More than disgusted with the Ted Wells report, which was the result of the investigation into the deflation of footballs by the New England patriots and ordered by the NFL Commissioner, Kraft told Peter King of MMQB:

"I just get really worked up. To receive the harshest penalty in league history is just not fair. The anger and frustration with this process, to me, it wasn’t fair. If we’re giving all the power to the NFL and the office of the commissioner, this is something that can happen to all 32 teams. We need to have fair and balanced investigating and reporting. But in this report, every inference went against us … inferences from ambiguous, circumstantial evidence all went against us. That’s the thing that really bothers me."

Today is new day and Kraft has a new attitude: “I’m gonna accept — reluctantly…
at no time should the agenda of one team outweigh the collective 32” teams in the NFL.

Now what wasn’t stated in Kraft’s brief press conference in San Francisco is whether the Patriots decision to not appeal the #DeflateGate sanctions includes Tom Brady’s four-game suspension.

A reporter did ask the question whether the decision not to appeal includes Tom Brady as Kraft left the podium, but Kraft did not answer to the reporter’s question.

Kraft did not take or answer any questions.

Now we wait for Tom Brady and/or the NFL Players Association.