Last week, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell upheld Tom Brady’s four-game suspension for the New England Patriots quarterback’s supposed role in deflating footballs. Among the reasons the NFL upheld the punishment was Brady’s decision to destroy his cell phone before March 6, when he was set to meet with league investigators.
Brady said this was common practice for him. The league thought otherwise.
Brady told Goodell it's common practice for him to destroy phones and SIM cards when he's done using them. Goodell didn't buy that excuse.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) July 28, 2015
In any case, Goodell has someone on his side, and surprise, it’s Ted Wells, the external investigator who previously said in his report that Brady “was at least generally aware of” what was going on. On Tuesday, the transcript of Brady’s appeal, which took place on June 28, was released. In it was Wells’ testimony in which he said Brady’s refusal to turn over his phone “hurt… his credibility” and was “ill-advised.”
Interesting Ted Wells' testimony. Says Tom Brady's credibility hurt by "ill-advised" decision not to turn over phone pic.twitter.com/TjG1WslVmt
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 4, 2015
At this point, the NFL is clearly content punishing Brady for a lack of cooperation over an item that really doesn’t need to be forfeited anyway. Barring a major change in the not-too-distant future, however, it appears Brady will be sitting those four games.
(Via Sports Illustrated)
