Rejoice! Tom Brady Is Finally Done Challenging His Deflategate Suspension

tom brady
Getty Image

It’s finally over. After the Second Circuit Court of Appeals refused to re-hear Tom Brady’s challenge to the four-game suspension handed down to him by Roger Goodell, Brady announced that he will no longer pursue any legal action against the NFL.

Honestly, it’s kind of a surprise that Brady isn’t taking this all the way to the Supreme Court. Sure, it was highly unlikely they’d even hear the case, and certainly not in time to stop the suspension from happening, but wasn’t this all about the principle of the thing to begin with?

No matter what you think about the fairness of the punishment, or Roger Goodell’s broad powers and his even broader use of them, Brady never had much of a case due to his punishment falling within the legal language that the NFL Player’s Association agreed to in their Collective Bargaining Agreement. The ludicrous amount of power Goodell was afforded made the issue seem more complex than it is, because many people seem to have thought, “But surely there must be something to be done about this foolishness.” Turns out, there isn’t anything.

Oh well, you know what that means — It’s Jimmy Garoppolo time! How great would it be if he came bursting out of the gates at 4-0 with an immaculate passing record, only to have Brady come back and be mediocre? Imagine the debates on New England sports radio — that whole region would tear itself apart.

×