JC2015
Posts: 4922
Joined: 4/27/2015
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quote:
his decision to destroy a cell phone that likely implicated him in a low-rent scheme with two team flunkies doesn't destroy his legacy as a four-time champ. But it does make Brady look like a liar. A liar in this case, anyway. In announcing his ruling to uphold Brady's four-game suspension, Goodell said the quarterback had his personal assistant do an end zone dance on his phone on or around the same March day Brady met with the investigators who already had asked to see relevant texts and emails on that phone. Brady didn't reveal he'd effectively deleted nearly 10,000 texts over a four-month period until days before his 10-hour appeal hearing on June 23. According to the NFL ruling, he said the destruction of old cell phones was merely a part of his normal routine, like warming up with Julian Edelman and Gronk. But on page 12 of Goodell's 20-page decision, the commissioner points out that the phone Brady used before the one in question was intact and available for a forensic expert to review. "No explanation was provided for this anomaly," Goodell wrote. Goodell cited Brady's quarterback-room meeting and numerous cell phone conversations with John Jastremski after the allegations surfaced; the quarterback had no such meeting or conversations with the equipment assistant during the regular season. Jim McNally, the officials' locker room attendant and the man believed to have taken a 100-second bathroom break with New England's AFC Championship Game balls, also makes a return appearance in the commissioner's decision as the self-described "Deflator." Only here's the problem for Brady: Even if he wins, he loses. People who weren't convinced of his role in Deflategate by Ted Wells, or by McNally's reference to himself as "The Deflator," or by the notion that no underlings would alter game balls sans Brady's approval with a Super Bowl trip on the line, have to be sold by the story of the cell phone that went poof in the night. So the quarterback has lost in the court of public opinion, and it didn't have to be that way. He should have copped to his mistake months ago. He should've realized that one stain wouldn't ruin an otherwise spotless career. He should've apologized for seeking that extra competitive edge, if only to prove one more time that 198 players shouldn't have been picked ahead of him in the 2000 NFL draft. http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/13332599/new-england-patriots-qb-tom-brady-deflategate-suspension-ian-oconnor
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