Tom Brady Responds And It's Magnificent!
From Tom Brady’s Facebook Page
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.
- Tom Brady
AMEN! Here! Here! 4 More years! It finally looks like Tom Brady is reading Barstool because this is EXACTLY and I mean EXACTLY what I wrote last night. Forget the fact that Brady offered to get Goodell all the deleted phone records and communications. It’s irrelevant because Goodell already had them. There is no smoking gun because there never was a smoking gun. How many times do Brady and I have to say this? If Brady texted with the equipment guys about deflating footballs then Goodell would have seen it because Goodell had their phones. By the NFL’s logic they suspended Brady for not giving them the information they already had access to and showed nothing. HOW DO PEOPLE NOT GET THIS? WHAT PLANET AM I ON!
Bottomline is this was just a smear campaign by the NFL from Day 1. They were never able to find 1 shred of evidence that proved Tom Brady was guilty. Their stance was essentially admit you did it or else we’ll punish you like you did it anyway. Roger Goodell is liar and a crook and the fact that people suddenly think he’s telling the truth or being honest here after the way he’s handled Ray Rice, Bountygate and Adrian Peterson is surreal. Goodell has a long and storied history of deceit and corruption and somehow people are giving him the benefit of the doubt here even though he doesn’t have a leg to stand on. This is simply about the rest of the country hating the Patriots so much that they are willing to turn a blind eye to the truth. That’s it. They can’t beat us on the field so they’ve resorted to this. Sad day for America indeed.
PS – I can’t wait for Donald Trump to weigh in here. You know he’s gonna go all in on Goodell.