For once Boston is cheering New York. Judge Richard Berman, a federal court judge in Manhattan, has overturned New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s 4-game suspension for the Deflate-gate scandal.
The suspension was handed down in May and upheld by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell back in July. Brady promptly filed suit. I didn’t think the courts would get involved, but Judge Berman decided not to punt.
All of this means that is that the Jimmy Garoppolo era has been put on hold. Brady could start the season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers one week from tonight. The ratings will be through the roof for NBC.
As I argued before the suspension was handed down, a lot of this is about taking Tom Brady down a bunch of pegs. If this involved some journeyman player nobody ever heard of it wouldn’t warrant a moment’s attention. But Brady has four Super Bowl rings and a supermodel wife. There are people who resent the success of others and would like nothing more than to see those people destroyed. This is Deflate-gate in a nutshell.
I don’t think Patriots partisans should be talking about killing Goodell, as Kirk Minihane did this morning. But I do wonder how much longer he will remain NFL Commish. Goodell looks every bit as bad here as he did with the Ray Rice incident a year ago. Whereas Goodell initially let Rice off lightly for assaulting his then fiancée in an elevator, he went after Brady as if he had behaved like Aaron Hernandez. It would appear that Brady has the last laugh.