Here’s the latest on Tom Brady’s suspension
UPDATE: The NFL upheld Tom Brady’s 4-game suspension Tuesday afternoon.
Patriots training camp begins Thursday at Gillette Stadium. Tom Brady is already in the building, every report in the ongoing Deflategate saga seems to conflict the last, and it feels as though we’re no closer to a resolution than we were the day after the AFC Championship game.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter took to the airwaves on Tuesday to deliver some bad news for Patriots fans: he expects the league to hold firm on Brady’s 4-game suspension.
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A short time later, Schefter’s colleague Stephen A. Smith said on ESPN he was “hearing’’ Tom Brady’s cell phone was destroyed, but quickly backtracked, adding “[he doesn’t] know.’’
Several other reporters questioned the methodology of Smith’s reporting.
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While Schefter expects the league to uphold the full suspension, according to Fox Sports’ Mike Garafolo, the NFL and the NFLPA have an “open line of communication’’ regarding a settlement that could reduce Brady’s time served.
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Other punishments given by Roger Goodell
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One possible culprit for the league’s reluctance to reduce Brady’s suspension? The owners. Reports emerged last week that a coalition led by “influential’’ owners were pressuring Roger Goodell to uphold the four-game ban, and on Friday ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio revealed the leaders to be Colts owner Jim Irsay and Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti, both of whom refuted the reports.
And while Brady and the Patriots have to be hoping the decision comes before Thursday’s start of training camp, Goodell said last week the league has “no timetable’’ for a decision.
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