Odds remain against Tom Brady in Deflategate battle, but he can never back down
His chances of playing the first four games are slim, but succumbing to Roger Goodell cannot be an option.
COMMENTARY
We’re well past the point of Roger Goodell’s long Deflategate con where it is reasonable to expect anything to change, especially public perceptions and perspectives.
If you have believed since Deflategate became a thing in January 2015 — you know, before the Patriots won Super Bowl XLIX, before Brady was suspended, before his suspension was upheld by Goodell, before his suspension was overturned by Judge Richard Berman, before that ruling was overturned in an appeals court, and before a request to reconsider that decision was rejected, and God this is all so ridiculous — that Tom Brady schemed to have the air let out of footballs used in the AFC Championship Game, nothing that comes to light going forward is going to change that.
(You probably also believe that this is the year for your Bills/Jets/Dolphins. Such misguided optimism is charming.)
On the other hand, if you’ve believed for the past 500-plus days that the Patriots’ quarterback committed a misdemeanor of football gamesmanship (if anything) but has been systematically railroaded by a Goodell-orchestrated, deliberately disingenuous scheme driven by envy, a power play, and the NFL’s desperation for a shiny-object distraction from its real issues, well, that seems implausible, which is really weird because it’s very likely the truth.
Perception is long past the point of changing. And that’s probably also true about the ultimate outcome of what is becoming the longest-running charade in sports. The latest unsurprising plot twist came down Wednesday when the US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan announced it had rejected a request by Brady and the NFL Players Association to reconsider the reinstatement of his suspension from April. Brady and his legal team can petition the Supreme Court to intervene for a stay of the suspension, which theoretically would allow him to play those first four games.
I’ll spare you the usual metaphors about rallies and comebacks and Hail Marys, and I’m not going to give you a hot take about how he should give it up for the sake of … oh, I don’t know, because we’re all sick of having it infect the fun that is supposed to come from being a fan. But this isn’t about us. It’s about Brady, and the increasingly desperate quest for fairness.
He’s set to miss a quarter of a season for — again, again, again — what was a misdemeanor, if a trespass ever existed at all. Dragging him through this has been the perfect distraction from the league’s troubling and increasingly well-known back story regarding how it has handled concussions and domestic violence, especially during Goodell’s tenure.
Brady is also paying an absurd and unjust price for the sense among envious owners that the Patriots weren’t punished enough for Spygate. Think of how aggravated you get as a Patriots fan when one more ruling goes against Brady or you see Robert Kraft playing paddy-cake with Goodell, and then imagine how profoundly angry Brady must be.
It’s tempting to root for closure in all of this. Maybe Jimmy Garoppolo could step in during the first four games, play well, and become trade bait while a fresh and vengeful Brady rips up the league when he returns. It seems like a best-case scenario … but then you remember that such closure — and with it the final confirmation of the broadness and depth of his power — is what Goodell wants.
That man cannot get what he wants. Of course, Brady should continue to push this, even against slim odds, if that’s what he chooses to do. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who would hear the Supreme Court appeal, doesn’t seem like someone who would be a huge fan of Goodell’s methods. Maybe she’ll deliver him some verbal comeuppance at the least. Might as well find out.
Yes, Deflategate grew tiresome months and months ago. But because we’re weary doesn’t mean the man it most affects should give up his fight. Garoppolo will be the one charged with trying to fill Brady’s shoes on the field. The least we can do is try to put ourselves in them and understand why Brady shouldn’t back down, why he can never back down. They’ve tried to take his reputation. They’ve tried to take four of his games. What else does he have to lose?
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