In a somewhat shocking ruling today (Monday, April 25), a federal appeals court has decided that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will in fact have to serve a four-game suspension for his role in “Deflategate,” the 2015 scandal in which Brady and other members of the organization were accused of illegally deflating the footballs prior to their AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts, who suffered a 45-7 beatdown at the hands of New England.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals released a statement today, saying that they “hold that the Commissioner properly exercised his broad discretion under the collective bargaining agreement and that his procedural rulings were properly grounded in that agreement and did not deprive Brady of fundamental fairness.” Basically, Roger Goodell acted fairly in his initial suspension of Brady, which was reversed after the NFL Player’s Association appealed the 2015 ruling and won, allowing Brady to play in all 16 of the Patriots’ games last season and lead his team to yet another AFC Championship game, where they were thwarted by the eventual NFL Champion Denver Broncos.
This update means that Brady will miss the first four games of the season–match-ups against the Cardinals, Dolphins, Texans and Bills–and will be eligible to return in Week 5 against the new-look Browns.