When the smoke finally clears in the Deflategate case, issues between the NFL and NFLPA need to be sorted out. On top of that, there is a lot finger pointing on both sides of the ball, the NFL and Tom Brady, and its difficult to take either side seriously. 
Tom Brady made a serious move on Facebook earlier yesterday, expressing his thoughts on Deflategate. He starts off by saying that, "I am very disappointed by the NFL's decision to uphold the four game suspension against me. I did nothing wrong, and no one in the Patriots organization did either," in other words, I am innocent. It is ironic that Brady decided to share this information nearly six months after the initial Deflategate investigation. Instead of "Brady" on the back of his jersey he might as well paste an "I am innocent" sticker during training camp. Despite his initial message, Brady wasn't the only Patriot to take a shot at the NFL following the Deflategate decision, Robert Kraft got in on it as well. 
Robert Kraft is not known for taking shots at the NFL, and Roger Goodell, but yesterday he felt that change was needed. 

Robert Kraft Transcript: In light of yesterday’s league ruling, I felt it was important to make a statement today, prior to the start of training camp. After this, I will not be talking about this matter until after the legal process plays itself out and I would advise everyone in the organization to do the same and just concentrate on preparation for the 2015 season. 

The decision handed down by the league yesterday is unfathomable to me. It is routine for discipline in the NFL to be reduced upon appeal. In the vast majority of these cases there is tangible and hard evidence of the infraction for which the discipline is being imposed and still the initial penalty gets reduced. Six months removed from the AFC Championship game, the league still has no hard evidence of anybody doing anything to tamper with the psi level of footballs. 

I continue to believe and unequivocally support Tom Brady. I first and foremost need to apologize to our fans because I truly believe that what I did in May, given the actual evidence of this situation and the league’s history on discipline matters, would make it much easier for the league to exonerate Tom Brady. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

The league’s handling of this entire process has been extremely frustrating and disconcerting. I will never understand why an initial erroneous report regarding the psi level of footballs was leaked by a source from the NFL a few days after the AFC Championship game was never corrected by those who had the correct information. For four months, that report cast aspersions and shaped public opinion.

Yesterday's decision by Commissioner [Roger] Goodell was released in a similar manner under an erroneous headline that read “Tom Brady Destroyed His Cell Phone.” This headline was designed to capture headlines across the country and obscure [the fact the NFL still has no hard] evidence regarding the tampering of air pressure in footballs. It intentionally implied nefarious behavior and minimized the acknowledgement that Tom provided the history of every number he texted during the relevant time frame. And we had already provided the league with every cellphone of every non-NFLPA employee that they requested, including head coach Bill Belichick.

Tom Brady is a person of great integrity and is a great ambassador of the game, both on and off the field.

Yet, for reasons that I cannot comprehend, there are those in the league office who are more determined to prove that they were right rather than admit any culpability of their own or take any responsibility for the initiation of a process and ensuing investigation that was flawed.

I have come to the conclusion that this was never about doing what was fair and just. Back in May, I had to make a difficult decision that I now regret. I tried to do what I thought was right. I chose not to take legal action. I wanted to return the focus to football. I have been negotiating agreements on a global basis my entire life. I know that there are times when you have to give up important points of principle to achieve a greater good.

I acted in good faith and was optimistic that by taking the actions I took, the league would have what they wanted. I was willing to accept the harshest penalty in the history of the NFL for an alleged ball violation because I believed it would help exonerate Tom.

I have often said, “If you want to get a deal done, sometimes you have to get the lawyers out of the room.” I had hopes that Tom Brady’s appeal to the league would provide Roger Goodell the necessary explanation to overturn his suspension. Now, the league has taken the matter to court, which is a tactic that only a lawyer would recommend.

Once again, I want to apologize to the fans of the New England Patriots and [to] Tom Brady. I was wrong to put my faith in the league.

Given the facts, evidence and laws of science that underscore this entire situation, it is completely incomprehensible to me that the league continues to take steps to disparage one of its all-time great players and a man for whom I have the utmost respect.

Personally, this is very sad and disappointing to me.

Robert Kraft throughouly believed that if he took the heat for Deflategate Tom Brady would be given some leeway with Goodell, sadly he was wrong. Goodell and the rest of the NFL laid the hammer down on Tom Brady, which many other owners seemed to support. Despite his inaction, Goodell and Kraft are now set up for a battle of wits in NFL procedures, not the pressure of footballs. 
There is one thing that Kraft is right about, Deflategate is no longer about the pressure of footballs, its about broken cell phones and a lack of cooperation. From Tom Brady's side it seems as if he and the rest of his lawyers have given the NFL everything that they have asked for. The NFL seems to believe that Brady did not cooperate and destroyed his phone in order to hide important evidence. Whatever the case may be the NFL, and Tom Brady, have two opposing views on Deflategate and what actually happened. The real question is, which one is the truth? 
Right now the most important thing for the fans and the rest of the NFL is the truth. Tom Brady is telling one story and the NFL is telling another, it just a matter of who is telling the better one. Goodell has 243 pages of "proof" from the Wells Report and Brady has a pissed of lawyer and Robert Kraft by his side. It may seem as if Tom Brady is trying to save face by screaming out "I didn't do it!" despite the current bias from Roger Goodell. Tom Brady is in a serious hole of public opinion based on information provided by the NFL, that may or may not be true. The destruction or disposal of Tom Brady's cell phone may be the tipping point in the entire investigation, sad part is cell phones don't determine the air pressure of footballs, air gauges do. 
Tom Brady exclaimed that: "I had 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," and according to the collective bargaining agreement Brady does not have to surrender his phone for investigative purposes. 
Regardless of the situation Bill Belichick handled it in professional fashion exclaiming that "we are going to get ready for the 2015 season" and, "its a new season for everyone". As usual, reporters kept on asking and got the same answer. 
Despite the backlash from Deflategate the Patriots will do what they usually do, get ready for the season. The NFL and the fans on the other hand will have to wait even longer for the truth about Deflategate. Deflategate should be a thing of the past, its been six months and with a lawsuit around the corner, it will be even longer. 
No matter how long Deflategate goes one thing is for certain, the NFL has absolutely no proof of Tom Brady's engagement in deflating footballs. The NFL is focused on finding a way to shift public opinion against Tom Brady in order to prove that he is guilty. The main example is the announcement about the cell phone and how Brady allegedly had it destroyed before his meeting with investigators. That is an important piece of information, so why did the NFL wait to share until now?
Main reason, they have no proof and they need one piece of hard evidence that will change public opinion. Tom Brady is in the ditches mainly because of statements from the NFL regarding his participation and lack of cooperation. To be brutally honest, many of the claims are totally out of left field. Cellphone gate is a diversion and we will find out if it actually pays off but one things is for certain, the truth will come out, whether its from the NFL or Tom Brady. 

The truth is of upmost importance right now, but as a fan it is a matter of who do you believe more, and who is telling the better story. 

 Deflategate is far from over, the NFL decided to put the hammer down on Tom Brady but the legal process has just begun. 

According to reports from ESPN, Tom Brady has given the NFLPA the green light to take Deflategate to federal court. As far as the NFLPA is concerned, they feel they have a good chance to give Roger Goodell a run for his money. Real question is what is Brady going to argue in court?

Lets start off with cellphonegate, or in other words, Brady's shady disposal of his cell phone. Back in the spring the NFL asked Brady to share his emails, text messages and many other forms of electronic media, Brady refused. According to reports, Wells gave Brady "extraordinary protections" meaning that Brady's lawyers could turn over messages that they deemed necessary to the investigation. Still, Brady refused and this has played a major role in why he is still suspended. On the other hand, Brady claims to dispose of his phones every four months, and subsequently even one right before his meeting with the investigators. Also, under the collective bargaining agreement players do not have to turn over any forms of electronic media. 

Despite cellphonegate Tom Brady and his legal team have a lot of ammunition against the NFL with regards to Deflategate. Brady and his team are going to argue that Roger Goodell should not have been appointed as the arbitrator in this case. The NFLPA pushed for a third party arbitrator but Goodell was given the responsibility. On top of that VP Troy Vincent had no authority to hand down the punishment. Vincent's extensive punishment gave Roger Goodell sheen impartiality in the appeal. Vincent's actions are a clear violation of the personal conduct policy that was created in 2011. 

After all is said and done Brady still has a chance to play in week one against the Steelers. Tom Brady and his lawyers are expected to seek an injunction and hold out the suspension until it can be decided in court. Only problem is they have to prove that the NFL has done "irreparable harm" to Tom Brady. 

Its time to lawyer up and get down to business. 

Shortly following the of NFL's announcement about Tom Brady's suspension Don Yee, Brady's agent, released a statement about the appeals process. 

"The appeal process was a sham, resulting in the Commissioner rubber-stamping his own decision. For example, the Wells investigative team was given over 100 days to conduct its investigation. Just days prior to the appeal hearing, we were notified that we would only have four hours to present a defense; therefore, we didn’t have enough time to examine important witnesses. Likewise, it was represented to the public that the Wells team was 'independent'; however, when we requested documents from Wells, our request was rejected on the basis of privilege. We therefore had no idea as to what Wells found from other witnesses, nor did we know what those other witnesses said."

"These are just two examples of how the Commissioner failed to ensure a fair process."

He goes on:  "Additionally, the science in the Wells Report was junk. It has been thoroughly discredited by independent third parties" 

The best part: "The Commissioner’s decision and discipline has no precedent in all of NFL history. His decision alters the competitive balance of the upcoming season. The decision is wrong and has no basis, and it diminishes the integrity of the game.”

The NFL better lawyer up, this case is going to court. 

Roger Goodell has decided to uphold Tom Brady's 4-game suspension for his involvement in Deflategate and violating the leagues policy on the integrity of the game. According to CNBC, it is apparent that Roger Goodell got his hands on  "important new information", during Tom Brady's appeal hearing. 

On June 18, Brady "directed that the cell phone he had used for the prior four months be destroyed" despite the NFL investigators request.  

June 18th is nearly four months since the onset of the Deflategate investigation and according to NFL.com Tom Brady exchanged more than 10,000 text messages during that time. The 10,000 text messages are no longer retrievable.  

Brady appealed his 4-game suspension in late May with the help of the NFLPA, but efforts have fallen short. According to the Wells Report it was "more probable than not" that Brady participated in the Deflategate scandal. 

Tom Brady is now eligible to play in week 6 agains the Colts. Jimmy Garoppolo, who played sparingly last year, is now in line to start the first four games for the Patriots. 

Brady is eligible to play in training camp and during the preseason but we will have to wait and see what Tom Brady next move is. 

In the wake of the 2006 NFL offseason that amounted to 68 arrests, Rodger Goodell was elected as the Commissioner of the NFL. Six months after his election, Goodell instituted the NFL Player Conduct Policy to halt the tide of criminal acts by NFL players. Prior to its inclusion, NFL players were getting arrested for drunk driving and getting into fights that were fueled by alcohol and other drugs. One of the players that led to the creation of the NFL Conduct Policy was Adam “Pacman” Jones. Jones was known as one the NFL’s troublemakers due to his many altercations with the law enforcement prior to 2007 ("Is Roger Goodell's Personal Conduct Policy Working?" Hansen). Jones was arrested eight times between 2005-2008 but he is most famous for starting a fight with his own bodyguard in October 2007 ("Is Roger Goodell's Personal Conduct Policy Working?" Hansen). Under the new Personal Conduct Policy Jones was suspended for the entire 2007 season ("Is Roger Goodell's Personal Conduct Policy Working?" Hansen). Even with the NFL Player Conduct Policy, NFL players are still being arrested in large numbers and changes need to be made to protect the standards of the NFL and monitor player’s actions off of the field to prevent arrests.

            Since its introduction in 2007, the NFL Personal Conduct Policy has served as a set of guidelines for players on and off of the field. The policy is split up into three parts, standards of conduct, discipline, and reinstatement. The standards of conduct include,” criminal offenses including but are not limited to, those involving: the use or threat of violence, domestic violence, and other forms of domestic abuse,” (“NFL Personal Conduct Policy”). On top of that, any conduct that involves law enforcement is subject to discipline. Goodell, stated that,” It is not enough simply to avoid being found guilty of a crime. Instead as an employee of the NFL or a member club, you are held to a higher standard and are expected to conduct yourself in a way that is responsible, [and] promotes the values upon which the league is based, and is lawful,” ("Is Roger Goodell's Personal Conduct Policy Working?" Hansen). Players as well as the rest of the league personnel need to be held to a higher standard in the offseason and off of the field. Just like any other professional athlete, NFL rookies are paid handsomely, and the money and background they come from at the college level tend to get them in trouble.

NFL rookies come from completely different backgrounds, some have been feeding their families and others are brought up and pampered to play football. Nearly 70.6% of all NFL athletes are chosen during the NFL draft and all nearly all have played football at an American University/College. Players that are drafted into the NFL,” must be out of high school for at least three years [minimum],” (“Everything You Need to Know About the NFL's Rookie Wage Scale” Kostora) as per NFL draft rules. In other words, young players that are drafted into the NFL are typically between the ages of 22 and 25.  Despite their age rookies tend to get paid very well. Under the NFL rookie wage scale, first year players are prompted to sign a four-year contract with their new team. The rookie wage scale sets a maximum amount of cap space for each team to sign draft picks (“Everything You Need to Know About the NFL's Rookie Wage Scale” Kostora). So if a team like the New England Patriots gets 35 million dollars in available cap space they have to split it between however many first year players they decide to sign. Normally, first year players make two million dollars a year if they are selected in the lower echelon of the draft, rounds three to seven. High profile players on the other hand are generally chosen within the first ten picks of the NFL draft and they make significantly more than third to seventh round picks (“Everything You Need to Know About the NFL's Rookie Wage Scale” Kostora). Top ten picks in the NFL draft average about the same salary as lower round picks but they get hefty signing bonuses upwards of ten to twelve million dollars (“Everything You Need to Know About the NFL's Rookie Wage Scale” Kostora). Signing bonuses do not kill the teams cap but are proportioned over the course of a players contract (“Everything You Need to Know About the NFL's Rookie Wage Scale” Kostora). Simply put, NFL rookies, two, and three-year veterans such as Aaron Hernandez make a lot of money but tend to make bad choices off of the field due to misconduct and a record of criminal behavior coming out of college.

Aaron Hernandez, drafted 113th by the New England Patriots in 2010 was convicted of murder during the 2013 offseason. Hernandez had a significant amount of red flags coming out of the University of Florida. People at the University of Florida,” would tell you,’ Every time there’s an issue, he’s around it,” said one AFC college scouting director (“Aaron Hernandez's NFL entry: What did scouts know back then?” Breer). On top of that Hernandez failed multiple drug tests at the University of Florida. Pro teams look diligently at drug tests of college players since they are put in a position to pass (“Aaron Hernandez's NFL entry: What did scouts know back then?” Breer) . Thus from the following information Pro teams can conclude that an athlete does not care or has a drug problem. Hernandez’s ability to stay in line was automatically in question before draft day (“Aaron Hernandez's NFL entry: What did scouts know back then?” Breer). Many scouts and even University of Florida head coach Urban Meyer believed that Hernandez would be able to thrive in the right environment (“Aaron Hernandez's NFL entry: What did scouts know back then?” Breer). Hernandez was tagged as a follower and needed to be around the right people in order to stay out of trouble so the Patriots decided to take a chance on him.   

After his first two years with the Patriots Hernandez signed a five year 40 million dollar extension in August of 2012. The contract did not contain a “failure to perform” or “failure to practice” clause meaning that Hernandez could still make 2.5 million dollars even if he got into trouble with the law environment (“Aaron Hernandez's NFL entry: What did scouts know back then?” Breer). Hernandez did not have a career year in 2012, the year following the singing of his giant contract, he played 10 games and had 51 receptions for 483 yards compared to 79 receptions for 910 yards in 2011, his second year as a pro (“Aaron Hernandez Stats”). Despite his down year the Patriots made the AFC Championship game but lost to the Super Bowl Champion Ravens 28-13 (“Aaron Hernandez Stats”). After the loss and as the Patriots were gearing up for the 2013 season Aaron Hernandez got into trouble with police in the North Attleboro area of Massachusetts.

On the morning of June 26, 2013 Massachusetts state police arrested Aaron Hernandez and started to investigate the death of Odin Lloyd. Lloyd, a semi-pro football player, body was found about a half-mile from Hernandez’s home (“Aaron Hernandez arrested, taken into police custody” Manahan). A few hours after following the arrest the New England Patriots released a statement”, words cannot express the disappointment we feel knowing that one of our places was arrested as a result of this investigation,” the statement went on saying that ”we realize that law enforcement investigations into this matter are ongoing. We support their efforts and respect the process.” (“Aaron Hernandez arrested, taken into police custody” Manahan). The Patriots then, in their best interest, released Aaron Hernandez due to his situation with law enforcement (“Aaron Hernandez arrested, taken into police custody” Manahan) . To make things even worse NFL spokesman Greg Aiello stated,” the involvement of an NFL player in a case of this nature is deeply troubling.” The NFL continued by expressing its sympathy towards Odin Lloyds family and friends. Beyond apologizing, the NFL could not do anything else but wait until the investigation began (“Aaron Hernandez arrested, taken into police custody” Manahan).  

In the days before Hernandez’s arrest the Massachusetts state police investigated Hernandez’s house, a large playhouse in the backyard that Hernandez used as a doghouse, and the woods surrounding his house (“Aaron Hernandez arrested, taken into police custody” Manahan). It is reported that the investigators left with ten bags worth of evidence and were set to come back the following Monday, June 19th. The state police returned on Monday with two divers in scuba gear. They were set to check out a nearby pond that was surrounded by trees. Following the one-hour dive, one of the six divers said that they found no evidence (“Aaron Hernandez arrested, taken into police custody” Manahan). After the dive investigators spent five more days at the Hernandez residence and used surveillance cameras that tracked Hernandez from his home in North Attleboro to Boston and back. Police also tracked Hernandez’s cell phone usage, text messages, and collected any other evidence that they found in a rental car (“Aaron Hernandez arrested, taken into police custody” Manahan). William McCauley, Bristol Assistant District Attorney, was able to put together a timeline based off of the evidence of the case that put Hernandez with Odin Lloyd an hour the morning he was killed, right up to the minute he was executed (“Aaron Hernandez arrested, taken into police custody” Manahan). Directly following his arrest Hernandez was charged with first-degree murder of Odin Lloyd and five gun-related charges (“Aaron Hernandez arrested, taken into police custody” Manahan). Hernandez pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and was denied bail. He was set to appear in court again on July 24th 2013 (“Aaron Hernandez arrested, taken into police custody” Manahan).

Authorities were not quite done with Hernandez after charging him with the murder of Odin Lloyd. Hernandez, according to USA Today, was also being investigated into a possible double-murder that occurred outside the Boston area in 2012. The case involves the drive by shootings of Daniel Abraeu and Safiro Furtado. According to the Boston Globe ” investigators believe Abreu and Furtado were involved in a fight at a club with a group that included Hernandez”. (“Reports: Hernandez murder charge link to 2012 murders?” Smith and Schrotenboer). Police later found that the car driven by Abreu and Furtado took gunfire from an SUV, Abraeu and Furtado were killed instantly during the drive by. The double murder charge was not brought up at the following hearing on July 24th due to a lack of evidence but Hernandez’s probable cause hearing was moved to August 22nd (“Reports: Hernandez murder charge link to 2012 murders?” Smith and Schrotenboer).

Also, following his July 24th date in court the NFL released a statement that if “Aaron Hernandez enters into a player contract prior to the resolution of the charges pending against him, the contract will not be approved or take effect until Commissioner Roger Goodell holds a hearing.” (“Reports: Hernandez murder charge link to 2012 murders?” Smith and Schrotenboer). The hearing “would be to determine whether Hernandez should be suspended or face other action prior to the charges being resolved.” (“Aaron Hernandez clears waivers” McIntyre).The NFL could only sit and wait until the Hernandez case is resolved in order to place any sort of punishment. Despite the NFL’s best intentions to clear up the Hernandez case, media outlets covered anything and everything Hernandez related.    

Media outlets such as USA Today, NFL.com, and ESPN were major contributors to Aaron Hernandez’s “fame” throughout his long, grueling trial. Hernandez along with the majority of NFL players are some of the most watched athletes in sports. Being an NFL player is like being a celebrity, media outlets follow one’s every move whether it be good or bad. The Aaron Hernandez case created a media explosion that Goodell and the rest of the NFL attempted to clean up by restricting his access to NFL teams. But, the Aaron Hernandez case is still ongoing today. Hernandez has not been convicted of murder yet but remains in prison and continues to compound his mistakes.

On Tuesday February 25, 2014 Hernandez got into a fight with another inmate even though he is “purposely been kept segregated from other prisoners because of his celebrity status.” (“Aaron Hernandez jailhouse fight involved handcuffed inmate: report” Goldstein) Also, according to prison rules, inmates cannot physically interact with one another but can verbally attack one another. Police reports indicate that the day of the altercation another inmate was harassing Hernandez. Hernandez later fought the inmate while he was handcuffed, but neither man was sent to the infirmary. To make things worse, the prison does not allow Hernandez to interact with other inmates even during recreation time, where he is allowed to make calls (“Aaron Hernandez jailhouse fight involved handcuffed inmate: report” Goldstein). Hernandez is still waiting to sit on trial for both the murder of Odin Lloyd and the fight in prison. The NFL has not made any decisions on how to further punish Hernandez.

The NFL could only do so much with Aaron Hernandez while he was sitting in prison. For discipline, the NFL banned Hernandez from being claimed off of waivers by any team when he became a free agent. On top of that, Hernandez is still waiting to be on trial for the murder of Odin Lloyd. Also Hernandez “does not have to be arrested or charges to disciplined by the NFL,” said Adam Shafter, an NFL analyst. He also added that “The NFL can do what it wants, as we’ve seen in the past with Ben Roethlisberger, who was not arrested or charged in either particular case that he was involved with, in Nevada and down in Georgia.” Roethlisberger was involved with two altercations with women during 2008 and 2011 seasons and he was “suspended for six games and on appeal had that suspension reduced to four games.” (“Will Hernandez face NFL discipline?” ESPN Boston). Roethlisberger’s sentence was reduced due to his good behavior and his ability to get his life back in order. The NFL discipline part of the conduct policy is also divided up into several parts, fines, suspension, and banishment from the league.

The NFL suspends the majority of NFL players that are involved in altercations with the law. But the NFL also has the power to investigate and get information from law enforcement in order to make a better-informed decision. The League will also make sure to advise the NFL Players Association of their actions decisions regarding players (“NFL Personal Conduct Policy”). The player under indictment or receiving punishment will have the ability to be represented by a council to address the conduct. At the end of the investigation the Commissioner has the final say and authority to impose punishment players (“NFL Personal Conduct Policy”). The NFL punishment policy does need a bit of work.

The NFL needs to clean house, with regards to players that have committed crimes such as murder, assault, robbery, etc. Suspensions and fines will not get rid of the problem instead it will prolong it. Players that have been involved in serious crimes e.g. murder; assault, robbery, weapons charges, and rape need to be banned from the NFL. NFL players get paid millions of dollars and are treated like celebrities and they need to be held to a higher standard. Players that have been involved in murder, like Ray Lewis and Aaron Hernandez, should not be allowed to return to the NFL even if they are proven not guilty. The NFL did not handle the Ray Lewis case very well; they looked past it and decided not to punish him. Just as in law enforcement the NFL’s punishment should fit the crime that a player is accused of. Players that are convicted of class A felonies such as murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping, and breaking and entering should be banned from the NFL, with no questions asked. Also, NFL players involved in class B&C felonies such as burglary should be banned from the NFL for a minimum of one year and a maximum of 3, with the option of being banned from the NFL permanently. Lastly, players involved with class D felonies such as a DUI should be suspended a minimum of 6 months and a maximum of 2 years. The NFL needs to impose stricter punishment but also implement programs that keep players out of trouble and involved with communities.

Programs such as the Rookie Success Program introduce rookies to the ins and outs of the NFL, plus it tells them what and whatnot to do off the field. Programs such as the NFL Rookie Success Program need to be made for veteran NFL players to get them involved in community service projects and other programs to benefit the community. NFL players need to set good examples for younger athletes and continue to bring leadership to communities through play 60 programs, which encourage athletes to get out and play 60 minutes a day. Community programs help NFL players stay away from crime and other illegal activities. Crime in the NFL is a large problem today but can only be solved by the NFL, not by law enforcement. 

According to reports Roger Goodell is in no hurry to rule out Brady's appeal, mainly due to the fact that there is no incentive to. In other words, the longer Goodell waits, the better. 

If Goodell were to announce the ruling early next week the NFLPA would have time to take the case to federal court. Also, the longer Goodell holds off the decision, the longer Brady has to think about his legacy and more importantly his standing in the public eye. 

Deflategate and Spygate have already been seared into the minds of the of the general public. The results of that were clearly seen at the ESPY's when a picture of Tom Brady holding a phone was shown, as a joke, with the text under picture reading: Tom Brady's I'll Text You What To Do Fantasy Ball Boy Experience. 

The ESPY's are just one clear example of just how much Tom Brady and the Patriots reputations have suffered since the inception of Deflategate. Even the president couldn't resist the urge to joke with the Patriots, especially when they visited the White House. Obama exclaimed,"I usually tell a bunch of jokes at these events, but with the Patriots in town I was worried 11 of 12 would fall flat," as Belichick and the rest of the Patriots smirked. Regardless of the shots that Tom Brady and the Patriots have taken thus far, a decision on Tom Brady's suspension will come soon. 

According to ESPN, and Adam Schafter, Goodell and the NFL will wait until the end of July to announce their decision. Even if Goodell decides to uphold Brady's suspension, it is more probable than not that Brady will take the case to federal court. In federal court Brady can file an injunction, which freezes the NFL's ruling until the case is resolved. The injunction can only be lifted once a verdict is reached in federal court, either Brady will have his suspension reduced or he won't. 


Regardless of what Goodell decides Tom Brady will face the consequences of Deflategate for the rest of his career. 

The NFL finally chose too reduce Greg Hardy's suspension from ten games to four games after several months of appeals and judicial processes. 

On July 14, 2014 Greg Hardy was found guilty of assaulting and communicating threats to his ex-girlfirend, Nicole Holder. Nearly a year later, on April 22, 2015, the NFL suspended Hardy 10-games without pay for conduct detrimental to the league. 

After a nearly two month investigation into Hardy's misconduct, the NFL found sufficient evidence that Hardy did indeed violate NFL policies. 

During the offseason Hardy, signed a one-year contract with the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys braced for the impending suspension and built in a special incentive. The contract is valued at $13 million dollars, but it is set to pay Hardy on a game-to-game basis. That means that Hardy will get paid if and when he is on the active game roster. The total value of the contract is 13 million dollars, but Hardy, with his reduced suspension is set to make $578,125 per game. In total, Hardy is expected to make $6,937,500 for twelve games, assuming he does not get injured. 


 Hardy is eligible to return on October 11th, when the Cowboys take on the New England Patriots at home. Hardy's Arbitrator, Harold Henderson, upheld the suspension but lowered the ban to four games. On top of that, Hardy has a chance to further reduce his suspension if he chooses too. After all is said and done, how does this effect Tom Brady and the Patriots?


First off, there is no relationship between domestic violence and breaking competitive rules. Tom Brady and Greg Hardy were charged with two different types of misconduct. Hardy broke the personal conduct policy and Brady "failed to cooperate with the league's investigation" according to ESPN. 


Both Brady and Hardy are both scheduled to have four game suspensions at this moment, but if all holds true, the NFL and Roger Goodell will reduce Brady's suspension. 

The NJ Jackals Media Team would like to present New Jersey Jackals Superlatives: The Best, Worst and everything in between, with your hosts....The players.

John Walter had a strong start for the Jackals as he went six innings, had five strikeouts, and only gave up three runs. Walter was helped by clutch from Catcher Tony Caldwell. Caldwell had a deep shot to right center field in the bottom of the 4th inning brining in two runs and giving the Jackals the lead. Hector Nelo came in the top of the 9th to secure his 13th save of the year. The Jackals conclude their series with the Miners tomorrow.

Brian Ernst had a strong start for the Jackals as he went seven innings, had five strikeouts, and gave up no runs. Ernst was helped by timely hitting from A.J Kirby-Jones and Jared Schlehuber, who both went 2-5 with an RBI. Leandro Castro continued his hot streak with a triple and an RBI. The Jackals continue their series against the Miners tomorrow at Yogi Berra Stadium.

The NJ Jackals were able to suppress the top ranked Boulders offense behind strong pitching from Gabriel Perez. Perez went 6 innings and gave up one run with 8 strikeouts. The Jackals offense was paced by Mark Threlkeld who had 2 home runs and 3 RBIs on the day. Leandro Castro continued his hot streak with another home run and an RBI to help the Jackals.

What is going on with the Boston Red Sox?!  They have now won seven of their last eight games, which include a sweep of the Miami Marlins. The team is finally getting into its groove after an abysmal start to the season.

The Red Sox defeated the Marlins 6-3 behind strong pitching from Rick Porcello, who has not recorded a win since late May. Porcello went six strong innings only allowing two runs, on eight hits, with four strikeouts. Big Papi paced the offense as he went 2-4 with a double, home run, and two RBIs. Papi’s home run broke the game wide open in the bottom of the 3rd as the Red Sox would go on to tack on two more runs in the inning.  The Sox would go on to win 6-3 and they are now averaging 6.8 runs per game and are 21-21 at home.

The Red Sox winning ways are mainly due to timely hitting and consistent pitching. In the last seven games, shortstop Xander Boegarts is hitting .462 with 12 hits and eight RBIs. Big Papi is also on a hot streak; he is hitting .250 with five hits, two home runs, and seven RBIs. Papi and Boegarts have accounted for nearly 40% of the Red Sox runs over the past week. The Red Sox pitchers, on the other hand, have been lights out.

Over the past week Red Sox pitchers are a combined 5-0 with a 3.35 ERA. They have been consistent and most importantly, they have been able to stretch deep into games. For example, Clay Buchholz the Red Sox ace, went nine strong innings and only allowed one run against the Astros in his last start. He is slated to face the Yankees, and Micheal Pineda, at Fenway on July 10th.

The Red Sox are only five games out of first place and they are in no way out of the running for the AL East Pennant. With their recent hot streak they have the ability to climb in the standings after the All Star break. 

Defelategate is nothing new; in fact QB’s such as the Tampa Bay’s Brad Johnson have been tampering with footballs for the past decade. Brad Johnson took Tampa Bay to Super Bowl XXXVII and beat the feisty Oakland Raiders 48-21. Nearly 10 years later in 2012, Johnson admitted to paying ball handlers to doctor all footballs he was given. “I paid some guys off to get the balls right” said Johnson in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times in 2012. Despite what Johnson did in 2002, the Patriots are still at the mercy of the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell. Despite what the Patriots have allegedly done, Brad Johnson’s piece in the Tampa Bay Times does prove one thing: tampering with footballs is nothing new. On top of that, this is not the only time that the Patriots have been caught cheating, or attempting to cheat. This is the second –gate for the Patriots, as they were caught for videotaping the New York Jets in 2007. Spygate, as it is more commonly known, has tattooed a large target on both Bill Belichick and the Patriots. Today, Roger Goodell and the NFL finally have a chance to take advantage of it.
 

THE EVIDENCE: Tom Brady’s only interception of the AFC Championship Game jumpstarted the initial investigation by the NFL. Colts linebacker D’Qwell Jackson intercepted Tom Brady with 9:21 remaining in the 2nd quarter. Jackson, who intended to keep the ball as a souvenir, gave it to one of the employees on the Colts equipment staff. Shortly thereafter, the equipment manager noticed something odd with the ball that Jackson intercepted and at halftime, he had the referees look into it.

The referees took 24 balls, 12 from the Pats and 12 from Colts and inspected them thoroughly during the 12 minute halftime. 11 of 12 of the Patriots balls were found to be underinflated and a few of the Colts balls were a smidge under regulation pressure. According the Wells Report the Patriots balls were inflated between 10.50 psi and 11.80 psi. The two referees, Blakeman and Prioleau, both took measurements of the balls.

In each measurement there is a difference between both referees measurements. For example, in the halftime measurement of Patriots Ball #1 Blakeman measured 11.50 psi and Prioleau measured 11.80 psi. .30 psi is a large difference, especially over the course of a 12-minute halftime. It is hard to trust the accuracy of each measurement. Furthermore, the officials only had time to gauge 4 Colts balls due to the lack of time left in halftime, while they measured 11 from the Patriots. Therefore the evidence is lopsided in favor of the Colts, as they had the fewest balls inspected. 

The balls weren’t the only cause for concern during the entirety of Deflategate. Text messages sent between Patriots equipment manager John Jastremski and ball attendant Jim McNally  were also factors studied in the investigation by Ted Wells, who was hired by Roger Goodell.

The Wells Report mainly focuses on text messages exchanged between ball attendant Jim McNally and the Patriots equipment manager, John Jastremski. McNally and Jastremski exchanged messages throughout the season but most notably, after the AFC Championship Game against the Colts but also on October 17, 2014 when the Patriots played the New York Jets. Messages between Jastremski and McNally indicate that Brady was not happy with the inflation level of the balls throughout the Jets game, even though the Pats managed to escape with a win. After the game Jastremski and McNally joked about “mak(ing) the next ball(s) into a fuckin balloon(s)” for the following week. Despite the joking and hee-hawing between McNally and Jastremski, McNally seemed to have an ulterior motive. McNally wanted autographed shoes and footballs for another man mentioned (named Jimmy) and he wanted to use his relationship with Tom Brady to get them.

Directly following the citation of the text messages in the Wells Report, there are direct observations from Ted Wells. In other words Wells is doing his due diligence to analyze the text messages but in the process he takes aim at Brady in what he believes to be the correct interpretation of each message. McNally and Jastremski could be joking around and giving Brady a hard time for being difficult throughout the season. Simply put, there is no way to determine what these text messages truly mean. Furthermore, there is not enough evidence to make an assumption based on hearing the word Deflator once in a conversation between two Patriots employees. Granted, McNally and Jastremski did talk to each other and Brady a lot following the AFC Championship Game but that still does not prove that Brady did anything wrong. Taking into account the messages, inflation pressure, and the fact that Jastremski took a detour to the bathroom before bringing the balls out to the game, does the punishment really fit the crime given the evidence against Tom Brady?

THE PUNISHMENT: The NFL suspended Tom Brady four games, fined the Patriots 1 million dollars, and also took away a first round pick in 2016 and a fourth round pick in 2017 in response to Deflategate. Anybody, Patriots fans, football fans, has to realize that the punishment does not fit the crime. Four games is a quarter of the season and with the Patriots nothing is certain until nearly mid-season.

Four games without Brady in 2015 will not be the end of the world. In 2014 the Patriots went 2-2 in their first four games with a fairly inconsistent offense and defense. In fact, Jimmy Garoppolo got to see some playing time early in the season, especially against the Chiefs. Garoppolo went 6-7, threw for 70 yards, and had a nice slant completion to Gronk for a touchdown in the 4th quarter. Although one game, one series, does not make or break a QB, Garoppolo may need to take over the starting job from Tom Brady. Also, the Patriots are a team that does not peak until mid-season, so having a losing record going into game 5 is not that big of a deal. The Patriots have the ability to adapt to each opponent, so even with Tom Brady on the sidelines the Patriots have a chance to win. On the other hand, Tom Brady’s punishment is extremely harsh given the circumstances of several other NFL players who have been involved in assault charges, such as Ray Rice.

Ray Rice was arrested for assaulting his wife on February 15, 2014 in Atlantic City. Granted, assault and the deflation of leather footballs are two totally different ends of the spectrum with regards to the severity of transgressions against the game and society. Rice was only suspended two games for assaulting his wife and nearly being indicted on aggravated assault charges. Two games is nothing, especially for a team that has a lot of depth at running back with Bernard Pierce. Tom Brady, on the other hand, is the face of the Patriots franchise, and as many commentators call him, Roger Goodell’s Golden Boy. Goodell put the hammer down on Brady and the Patriots this time. Maybe it was in revenge for Spygate, maybe it was due to the fact that Goodell had not levied any serious punishments to any other significant NFL players. Whatever the reason may be, the league pummeled Brady and the Patriots. As always the Patriots will find a way to fight on and use Deflategate as motivation for next season.