The NFL releasing the News about Tom Brady "Destroying" His Phone is Hands Down the Greatest Way to Get Everyones Blood Boiling, and its Not True

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. 

---