Tom Brady Deflategate Suspension Reinstated

Image Credit: WHDH, 7-News

FOXBOROUGH, MA - Tom Brady's four-game suspension from the Deflategate controversy has been reinstated by a federal appeals court in New York.

The vote from the three-judge panel was 2-1. Last year, a judge in U.S. District Court dropped the suspension.

"Our review of the record yields the firm conclusion that the Commissioner properly exercised his broad discretion to resolve an intramural controversy between the League and a player. Accordingly, we REVERSE the judgment of the district court and REMAND with instructions to confirm the award," Circuit Judge Barrington Parker wrote.

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Chief Judge Robert Katzmann was the dissenting vote.

"I am troubled by the Commissioner’s decision to uphold the unprecedented four‐game suspension. The Commissioner failed to even consider a highly relevant alternative penalty and relied, instead, on an inapt analogy to the League’s steroid policy. This deficiency, especially when viewed in combination with the shifting rationale for Brady’s discipline, leaves me to conclude that the Commissioner’s decision reflected his own brand of industrial justice,” Katzmann wrote.

Parker and Judge Denny Chin disagreed with Katzmann.

"The district court identified three bases for overturning Brady’s suspension: the lack of adequate notice that deflation of footballs could lead to a four‐game suspension, the exclusion of testimony from NFL General Council Jeff Pash, and the denial of access to the investigative notes of the attorneys from Paul, Weiss who prepared the Wells Report. We conclude that each of these grounds is insufficient to10 warrant vacatur and that none of the Association’s remaining arguments have merit," the ruling read.

In January of 2015, Brady and the Patriots were accused of using underinflated footballs during the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. An investigation into the matter known as the Wells Report determined that Brady was "more likely than not" aware that team equipment employees were deflating footballs below the legal limit of 12.5 psi.

Brady received a four-game suspension for his alleged role and the Patriots were fined $1 million and stripped of two draft picks.

Brady has denied any wrongdoing. After the suspension, he appealed the ruling to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who upheld the suspension. In September, Judge Richard Berman vacated the suspension. The NFL promptly appealed the decision to the Second Circuit court in New York.

As expected, the NFL was delighted with the ruling.

"We are pleased the United State Court of Appears for the Second Court ruled today that the Commissioner properly exercised his authority under the collective bargaining agreement to act in cases involving the integrity of the game. That authority has been recognized by many courts and has been expressly incorporated into every collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and NFLPA for the past 40 years," the league said in a statement.

Bearing another appeal and overturned ruling, Brady is scheduled to miss the following regular season games:

• Sept. 11 at Arizona
• Sept. 18 vs. Miami
• Sept. 22 vs. Houston
• Oct. 2 vs. Buffalo

Brady's first game back will be Oct. 9 when the Patriots travel to Cleveland.

Click here to read the full decision.

Click here to read Judge Katzmann's dissenting opinion.

This is a breaking news story that will be updated.