The battle between New England Patriots Super Bowl MVP quarterback Tom Brady and the NFL is turning into a public relations battle. Yesterday, somebody with a connection with the NFL, probably leaked information about Brady’s testimony where he discloses that he destroyed his cellphone.
Brady has now countered with an extensive response made in a Facebook post, where he denies doing anything wrong and then goes further by saying, “no one in the Patriots organization did either.”
This is getting battle is getting bigger and more damaging to Brady and the league, each day it continues. One of the league’s powerful owners need to step in and mitigate a compromising face-saving solution.
The deflation of the footballs didn’t make the Patriots Super Bowl Champs, but it could be prove to be damaging to the Brady’s legacy, so I can understand some of his reason to fight the decision. Quarterbacks have been doctoring balls for quite a while now and this is the first time, it’s been treated like a big deal.
The league doesn’t need to be dragging one of its most popular players through the mud. Somebody needs to come up with a way to end this. This isn’t wise on the part of the league, nor is it wise on the part of Brady and the Patriots to continue increasing the intensity and anger.
The only people who are winning right now are the news media outlets.
Here’s Brady’s Facebook post:
“I am very disappointed by the NFL’s decision to uphold the 4 game suspension against me, I did nothing wrong, and no one in the Patriots organization did either.
“Despite submitting to hours of testimony over the past 6 months, it is disappointing that the Commissioner upheld my suspension based upon a standard that it was ‘probable’ that I was ‘generally aware’ of misconduct. The fact is that neither I, nor any equipment person, did anything of which we have been accused. He dismissed my hours of testimony and it is disappointing that he found it unreliable.
“I also disagree with yesterdays narrative surrounding my cellphone. I 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. As a member of a union, I was under no obligation to set a new precedent going forward, nor was I made aware at any time during Mr. Wells investigation, that failing to subject my cell phone to investigation would result in ANY discipline.
“Most importantly, I have never written, texted, emailed to anybody at anytime, anything related to football air pressure before this issue was raised at the AFC Championship game in January. To suggest that I destroyed a phone to avoid giving the NFL information it requested is completely wrong.
“To try and reconcile the record and fully cooperate with the investigation after I was disciplined in May, we turned over detailed pages of cell phone records and all of the emails that Mr. Wells requested. We even contacted the phone company to see if there was any possible way we could retrieve any/all of the actual text messages from my old phone. In short, we exhausted every possibility to give the NFL everything we could and offered to go thru the identity for every text and phone call during the relevant time. Regardless, the NFL knows that Mr. Wells already had ALL relevant communications with Patriots personnel that either Mr. Wells saw or that I was questioned about in my appeal hearing. There is no ‘smoking gun’ and this controversy is manufactured to distract from the fact they have zero evidence of wrongdoing.
“I authorized the NFLPA to make a settlement offer to the NFL so that we could avoid going to court and put this inconsequential issue behind us as we move forward into this season. The discipline was upheld without any counter offer. I respect the Commissioners authority, but he also has to respect the CBA and my rights as a private citizen. I will not allow my unfair discipline to become a precedent for other NFL players without a fight.
“Lastly, I am overwhelmed and humbled by the support of family, friends and our fans who have supported me since the false accusations were made after the AFC Championship game. I look forward to the opportunity to resume playing with my teammates and winning more games for the New England Patriots.”
