In a shocking move, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear the appeal for New England Patriots quarterback’s 4-game suspension from the “Deflategate” scandal in the 2015 AFC Championship game.
Tom Brady had initially won the hearing in the lower courts, thus able to play all of last season; then the appellate court reversed the ruling allowing Brady to be suspended for the first 4 games of this upcoming season.
Brady’s lawyers vowed to appeal the new ruling and the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the arguments.
Some people think this is a waste of time for the most prestigious court in the world, but they argue the NFL is the biggest American sports league, and it’s the patriotic thing to do.
Spring training starts in July and off-season training begins in a few weeks. Under the NFL suspension, Brady can be involved in these practices but is banned from the first 4 games of the season. Therefore, the Supreme Court will hear and make a judgement by the end of June before they go on recess until fall.
Patriots coach, Bill Belichick, told the Boston Globe, “Well, that’s cool they will hear Tom’s arguments. We all know he played better the second half of the game when the balls were inflated to the regulation pounds per inch.
“We also know the NFL investigation was a joke and is purely a power trip by commissioner Roger Goodell. Once the Supreme Court rules on the case, that’s it, there is nowhere else to go and we are very confident Tom will be vindicated of this silly saga.”
With Republicans in Congress refusing to vote on a new Supreme Court member appointed by President Obama, it is possible the court would tie 4-4, and then the lower court’s ruling would be upheld, and Brady would have to serve the 4-game ban.
