Why Tom Brady Deserves to be Suspended by the NFL
Shortly after his team won the 2015 NFL championship, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady came under investigation by the National Football League for using under-inflated footballs during the AFC Championship game against Indianapolis. This investigation ended with a four-game suspension, a lost draft pick in the 2016 NFL draft, and a severe fine. However, Brady and his lawyers filed a lawsuit against commissioner Roger Goodell for abusing his authority. The result? Brady won his case in court, and he was allowed to play in the 2015-16 season.
Yet, this time around, a federal judge decided to reinstate the ruling that Brady would sit out the first four games of the season. This year, the Patriots play, for their first four games of the season, at Arizona, followed by three straight home games against, Houston, Miami, and Buffalo.I am glad Brady will pay for what he did after the 2015 AFC Championship Deflategate scandal. Brady lied to the media and said he wasn’t aware of the situation, when in all truth, he did. He even smashed his cell phone as a cover-up.
Brady deserves to be suspended. He plays for a football team that, in recent memory, has a reputation for cheating. Back when the Patriots won their first of four Super Bowls, in 2001, the Rams accused the team for recognizing and stealing their play calls. In 2007, when this situation came up more, the NFL docked New England a loss of draft picks and a team fine. Cheating should have a place in sports, and for some reason, the Patriots thought they could bend the rules of pro football to their advantage. Roger Goodell and the rest of the league officials said “not so fast,” however.And somehow, the fans are brainwashed and manipulated by the team’s continual winning tradition.
I’m not a Patriots fan, and I do not plan on being one down the road. I would rather see my team struggle and try to rebuild for a chance to contend, than to keep on winning and lie to the American public that the team doesn’t cheat. Brady deserves his accolades, no doubt about it. But if he knew about footballs being underinflated, and didn’t report it to his bosses, Belichick and owner Robert Kraft, then there is a serious problem.
Tom Brady, in closing, should not complicate things any further and accept his four-game suspension. Underneath that smiling, good-looking, well-known figure is a man who cheated is way to two Super Bowl titles, and creating a reputation, along with his head coach, of being liars and cheaters. Yet, the team still goes out and dominates opponents in the regular season and postseason, winning division titles, and attracts celebrities to their games. I wonder what will happen once Brady retires. Will New England still have success without their MVP? Who knows!