Patriots blast Deflategate decision
The New England Patriots came out fighting on Wednesday in response to the news quarterback Tom Brady's four-game 'Deflategate' suspension would be upheld by the NFL.
Both Brady and Patriots owner Robert Kraft took aim at the league's decision to prevent the quarterback from beginning the 2015 season for being "at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities" relating to under-inflated balls in the AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts.
The saga which has been attached to one of the game's most decorated players has lingered for several months and is not going away yet, with Brady now appealing the decision through the NFL Players Association.
Tom Brady is due to miss the first four games of the 2015 season
The 37-year-old disputed the findings independent investigator Ted Wells produced in his report in May and he criticised NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in a Facebook post.
"I am very disappointed by the NFL's decision to uphold the four-game suspension against me," Brady wrote.
"I did nothing wrong, and no one in the Patriots organisation did either.
"Despite submitting to hours of testimony over the past six 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."
The furore surrounding the four-time Super Bowl winner dates back to the play-off clash with the Colts in January when the Patriots were accused of using deflated balls in cold conditions, a factor that is believed can make it easier for quarterbacks to operate.
Wells' report included details of text messages between two former Patriots staff members, but Brady refuted the claim he had purposely destroyed his phone to prevent the investigator from accessing his own conversations, insisting he was instead replacing a broken phone.
"There is no 'smoking gun' and this controversy is manufactured to distract from the fact they have zero evidence of wrongdoing," Brady added.
The Patriots had opted not to query the NFL's sanctions back in May, which included a fine of one million US dollars (£640,000) and the loss of their first-round draft pick in 2016.
However, Kraft revealed he regretted not challenging those when delivering a frank assessment after Brady's post.
"Tom Brady is a person of great integrity, and is a great ambassador of the game, both on and off the field," Kraft said.
"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."
Kraft and Goodell have enjoyed a long-standing friendship but the former stood firmly behind his star quarterback in a press conference ahead of the team's training camp.
"I want to apologize to the fans of the New England Patriots and Tom Brady," Kraft added.
"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."
