The agent of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has said it was “ridiculous” for the National Football League to hand his client a four-game suspension over the Deflategate scandal.
In a statement released late Monday, Don Yee said the punishment has “no legitimate basis.” Yee says Brady will appeal the ruling, handed down after a report authored by attorney Ted Wells found it was “more probable than not” the quarterback had some knowledge that game balls had been tampered with before they reached the field in January’s AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts.
“In my opinion, this outcome was pre-determined; there was no fairness in the Wells investigation whatsoever,” Yee said in a statement. “There is no evidence that Tom directed footballs be set at pressures below the allowable limits.”
Yee adds, “We will appeal, and if the hearing officer is completely independent and neutral, I am very confident the Wells Report will be exposed as an incredibly frail exercise in fact-finding and logic. “
The NFL argues the punishment was justified by Brady’s failure to submit text messages and emails during the ‘Deflategate’ investigation. “Your actions as set forth in the report clearly constitute conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the game of professional football,” NFL executive vice president Troy Vincent wrote to Brady, according to NBC Sports.
The Patriots also face a $1 million fine for the scandal.
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