Roger Goodell remained adamant today, stating that Robert Kraft’s decision to drop his appeal will have no impact regarding Tom Brady’s potential suspension ruling.
The Commissioner is hoping that Brady will, instead, provide further evidence to the NFL so that they may better understand his situation before proceeding. While Goodell did stress his admiration for the veteran future HOF’er, he also noted how “rules have to be enforced on a uniform basis“.
Asked if Brady can still turn over additional evidence that supports his innocence, Goodell said he wants to hear what “new information” Brady can provide and will accept texts or emails Brady previously chose not to provide to NFL investigators.
“I look forward to hearing directly from Tom,” Goodell said. “If there’s new information … I want to hear directly from Tom on that.”
Goodell confirmed Brady’s non-cooperation with investigators was a factor in the severity of his penalty.
Its tough to enforce a rule “on a uniform basis” when this is the first time in League history that a balls air pressure had been checked during halftime. A suspension of 4 Games is a long time for unprecedented rule-breaking.
Instead, Goodell is hoping to slam Brady for failure to cooperate. Not turning over his phone initially may end up coming back to bite the Golden-Boy.
It will be interesting to see if Brady ultimately gives in to the powers of the League and hands over his cell phone after all of this. In my opinion, it’s anybody’s guess at this point. There are a lot of backdoor dealings going on that we’ll likely never find out about.
This League desperately needs a lesson in transparency, and Brady has the opportunity here to show them what that’s all about.
H/T TS