Patriots file brief supporting Brady appeal

The New England Patriots have filed an Amicus brief supporting the appeal of Tom Brady's suspension by the NFLPA.

The NFL re-instated Brady's four-game suspension in April for his involvement in the "Deflategate" controversy, after a three-judge panel of 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted to do so. Brady's suspension had been rescinded in September by a lower-court judge who ruled the NFL had mishandled their investigation.

The Patriots feel the "league's conduct reflects less a search for the truth than pursuit of of a predetermined result and defense of a report which, despite no direct evidence of tampering or Mr. Brady's involvement, was relied on to impose penalties with no precedent or correlation to the alleged offense," according to the brief.

This is the first time a team has taken legal action against the NFL since Al Davis and the Oakland Raiders in the mid-1990s.