Brady's agent says NFL's ruling 'diminishes the integrity of the game'
Tom Brady's four-game suspension was officially upheld after a lengthy appeal process Tuesday, and the quarterback's agent, Don Yee, quickly issued a public response.
Yee expressed his disappointment with the NFL's decision in a statement, speaking on a lack of "procedural fairness" involved in the decision, and taking aim at commissioner Roger Goodell.
From Yee's statement, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN:
The Commissioner’s decision is deeply disappointing, but not surprising because the appeal process was thoroughly lacking in procedural fairness.
Most importantly, neither Tom nor the Patriots did anything wrong. And the NFL has no evidence that anything inappropriate occurred.
The appeal process was a sham, resulting in the Commissioner rubber-stamping his own decision. For example, the Wells investigative team was given over 100 days to conduct its investigation. Just days prior to the appeal hearing, we were notified that we would only have four hours to present a defense; therefore, we didn’t have enough time to examine important witnesses. Likewise, it was represented to the public that the Wells team was "independent"; however, when we requested documents from Wells, our request was rejected on the basis of privilege. We therefore had no idea as to what Wells found from other witnesses, nor did we know what those other witnesses said.
Yee went on to characterize the science involved in the Wells Report as "junk," while adding that the NFL ignored the electronic information provided by Brady and his representation.
He concluded his statement with a reference to the lack of precedence involved in Brady's case - a factor that will almost certainly be brought to the forefront when the NFL and NFLPA go to court - before touching upon the negative impact such a decision can have on football as a whole.
The Commissioner’s decision and discipline has no precedent in all of NFL history. His decision alters the competitive balance of the upcoming season. The decision is wrong and has no basis, and it diminishes the integrity of the game.
As expected, Brady quickly gave the NFLPA clearance to challenge the NFL's ruling in federal court, and a lengthy litigation process appears likely to follow.