New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was issued a four-game suspension for his role in the "Deflategate" scandal on Monday. The Patriots were also issued a league-record $1-million fine, and will surrender their 2016 first-round and 2017 fourth-round picks.
While the sanction is admittedly harsh and unprecedented, there needed to be significant action taken against Brady and the Patriots for their second brazen circumvention of league rules in eight years.
Brady's suspension is the first of its kind and many are already debating whether it's a fair punishment. It's a jarring decision by the league to suspend Brady for a quarter of the season with his involvement in the case largely circumstantial.
Considering the NFL originally handed Ray Rice a two-game suspension for assaulting his then-fiancee, and the league purportedly took a stand against domestic violence, Brady's suspension is a shining example of the seemingly arbitrary sanction system during Roger Goodell's reign. The NFL established mandatory suspensions for substance abuse, but were clearly overwhelmed by the evidence presented in the Wells Report without a prior case establishing a set of base rules.
Some are decrying Brady's punishment because he's the league's most marketable star and his absence will have a real impact on television ratings and the multi-billion dollar fantasy football industry. That sentiment was refuted by Troy Vincent, the NFL's vice president of football operations, noting that all players abide by the same rules "no matter how accomplished and otherwise respected."
It may be an incomprehensible suspension because Brady looms larger than life in a league full of American luminaries, but the four-time champion isn't immune to league regulations. Patriots fans can take solace in the fact that Brady can and will likely win an appeal to get his suspension reduced, potentially to two games. It doesn't explain why Brady gratuitously sought a competitive advantage that his juggernaut Patriots didn't need, and refused to cooperate with the subsequent investigation.
No one can deny head coach Bill Belichick is a genius of sorts, and the Patriots in his image are presented as a cunning, calculated machine that finds and cultivates talent where 31 teams didn't bother to look. Much like in the 2007 "Spygate" scandal, Belichick, Brady, and Patriots owner Robert Kraft carried themselves as the smartest people in the league, and were caught for a clear violation of league rules.
Brady's initial punishment of four games, along with the Patriots' forfeiture of two draft picks, appears on first glance to be a ruthless suspension handed out by a disengaged despot. However, a clear message needed to be sent to the Patriots for another blatant attempt to circumvent league rules, one that will reverberate throughout Boston for the summer.