It seems the rumors of a severe response from the NFL to the findings of the Wells Report, the investigation into the deflation of footballs used by the New England Patriots on offense during their AFC Championship Game victory over the Indianapolis Colts, were more accurate than Pats fans would probably have hoped.
The NFL announced Monday afternoon that due to the results of the investigation, which determined that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady "more probably than not" knew how and why the balls in question had been deflated, has been suspended for the first four games of the 2015 NFL season.
"Quarterback Tom Brady will be suspended without pay for the first four games of the 2015 regular season for conduct detrimental to the integrity of the NFL." the league said in a statement Monday afternoon, via NBC News. "Brady may participate in all off-season, training camp and pre-season activities, including pre-season games."
Per NFL on ESPN, Brady has three days to appeal his suspension with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. According to his agent Don Yee, who called the suspension "ridiculous," Brady will file his appeal shorty.
While the loss of the future Hall of Fame signal-caller for four games seems the most egregious sanction on it's face - and there's no doubting the team will struggle to open the 2015 season with Jimmy Garoppolo, not Brady, under center - but according to ESPN's Adam Schefter, it's actually the heft of the fine levied against the Patriots organization and the loss of not just one first-round draft pick in 2016, but a fourth-rounder in 2017 as well.
According to NFL Vice President Troy Vincent, the Patriots status as repeat offenders played a major role in the severity of their discipline - he said specifically that it was given "strong consideration" - but it was Brady's decision not to provide Ted Wells and the investigators with his cellphone and every other piece of evidence pertinent to the case which was the main factor in their decision to punish the franchise so severely.
"Although we do not hold the club directly responsible for Mr. Brady's refusal to cooperate, it remains significant that the quarterback of the team failed to cooperate fully with the investigation," Vincent wrote to the Patriots.
"Finally, it is significant that key witnesses - Mr. Brady, Mr. Jastremski, and Mr. McNally - were not fully candid during the investigation," Vincent wrote.
While the outcome seems like it may be unnecessarily harsh for New England, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports that the sanctions are actually "exactly" what the Patriots were expecting.
It had been reported late last week that some inside the Patriots organization actually feared Brady's suspension could fall somewhere in the vicinity of 6 to 8 games, so four - with an expected appeal from Brady likely dropping it even lower than that - seems much more palatable.
The $1 million fine might seem significant at first glance as well, but it's mostly for show - Patriots owner Robert Kraft is a billionaire several times over. $1 million hurts, but will in no way hinder the team's day to day functions or the manner in which Kraft operates.
Really, the loss of draft picks and the 2016 first-rounder in particular is clearly the most significant aspect of the punishment beyond Brady's suspension.
NFL teams - good NFL teams - are assembled through the draft. First-round picks hold a significant value and are the foundation on which most NFL rosters are built.
Losing next season's top pick along with a fourth-rounder in 2017 shows the NFL and Goodell meant business when they saw the - admittedly circumstantial but still very strong - evidence in the Wells Report findings.
In the end, the Patriots and Belichick will survive and likely thrive, just as they have in the past. Much like with the videotaping scandal in 2007, the Patriots and Belichick will take the punishment on the chin, then go right back to bending the rules to their whim whenever possible.
It's an admirable trait in some ways and one most NFL fans would be all too glad to defend -assuming it was their team going to six Super Bowls and emerging victorious four times - but it's also leaving a questionable legacy for the NFL's Emperor Palpatine and his aging Vader.
Really, what's most important out of all of this is whether or not it leaves a stain of sorts on what has become, thanks almost exclusively to the efforts of Belichick and Brady, one of the most successful NFL franchises of all time.
It may be frustrating to watch as the Patriots win again and again and again, but doesn't part of you hope they do it and do it the right way? Doesn't part of you hope that you're seeing a transcendent talent combined with a truly ground-breaking understanding of the game to form the most formidable football team of our generation?
And, despite the findings of the Wells Report and the revelation that Brady was at least "generally aware" of the cheating that was going on, that is likely the case.
Brady, of course, actually fared better in the second half of the AFC Championship Game against the Colts - after the balls had been reinflated by the referees. It's a small sample size, but it seems to point to the fact that it's unlikely that most, if any, of Brady's success has come as a direct result of the inflation levels of the footballs he uses.
That being said, did he break the rules?
Yes.
Is the integrity of the game at stake here?
In a way.
If the NFL didn't come down hard on Brady or, even if they came down harder, tomorrow morning, teams would still find a way to circumvent the rules and gain any and every competitive advantage possible.
There's no way the Pats are alone as rule-benders or even breakers - but they're high profile and they got caught.
The league and Goodell were forced to levy something significant against them, especially considering the questionable nature of the commissioner's relationship with Kraft and the Patriots status as repeat offenders.
Belichick and Brady are surefire, first-ballot Hall of Famers; about that there is no question, even taking into account the videotaping scandal and the DeflateGate findings.
In the eyes of the fans though, in the eyes of the Patriots faithful, are Brady and Belichick still the golden boy and the genius tactician they were lauded as, just a few short months ago?
The answer is likely yes - for New England fans, at least - but as with the steroid scandal that rocked the MLB several years ago, will the Patriots legacy and the Belichick era specifically, forever come marked with an asterisk of sorts and a boatload of unanswerable questions?
