Attention all New England Patriots fans: Let’s do this all together, now. Everyone take a deep breath. Hold it in for a second. Okay, now exhale.
It’s over. It’s finally over. I think.
After dominating national headlines for the better part of a year and a half, the Deflategate saga has apparently come to an end. Tom Brady announced in a Facebook post Friday that he would “no longer proceed with the legal process” against the NFL in his fight to exonerate himself for maybe, possibly knowing about underinflated footballs used during the 2015 AFC Championship Game.
The 16-year veteran thanked his fans and the New England Patriots organization in his post for helping him defend the wall.
“I’m very grateful for the overwhelming support I’ve received from Mr. Kraft, the Kraft family, Coach (Bill) Belichick, my coaches and teammates, the NFLPA, my agents, my loving family and most of all, our fans. It has been a challenging 18 months and I have made the difficult decision to no longer proceed with the legal process,” Brady wrote.
By dropping the case short of the Supreme Court, Brady accepts his four-game suspension handed down by the league May 11, 2015, three months after the Patriots held on for a 28-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX.
Following Brady’s post, the NFL Players Association released a statement saying, “we reserve our rights” to petition the Supreme Court on behalf of players, with or without Brady.
The 38-year-old’s suspension was upheld by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan on Wednesday. That decision backed a three-judge panel’s ruling to reinstate the suspension in April after it was originally overturned by Judge Richard Berman in federal court on Sept. 3, 2015.
Brady will miss a game at Arizona and three home games against Miami, Houston and Buffalo. He will be eligible to return before the Patriots’ Week 5 game in Cleveland on Oct. 9. He will not be allowed any contact with the team starting Sept. 5, six days before the season opener in Arizona, until Oct. 5.
It might sound like the end of the football world in New England. No Tom Brady, oh no. He’s started every season opener since 2002 – posting an astonishing 13-2 record in those games. And now, New England will have to put all of its faith in a virtual unknown – a man named Jimmy Garoppolo, who played college football in Division I-AA and has thrown just 31 passes in 11 NFL games.
And guess what? It’s going to be just fine. We are talking about the first four games of the season. Dating back to 2012, four teams that went on to play in the Super Bowl started the season with losing records. The Seattle Seahawks in 2015 started 2-4, the 2013 Ravens went 3-5 in their first eight games, San Francisco started out 1-3 in 2013, and the 2012 Giants went 2-2 in their first four games.
By no means does Garoppolo have to lead this team to a 4-0 start or even 3-1 for that matter. But can fans expect him to possibly pull off a win over Miami, maybe beat out Houston and at least hang tough against Buffalo? Yes, they absolutely can. And even if he can’t hold his head above water for four weeks, no team can be counted out before Week 5 with a four-time Super Bowl champion waiting for sweet revenge on the sideline.
If Brady continued his court battle against big, bad Roger Goodell, there’s a chance that his four-game suspension may have been overturned by the Supreme Court. But there’s also a pretty good chance that it just ends up getting delayed, meaning he could miss four games in January instead of three games in September and one in October. The two-time MVP made the right decision for his team – despite how it likely affected his pride.
Brady concluded his Facebook post Friday by saying, “I’m going to work hard to be the best player I can be for the New England Patriots and I look forward to having the opportunity to return to the field this fall.”
New England will be waiting, Tom.
(Michelle Berthiaume can be reached at 369-3338, mberthiaume@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @MonitorMichelle.)