This week’s topic is, and I cannot believe I am speaking this, is Deflategate. The fastest way to make any sports fan vomit in disgust outside of just whispering the word “wrestling”. If you haven’t heard, there was some big news on Monday morning last week.

Yes, Tom Brady had his 4-game suspension reinstated and he will sit out the first four games of 2016. But beyond this 2-1 decision in the U.S. Second Court of Appeals, this also means Brady and the NFLPA are running out of legal options. Brady has only 2 paths left: He can ask the full panel of the Second Court of Appeals to review the case (which means there are 15 judges rather than the initial 3), or he can ask the Supreme Court to review the case.

So, what does this mean? This means as of now, the NFL, and specifically Commissioner Roger Goodell, was within the bounds of the collective bargaining agreement that lies at the heart of this whole legal case. It also means Brady will be suspended for the first 4 games of the 2016 regular season without pay.

Now, I spent the past couple weeks gathering arguments from ESPN and interviewing folks here at the high school on this issue. Here were some of the responses:
Simon Pachairaz, former offensive lineman and senior: “Why all this talk over Brady? Where is (Patriots Head Coach Bill) Bellichick in all of this? Why didn’t he get suspended, when he should have some knowledge on this as well? Overall, this entire case and scandal is crap.”
Bob Ryan, ESPN writer (gathered via Around the Horn on April 25): “Ok, first of all, this is the most overprosecuted jaywalking incident in the history of American jurisprudence. My opinion: Take the suspension. If you can’t win 2 of the first four games, three of which are at home…keep him healthy for the remaining 12 games, and so take it, and you can’t try to find the silver lining, then to **** with you. I mean, the Supreme Court is an insult to American jurisprudence and bringing football into the Supreme Court is…it’s…it’s just wrong.”
Bill Plashcke, ESPN writer (gathered via Around the Horn on April 25): “Ok, Bob, first of all, it’s jaywalking in New England, it’s CHEATING in the rest of the world, stop that nonsense. He needs to take his suspension and move on. And it’s not jaywalking, Bob, come on.”
Bomani Jones, ESPN writer and co-host of Highly Questionable (gathered via Around the Horn on April 25): “(Taking the suspension) would be the most efficient way of getting this over with. But will it? No, at the expense of more crap like this. I mean, Brady has lawyers for days that love to go to court, he’ll love to go to court, but again, leads to more crap. The next man up is already ready to go, so take the suspension and get on with it.”
Kate Fagan, ESPN Writer (gathered via Around the Horn on April 25): “Instead of heavily investing in this, they need to let it go. Although, this has led to an important battle between a league and a UNION. They will take whatever measures they can to continue battling this thing, because they want to reduce the power of the league.”
Skip Bayless, ESPN Reporter: “Listen, Mr. Stephen (A. Smith), I know this broke at the end of our show yesterday, I didn’t have time to do research, you didn’t have time to do research, but I will tell you upfront…I will have the last laugh, even though we didn’t have a good quality debate like we should’ve yesterday. Now, let me ask you a question: Did you see the lone dissenting judge who wrote the dissenting opinion? (Stephen’s answer: Yes, go on.) Did you see that it was the chief judge, the highest paid official of that court? (Stephen’s answer: Yep, go on.) I say that Tom Brady, due to that chief judge’s opinion, will ask that the other 13 justices review the case. Because, one judge said the punishment…was Draconian. I say Tom Brady will fight to the death, going down swinging, to the end to defend his honor.”
Stephen A. Smith, ESPN Reporter: “Well, Skip, if he’s fighting this battle, it’s a futile battle. And it’s because people have already drawn conclusions one way or the other. But, let me correct one thing…I did some prior research, you didn’t, so you were basically based off your emotions, right? (Skip’s answer: Yes, I will not deny that.) This case stopped being about Tom Brady and whether he is guilty or not a long, long time ago; and now it’s about the NFL’s power. Basically, this is pointless, right? (Skip’s answer: Maybe. Go on.) I mean, you (Skip) have covered sports 2 decades longer than I have, and I mean that as a credit to you, not as an insult at you. But I know that the NFL has basically stolen power from the NFLPA, and all that power feeds to Roger Goodell. So now, the NFLPA tries to take back that power, and the NFL is not ready to let it go. So, what I think happened is there are some judges who are basing opinions off law, and some based on emotion, like you, Skip. So, let’s base it on facts, not on emotion.”

Ok, I don’t think the consensus could be any clearer. This battle is futile, it is overprosecuted, and everyone wants it over with. I think Brady should just serve his suspension. Because right now, he’s making the entire sport of football look bad.
Catch you all next week.