NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has reportedly decided to suspend Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, with an announcement coming next week and the only remaining question being how many games Brady will miss.
Gary Myers of the New York Daily News reports that several league sources say Goodell considers Brady’s role in Deflategate a serious violation. The question Goodell still needs to answer, according to this report, is how long Brady will be suspended, not if Brady will be suspended.
Goodell reportedly believes that he needs to discipline Brady for two different violations: First, for his involvement in having footballs under-inflated. And secondly, for his refusal to allow the Deflategate investigation to have access to his cell phone records.
Estimates of the length of the suspension have been all over the map, but a suspension of any length would make Brady the highest-profile player ever to receive such a punishment. Brady is the reigning Super Bowl MVP and perhaps the league’s biggest star. And the NFL apparently plans to open the 2015 season without him.