Patriots' Tom Brady suspended 4 games; team will lose 2016 1st-round pick

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will be suspended for the first four games of 2015 and the team will lose a 2016 first-round pick, a 2017 fourth-round pick, and be fined $1 million for doctoring footballs during January's AFC Championship Game.

According to the NFL's official statement, the Patriots' punishment is "(f)or the violation of the playing rules and the failure to cooperate in the subsequent investigation."

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Brady's suspension is officially for "conduct detrimental to the integrity of the NFL." That being said, he will be allowed to participate in "all offseason, training camp and preseason activities, including preseason games."

The NFL's statement makes sure to note that head coach Bill Belichick, his entire coaching staff (with the exception of the two equipment managers identified as responsible), Patriots chairman and CEO Robert Kraft, and the rest of the Patriots' executives had no role in the incident and aren't being directly punished.

In accepting the findings of the report, we note that the report identified no evidence of wrongdoing or knowledge of wrongdoing on the part of any member of the coaching staff, including Head Coach Bill Belichick, or by any Patriots' staff member other than Mr. Jastremski and Mr. McNally, including head equipment manager Dave Schoenfeld. Similarly, the Wells report is clear that Patriots ownership and executives did not participate in any way in the misconduct, or have knowledge of the misconduct.

Kraft released a statement shortly after the suspension was handed out Monday.

"Tom Brady has our unconditional support. Our belief in him has not wavered," Kraft wrote.

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The league's executive vice president, Troy Vincent, had this to say in a letter to Brady regarding the suspension:

With respect to your particular involvement, the report established that there is substantial and credible evidence to conclude you were at least generally aware of the actions of the Patriots' employees involved in the deflation of the footballs and that it was unlikely that their actions were done without your knowledge. Moreover, the report documents your failure to cooperate fully and candidly with the investigation, including by refusing to produce any relevant electronic evidence (emails, texts, etc.), despite being offered extraordinary safeguards by the investigators to protect unrelated personal information, and by providing testimony that the report concludes was not plausible and contradicted by other evidence.

Your actions as set forth in the report clearly constitute conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the game of professional football. The integrity of the game is of paramount importance to everyone in our league, and requires unshakable commitment to fairness and compliance with the playing rules. Each player, no matter how accomplished and otherwise respected, has an obligation to comply with the rules and must be held accountable for his actions when those rules are violated and the public's confidence in the game is called into question.

Vincent also indicated in his letter to the Patriots that "there are several factors that merit strong consideration in assessing discipline. The first is the club’s prior record."

The letter goes on to describe the Patriots' 2007 "Spygate" incident, in which the team and Belichick were fined and penalized a 2008 first-round draft pick. Vincent states "this prior violation of competitive rules was properly considered in determining the discipline in this case."

The punishment is being handed down only five days after the Wells Report, an NFL backed investigation into deliberately deflated footballs used during the AFC Championship Game, found that Brady was "generally aware" of the transgressions.

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It also found he was most likely involved in the plans to doctor or prepare footballs below the NFL-rule minimum of 12.5 pounds per square inch, to suit him.

Brady's agent Don Yee has responded with typical flare, characterizing the investigation as flawed and the discipline baseless. He confirmed Brady will appeal the suspension:

The discipline is ridiculous and has no legitimate basis. In my opinion, this outcome was pre-determined; there was no fairness in the Wells investigation whatsoever. There is no evidence that Tom directed footballs be set at pressures below the allowable limits. In fact, the evidence shows Tom clearly emphasized that footballs be set at pressures within the rules. Tom also cooperated with the investigation and answered every question presented to him. The Wells Report presents significant evidence, however, that the NFL lacks standards or protocols with respect to its handling of footballs prior to games; this is not the fault of Tom or the Patriots.

The report also presents significant evidence the NFL participated with the Colts in some type of pre-AFC Championship Game planning regarding the footballs. This fact may raise serious questions about the integrity of the games we view on Sundays. We will appeal, and if the hearing officer is completely independent and neutral, I am very confident the Wells Report will be exposed as an incredibly frail exercise in fact-finding and logic.

The NFL has a well-documented history of making poor disciplinary decisions that often are overturned when truly independent and neutral judges or arbitrators preside, and a former federal judge has found the commissioner has abused his discretion in the past, so this outcome does not surprise me. Sadly, today's decision diminishes the NFL as it tells its fans, players and coaches that the games on the field don't count as much as the games played on Park Avenue.