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Tom Brady Destroyed Cell Phone Amidst DeflateGate Scandal

Le’Veon Bell of the Pittsburgh Steelers had his suspension by the NFL reduced on Tuesday from three games to two. His offense, committed last August, was a DUI and marijuana possession charge.

Tom Brady of the New England Patriots had his suspension by the NFL upheld. Four games. His offense? Well …

The Patriots quarterback clearly did not cooperate fully with the NFL in its investigation of DeflateGate, in which the team used footballs not inflated to league specifications. Its independent inquiry found it was “more probable than not” that Brady knew of the underinflated footballs, which leads to the theory that he must have been involved with it, because no team employee would let air out of the footballs without his consent or assent.

It wasn’t proven. The evidence was circumstantial. But the NFL threw its haymaker in its statement on Tuesday by claiming Brady had destroyed the cellphone the investigator wanted.

“On or shortly before March 6, the day that Tom Brady met with independent investigator Ted Wells and his colleagues, Brady directed that the cell phone he had used for the prior four months be destroyed,” the NFL said in a statement. “He did so even though he was aware that the investigators had requested access to text messages and other electronic information that had been stored on that phone. During the four months that the cell phone was in use, Brady had exchanged nearly 10,000 text messages, none of which can now be retrieved from that device. The destruction of the cell phone was not disclosed until June 18, almost four months after the investigators had first sought electronic information from Brady.”

Well …

If Brady appeared guilty before, he has now lost any high ground he thought he stood on. The Patriots, who have accepted their stiff penalties from the league (loss of a No. 1 draft pick, $1 million fine) are in the odd position of defending Brady, or at least disputing the severity of his punishment. Most legal experts say an attempt to overturn the discipline in federal court will fail.

How does he get his reputation back? How far does he take this fight? Why were talks aimed at lessening the suspension a failure? Everything points to Brady’s failure to cooperate.

He may yet miss those four games. He will miss his reputation even more.

NOTE: Tom Brady issued a long denial of the NFL’s accusations on Wednesday morning on his Facebook page. You can read the text of his comments here: Tom Brady

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft called the NFL’s decision to uphold Tom Brady’s four-game suspension “unfathomable” during a news conference this morning. You can see his full statement here: Robert Kraft
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .