N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell upheld the four-game suspension of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, one of the league’s biggest stars, for his role in the deflation of footballs used in the A.F.C. Championship game in January.
The league said in a 20-page statement on Tuesday that its decision was partly based on Brady asking an assistant to destroy potential evidence, a cellphone that he had used before, during and after the week of the game. The destruction of the phone was first revealed at Brady’s appeal hearing in June.
The league also said that after the controversy began immediately after the game, Brady had frequent contact with the two members of the Patriots staff who had doctored the game balls, including one who was nicknamed the Deflator. The employees did not speak at Brady’s appeal hearing.
The upholding of Brady’s suspension is the latest twist in an already bizarre showdown between the commissioner and one of the N.F.L.’s most prominent quarterbacks, who plays for one of the league’s most powerful owners. The controversy has cast a pall over the Patriots and led to criticism that Goodell has been too aggressive and arbitrary in his push to enforce league rules.
The N.F.L. Players Association has suggested that it would pursue other remedies, including suing the league in court to reverse Brady’s penalty. But in hearing Brady’s appeal, instead of allowing an arbitrator to do so, Goodell has signaled that he is willing to continue to defend the original suspension and the $5 million investigation the league underwrote.
That report commissioned by the league and released on May 11 found “substantial and credible evidence” that Brady was “at least generally aware” that two Patriots employees tampered with game balls, prompting the N.F.L. to suspend him for four regular-season games without pay.
A deflated football is said to be easier to grip, especially in the cold and wet conditions that the Patriots faced at home against the Indianapolis Colts on Jan. 18.
In assessing the penalty, which included fining the Patriots and taking away two future draft picks, Troy Vincent, the league’s executive vice president for football operations, said it was unlikely that the team employees could have deflated the balls without Brady’s knowledge. He also said Brady did not fully cooperate with the N.F.L.’s investigation.
Brady denied knowing anything about the tampering and appealed the suspension. The N.F.L. Players Association called for an independent arbitrator to hear the case, but Goodell said he would hear the appeal, despite what many saw as a conflict of interest.
In May, Goodell hinted that Brady’s reluctance to cooperate with the investigation was critical to the N.F.L.’s decision to suspend him, and that the league would look more kindly on him if he was more forthcoming.
Goodell heard Brady’s appeal in New York on June 23.
The Patriots’ owner, Robert K. Kraft, disputed the league’s decision to fine his team $1 million and take away two draft picks, including a first-round choice in 2016. But teams are unable to appeal league penalties, and Kraft eventually said he would no longer dispute the findings, much to the irritation of Patriots fans.
Brady, who will be allowed to participate in off-season and preseason activities, can still sue. This year, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson successfully argued in federal court that the arbitrator who heard his appeal was not independent.
The Patriots, who have won four Super Bowls since the 2001 season, have often been viewed as a team willing to bend or skirt rules. It is the second time in eight years the Patriots have been disciplined by the league. In 2007, New England and Coach Bill Belichick were fined a total of $750,000, and the team lost a first-round draft pick, after the Patriots videotaped signals by Jets coaches in violation of league rules.
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On July 10, an N.F.L.-appointed arbitrator ruled on an appeal by Greg Hardy, a defensive lineman on the Dallas Cowboys who had been suspended in April for 10 games for his role in a domestic violence case last year while he was a member of the Carolina Panthers. His suspension was reduced to four regular-season games.
Hardy had received the stiffest penalty handed out under the league’s new and stronger personal-conduct policy because he was convicted of domestic abuse in North Carolina. Although the decision was overturned on appeal because his former girlfriend Nicole Holder refused to testify against him, the N.F.L.’s own two-month investigation found that Hardy had used physical force against Holder in at least four instances.
Hardy’s appeal was heard by Harold Henderson, who has been criticized by the players union as being biased. When Henderson upheld a ruling against Peterson, the players union went to court on his behalf. A federal judge then vacated Henderson’s ruling, allowing Peterson to return to the Vikings.