Fansided

Patriots fans have started GoFundMe campaign to pay Deflategate fine

By Cody Williams

Jan 18, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) James Develin (46) and wide receiver Julian Edelman (11) celebrate a touchdown during the first quarter against the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 18, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) James Develin (46) and wide receiver Julian Edelman (11) celebrate a touchdown during the first quarter against the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports /
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The NFL handed the New England Patriots a hefty fine for Deflategate and fans are trying to help pay it.

The NFL handed out their sentence to the New England Patriots and the Deflategate scandal on Monday. Tom Brady has been suspended for the first four games of the 2015 NFL season, the Patriots will lose their 1st round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft and their 4th round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, and the team has been fined $1 million.

Brady being suspended for his role in the controversy stemming from the AFC Championship Game is certainly the biggest news regarding the sentencing, but Patriots fans aren’t happy about any of it. In fact, some fans are so unhappy that they are starting a campaign to try and help the team pay the fine handed down by the league.

Michael J. Whitman from Spokane, WA started a fundraising campaign on GoFundMe to help raise the $1 million that the Patriots have to pay for Deflategate. Here’s Whitman’s description of the fundraiser:

"We obviously know we won’t reach One Million Dollars, however we do believe the fine is bulls**t and want to help anyway we can.  So whatever is donated will be donated to the New England Patriots in help with the fine!As we venture with this, we will do frequent updates to show progression of this! If enough is made to make the travel, we will fly down there (on our own expenses) and deliver a check in person!"

The campaign was started roughly three hours ago after the suspension was handed down and the fine was levied, and has already had $40 raised through four separate donations.

You have to imagine that paying $1 million for Robert Kraft is like a middle-class person going to RedBox and forgetting to take it back for a couple of days and having to pay for those extra days of rental. He doesn’t need the help of the fans to pay the bill; but man is the passion of fans not the greatest sometimes.

It’s worth noting that not everything regarding Deflategate is final. The league said that there was a three-day appeal deadline for all of the penalties handed down. Brady’s agent has already indicated that he will be appealing the suspension and, considering the nature of the controversy, the Patriots may very well be doing the same in the coming days.

If the Patriots were to not appeal or lose a potential appeal, though, it’s going to be fascinating to see just how much this GoFundMe campaign actually does raise and if the money is actually delivered to the Patriots organization.

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