Roger Goodell expected to pass down Deflategate ruling next week

Roger Goodell has heard the appeal from Tom Brady, and now he seems ready to hand down his ruling on the Patriots quarterback’s suspension.

It has been a little over two weeks since Roger Goodell served as judge and jury during Tom Brady’s appeal of his suspension stemming from the NFL’s investigation into Deflategate. Now, the NFL commissioner is ready to play his third and final role in the act.

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The only question is whether he will play the executioner or not.

Speaking with CNBC, Goodell told Julia Boorstin that a ruling on the matter could come as early as next week. With it, the ruling will hopefully bring to an end a scandal that has rocked the NFL landscape since the AFC Championship game and has hung like a cloud over the Super Bowl win by the New England Patriots. At the heart of the discussion is whether or not Tom Brady served any part in the deflating of footballs prior to the AFC title win over the Indianapolis Colts.

The NFL sank a ton of money into an investigation led by lawyer Ted Well to determine the role that the New England quarterback played in the matter. Wells issued his findings on May 6, 2015, finding that locker room attendant Jim McNally and equipment assistant John Jastremski participated in a deliberate effort to deflate footballs prior to the game. That in and of itself led to the Patriots losing their first round draft pick in 2016 and being fined $1 million, both penalties that the team opted not to appeal.

However, the findings also went further by implicating Patriots’ quarterback Tom Brady in the scandal, saying:

"“Based on the evidence, it also is our view that it is more probable than not that Tom Brady (the quarterback for the Patriots) was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities of McNally and Jastremski involving the release of air from Patriots game balls.” (h/t NFL.com)"

Commissioner Goodell took enough faith in the report from Wells that he also suspended Tom Brady for the first four games of the 2015 season, a penalty that will have a much larger affect on the team than a loss of its 2016 draft pick.

However, it is in that language that Brady and the NFL Players Association are forming their appeal, saying that Wells’ findings are ambiguous at best and the words “probable” and “generally aware” do not spell out guilty. The two parties had asked that Goodell excuse himself and appoint an independent arbitrator in the matter, but Goodell refused and invoked his right as NFL commissioner to oversee the appeal personally.

The two parties met on June 23rd, with Wells and Brady both testifying. The going consensus was that Brady presented his case in such a manner that the it would seem unreasonable for Goodell to press forward with the suspension. However, Goodell has a history of being stubborn in regards to punishments handed down, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him try to stand by this one.

Whether or not that is the right path to take, Roger Goodell will issue the ruling he feels comfortable in doing so, regardless of public opinion or relationship with Robert Kraft.

(h/t ESPN)

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Roger Goodell has heard the appeal from Tom Brady, and now he seems ready to hand down his ruling on the Patriots quarterback’s suspension.

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