Don Yee, Tom Brady’s agent, fired back at the NFL by calling the league’s four-game suspension of Tom Brady “ridiculous” and illegitimate.
“The discipline is ridiculous and has no legitimate basis,” Yee contends in a statement. “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.”
Yee vows to appeal, an option open to Brady but not to the New England Patriots, which lost a first- and fourth-round pick.
Yee maintains that “the NFL lacks standards or protocols with respect to its handling of footballs prior to games” and that ‘this is not the fault of Tom or the Patriots.” He also raises questions about the Colts working with the NFL to catch the Patriots in the act, saying that gamesmanship off the field should not bring down a team difficult to bring down on the field.
“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,” Yee notes. “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.”