The announcement has just come down that Tom Brady will accept the 4 game suspension levied against him for his lack of cooperation in the ‘Deflategate’ scandal, and will not appeal to the Supreme Court.
“I’m very grateful for the overwhelming support I’ve received from Mr. Kraft, the Kraft family, coach Belichick, my coaches and teammates, the NFLPA, my agents, my loving family and most of all, our fans,” Brady wrote. “It has been a challenging 18 months and I have made the difficult decision to no longer proceed with the legal process. I’m going to work hard to be the best player I can be for the New England Patriots and I look forward to having the opportunity to return to the field this fall.” -per Tom Brady’s Facebook page.
Now that we have an end to the legal process, Jimmy Garoppolo will start the first 4 games of the season (against the Cardinals, Dolphins, Texans, and Bills) in his place. But what does this mean for the Patriots?
The NFL world is torn in half, when it comes to these predictions. Half seem to think that the young QB will be fine, even against the 13-3 Cardinals and 2 division rivals, with the Patriots coming out at 3-1. The other half sees the judgement in a darker (or lighter, depending on how you feel about the Patriots) light, with Jimmy G claiming 1 victory in 4 games.
I’m part of that latter group, calling the Patriots at 1-3 over those 4 weeks, and creating a hole for Brady to try to climb out of. He comes back in Week 5 to face the Browns, which should be an easy win, given the history of the two teams. However, I do believe, when Brady comes back, he will have a fire within him, similar to the one that he had during the 2015 campaign, as this is a man that does not like being ‘wrongly accused’, as he puts it.
Nobody can really predict what will happen in the NFL on a week-to-week basis (unless we’re talking about the Browns), but this suspension has brought upon us the potential opportunity to see the New England Patriots toppled from their perch atop the AFC East.