Tom Brady’s ‘Deflategate’ Appeal Rejected By Federal Court, Will Remain Suspended

NEW YORK – As of Wednesday morning, a federal appeals court has rejected Tom Brady’s attempt to get a new hearing on his “Deflategate” suspension.

Brady and his new legal team which now included former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olsowas, had asked for the full 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to hear the case after the previous case in April contained a three-judge panel that ruled against the QB.

The court ruled said that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell did act within his authority when he suspended Brady for the first four games of the upcoming season for his role in ‘deflategate.’

The decision avows the heavily criticized broad range of power provided to the commissioner via the league’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

Brady’s last hope is to bring the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, a seemingly laughable matter for such a higher institution to hear a case about a few pounds per square inch of air pressure that may or may not have been removed from some footballs in a route of the Colts.

If Brady and his team do not appeal to the Supreme Court, the Patriots will be forced to open the season Sept. 11 at Arizona with backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo under center. Barring injury or poor play, Garoppolo would also start against the Cardinals, Miami Dolphins, Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills.

In terms of contract negotiations, it seems as Brady prepared for this instance. The QB signed a two-year contract extension during the offseason that dropped his 2016 salary from $9 million to $1 million to save himself almost $2 million in lost salary during the suspension, would then make his regular-season debut in Week 5 against the Cleveland Browns.

There is no word yet on the intentions of Brady or his legal team moving forward in regard to the next step of appealing.