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Reuters

New England Patriots football star Tom Brady denied he had destroyed his cell phone to avoid giving it to NFL investigators, saying the flap was "manufactured" to distract from "zero evidence" against him in the Deflategate scandal.
Brady issued his statement a day after National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell upheld a four-game suspension of the quarterback for his part in an alleged scheme to deflate footballs below league standards in the game that put the Patriots in the 2015 Super Bowl.
A ball inflated below NFL standards could make it easier to grip, especially in cold weather games.

 

<![CDATA[// ><!]]>


I am very disappointed by the NFL’s decision to uphold the 4 game suspension against me. I did nothing wrong, and no one...
Posted by Tom Brady on Wednesday, 29 July 2015


"I am very disappointed by the NFL’s decision to uphold the four-game suspension against me," Brady said in a statement posted on his Facebook page. "I did nothing wrong, and no one in the Patriots organisation did either."
Patriots owner Robert Kraft threw his support behind his player, considered one of the NFL’s all-time greats.

"I was wrong to put my faith in the league," Kraft said in blasting Goodell for upholding the suspension. "I continue to believe and unequivocally support Tom Brady."
Goodell on Tuesday said Brady, one of the league’s most popular and highest paid players, admitted during an appeal hearing last month that he directed an assistant to destroy his cell phone around March 6. That was the day he was due to meet with league investigators.
The commissioner said Brady’s conduct suggested he was attempting to conceal evidence.

But Brady insisted on Wednesday there was nothing nefarious about the phone’s destruction. As a member of the players union, he said, he was under no obligation to hand the phone to investigators. And he said he was never told that failing to do so would result in any discipline.
Brady said he replaced his broken Samsung phone with a new iPhone 6 after his attorneys made clear to the NFL that his phone would not be subjected to investigation.
Brady, a four-time Super Bowl champion, denied his phone, which the NFL said held some 10,000 text messages, contained any damning evidence.
I was wrong to put my faith in the league
Robert Kraft
"I have never written, texted, emailed to anybody at anytime, anything related to football air pressure before this issue was raised at the AFC Championship game in January," Brady wrote, referring to the American Football Conference game won by the Patriots.
The NFL players union on Wednesday filed a petition in federal court in Minnesota to overturn Goodell’s decision, which would force Brady to miss a quarter of the season. The union said the decision "gives the back of the hand to fundamental arbitral principles concerning procedural fairness and arbitrator bias."
Brady said the ruling was unfair because there was no direct evidence to support it.
"There is no ‘smoking gun,’ and this controversy is manufactured to distract from the fact they have zero evidence of wrongdoing," the 37-year-old quarterback said in his post.
U.S. District Judge Richard Berman in Manhattan asked the union to respond by August 13 to the league’s request that he declare the suspension valid under the collective bargaining agreement. A hearing would follow later.
Kraft said he regretted accepting the "harshest penalty in history of NFL" when he chose not to appeal a $1 million fine imposed on the team for its alleged role in the scandal. Goodell also ordered the club to surrender two draft choices, including the team’s coveted No. 1 pick next year.
"I truly believe what I did in May, given the actual evidence of the situation and the league’s history on discipline matters, would make it much easier for the league to exonerate Tom Brady," Kraft said. "Unfortunately, I was wrong."

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Tom Brady

‘I did nothing wrong’: Tom Brady slams NFL, says ‘zero evidence’ against him in Deflategate storm

Tom Brady says destroyed cellphone is no 'smoking gun'. Photo: AP

Coach Bill Belichick refused to answer questions about the affair. Photo: AP

Tom Brady arrives for his appeal hearing in June. Photo: AP

Patriots owner Robert Kraft gives a press conference. Photo: AFP

Sport

Other Sport

Star hits back in strongly-worded statement as owner says he regrets accepting punishment


New England Patriots football star Tom Brady denied he had destroyed his cell phone to avoid giving it to NFL investigators, saying the flap was "manufactured" to distract from "zero evidence" against him in the Deflategate scandal


‘I did nothing wrong’: Tom Brady slams NFL, says ‘zero evidence’ against him in Deflategate storm

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Star hits back in strongly-worded statement as owner says he regrets accepting punishment

Star hits back in strongly-worded statement as owner says he regrets accepting punishment