DeflateGate: Tom Brady Suspension Upheld, Brady Destroyed Phone

In breaking news from the NFL, commissioner Roger Goodell has decided to uphold the four-game suspension for Tom Brady for DeflateGate on the ground of new information presented on June 18th, five days before Brady's appeal hearing.

According to the official release, Brady ordered the destruction of his cell phone early in March, a phone he had been using for the prior four months. The timing of the incident occurred directly before Brady met with investigator Ted Wells. Brady's phone had registered over 10,000 texts that can no longer be retrieved.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell upheld today the 4-game suspension imposed on #Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. pic.twitter.com/CYm9fT0rUy

— Rand Getlin (@Rand_Getlin) July 28, 2015

This finding is important, even if the Wells Report found nothing, because why the heck would Tom do that? The NFL had no right to his phone, and that should've been the end of it- but why?

Brady explained in his appeal that he withheld information under advisement of counsel, and that he destroyed his phone because that's what he always does when he gets a new phone. The hitch comes down to the timing, which undeniably looks suspicious.

A question arises: Why did the league not find out about this phone during Wells' investigation? And how did they find out at the end of June?

Read Goodell's decision here.

Brady and company will likely continue to take this to court, and it wouldn't be surprising to hear a rebuttal from his camp justifying the events.