Tom Brady Suspension Leads To Victory Lap For Indianapolis Media

You might have heard, but Tom Brady was suspended Monday. That means it’s time to party in Indiana.

The Indianapolis Colts have finally shut it down when it comes to commenting on the whole DeflateGate saga which they helped start in the AFC Championship Game, but the same can’t be said for Colts fans or Indianapolis media.

We’re guessing the reaction looked a little something like this, from the greatest man ever to live in Indiana.

Hot takes with the heat of a thousand suns poured in from across the country, with almost everyone outside of New England hammering the Patriots and Brady. Perhaps none, however, dug in as deep as Indianapolis Star columnist Gregg Doyel, who has been wielding one of the largest pitchforks throughout this seemingly never-ending saga.

So it should come as no surprise that Doyel wrote a scathing column for Tuesday morning, laying the smackdown on Brady, the Patriots, Bill Belichick, the texting team employees and just about everyone else who calls 1 Patriot Place their work home. Seemingly the only people spared were the mascot and those old dudes who fire off guns when the team scores.

“Most of the evidence was based on text messages between the two idiots who got caught, New England locker room attendants I’ll call Dumb and Dumber, but the Patriots’ dynasty began with the first of four Super Bowls won by Belichick and Brady after the 2001 season,” Doyel wrote. “So how far back does this go? We’ll never know. But the Patriots’ willingness to break rules extends publicly to SpyGate in 2007. Then Deflate-Gate in 2015. You think they didn’t cheat in the eight years in between?

“How about the six years between 2001 and 2007?

“You don’t think there are more cockroaches in this kitchen?”

Doyel went on to say Brady “obviously” was hiding something by refusing to turn over his phone. He also made it pretty clear there’s nothing the NFL could have done that would make up for this grave injustice.

“Brady and the Patriots were punished on Monday? Nah. They were patted on the head and told not to do it again.

“As if.”

Doyel’s colleague, Nancy Armour, also weighed in, though her take was mild, especially compared to Doyel.

“Cheating, no matter how silly or minor it seems,” she wrote, “compromises the integrity of the game. If fans lose trust in the game or the people playing it, it makes the sport a farce, little different than the WWE.”

The Star is even giving Colts fans a chance to caption a photo of Tom Brady, and they’re using this cartoon of the Patriots quarterback using his cell phone.

Old friend Bob Kravitz, the man who broke the original DeflateGate story, also offered his take. However, it sounds like Kravitz probably is ready for this whole thing to be over, too. He supported the discipline but did acknowledge it bordered on harsh.

“With everyone watching, with the league still reeling from the repellent Ray Rice fiasco, (Roger) Goodell and (Troy) Vincent finally got it right.”

Kravitz, perhaps as a nod to the Wells Report’s ambiguous language, also stated the punishment was “harsh, but generally fair.”

Expect plenty more hoopla in just a little more than five months from now. Brady’s slated to return for a Week 6 primetime clash with, you guessed it, the Indianapolis Colts.