10:48 a.m.: Charley Casserly thinks Tom Brady should be thankful he even had a chance to take the trip to Glendale, Ariz.
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We’re not really sure what the NFL Network personality and former Washington Redskins general manager is even trying to say here. Does he really think the NFL would have wrapped up an investigation and handed out punishment in the two weeks before its biggest event of the season, or is he suggesting Roger Goodell should have gone back in time and prevented Brady from getting to Super Bowl XLIX?
Perhaps we’ll never know.
10:34 a.m.: The New York tabloids are here, guys.
As expected, the New York Daily News and New York Post slammed Brady on the front page of Tuesday’s editions.
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But if you looked inside the Post, you’d find this boiling-hot take from Steve Serby that’s dripping with hyperbole.
“It is one thing to be a Super Bowl champion and another to be a champion of lying, cheating and deceit,” Serby wrote. “This was arrogance intercepted.
“This is justice.
“We expected better from Brady, much better than for him to be exposed as just another chowderhead, and it is sad it turns out that he is more probably than not every bit as ballsy as the diabolical Bill Belichick.
“Spygate, Deflategate … when will these guys ever learn?
“Maybe now they will.”
And that’s not even the half of it.
9:49 a.m.: Indianapolis Star columnist Gregg Doyel has been about the most fun person to read throughout this whole ordeal, if only because he’s willing to go out on some pretty thin limbs. This time, he’s blaming deflated footballs for everything from the Patriots’ dynasty to, presumably, the Hindenburg disaster.
“So how far back did this go? We’ll never know,” Doyel writes. “But the Patriots’ willingness to break rules extends publicly to SpyGate in 2007. Then DeflateGate 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?”
This thing could go straight to the top! Trust no one!
9:38 a.m.: It might seem like everyone’s losing their minds, but if you’re interested in the opposing view, check out NESN.com’s Doug Kyed’s incredulous reaction to the punishment:
“Now that the 243-page report has been digested by folks with half a brain, it becomes obvious this punishment does not befit the crime or the evidence. This is like being sentenced to four weeks in prison for jaywalking. This is like a pitcher being suspended 40 games for scuffing a baseball.”
Read Kyed’s column in full here.
9:09 a.m.: Also coming in from New York — or, in this case, the actual state of New York, not New Jersey — the Buffalo Bills have catapulted to the top of the AFC East thanks to Brady’s suspension. That’s the opinion of Manish Mehta, certified Patriots tormentor of the New York Daily News.
“Despite (Buffalo Bills coach Rex) Ryan’s 4-9 record against Brady, he has flummoxed the three-time Super Bowl MVP more than any defensive mind in the past decade,” Mehta writes, adding, “He has his best chance now with a franchise that has been irrelevant this millennium. It might come down to the season finale against the Jets, which will give the man a chance to stick it to two organizations at the same time.”
If Brady’s four-game suspension stands on appeal, he would miss games against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bills, Jacksonville Jaguars and Dallas Cowboys to begin the season. It seems all but assured, even if Brady gets the suspension reduced, that the Bills won’t have to face him in Week 2.
8:54 a.m.: Let’s kick off with a former New York Jet — naturally — saying the over-the-top punishment was in fact not harsh enough.
Keyshawn Johnson, on ESPN, said he thought the league should have handed down a suspension of at least eight games for Brady. That’s half a season, two games less than Greg Hardy received for a domestic violence incident and four times what Ray Rice was initially given for striking his then-fiancee in an Atlantic City, N.J., elevator.
“Make him suffer a little bit more,” Johnson said, according to Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report.
It’s going to be a fun day.
8:47 a.m. ET: It’s going to be a take-tastic Tuesday.
The NFL announced its punishment of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots on Monday evening, which means Tuesday is all about the reactions — lots and lots and lots of reactions.
In case you haven’t already heard, the NFL suspended Brady for four games, fined the Patriots $1 million and took away two draft picks from New England after the independent Wells Report found it “more probable than not” that Brady and two team personnel conspired to deflate footballs below the allowable 12.5 PSI. The decision has led to a lot of consternation from Patriots fans, but even more hyperbole from non-Patriots fans.
We’ll collect some of the best and post them here throughout the day.
Thumbnail photo via Matthew Emmons/USA TODAY Sports Images
