Tom Brady Explains Destroyed Phone, Says ‘I Did Nothing Wrong’ In Lengthy Response To Deflategate Suspension

On Wednesday morning, Tom Brady hit back against the NFL’s four-game suspension that was upheld by Roger Goodell. The New England Patriots quarterback defended his position in a lengthy and strongly-worded statement published on his Facebook.

In the 508 word response, Brady said, “I did nothing wrong,” deemed the Deflategate scandal as an “inconsequential issue” and called the NFL’s case against him as a “narrative.” The quarterback confidently defended himself, “neither I, nor any equipment person, did anything of which we have been accused.” He also brought up that he was disappointed that Goodell “dismissed my hours of testimony, and it is disappointing that he found it unreliable.”

Brady stated that he replaced his broken Samsung phone with a new iPhone 6, only after his attorneys informed the NFL that his phone would not be involved in the investigation. The QB claimed that he would not give his phone because it is his property and he is a private citizen, and didn’t want to create “a bad precedent for players who cooperate with NFL investigations going forward.”

Brady thanked his fans for their support after the suspension for his supposed role in deflating footballs in the AFC. Championship game.

Here is the entire statement in it’s entirety:

I am very disappointed by the NFL’s decision to uphold the 4 game suspension against me. I did nothing wrong, and no one in the Patriots organization did either.

Despite submitting to hours of testimony over the past 6 months, it is disappointing that the Commissioner upheld my suspension based upon a standard that it was “probable” that I was “generally aware” of misconduct. The fact is that neither I, nor any equipment person, did anything of which we have been accused. He dismissed my hours of testimony and it is disappointing that he found it unreliable.

I also disagree with yesterdays narrative surrounding my cellphone. I replaced my broken Samsung phone with a new iPhone 6 AFTER my attorneys made it clear to the NFL that my actual phone device would not be subjected to investigation under ANY circumstances. As a member of a union, I was under no obligation to set a new precedent going forward, nor was I made aware at any time during Mr. Wells investigation, that failing to subject my cell phone to investigation would result in ANY discipline.

Most importantly, 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. To suggest that I destroyed a phone to avoid giving the NFL information it requested is completely wrong.

To try and reconcile the record and fully cooperate with the investigation after I was disciplined in May, we turned over detailed pages of cell phone records and all of the emails that Mr. Wells requested. We even contacted the phone company to see if there was any possible way we could retrieve any/all of the actual text messages from my old phone. In short, we exhausted every possibility to give the NFL everything we could and offered to go thru the identity for every text and phone call during the relevant time. Regardless, the NFL knows that Mr. Wells already had ALL relevant communications with Patriots personnel that either Mr. Wells saw or that I was questioned about in my appeal hearing. There is no “smoking gun” and this controversy is manufactured to distract from the fact they have zero evidence of wrongdoing.

I authorized the NFLPA to make a settlement offer to the NFL so that we could avoid going to court and put this inconsequential issue behind us as we move forward into this season. The discipline was upheld without any counter offer. I respect the Commissioners authority, but he also has to respect the CBA and my rights as a private citizen. I will not allow my unfair discipline to become a precedent for other NFL players without a fight.

Lastly, I am overwhelmed and humbled by the support of family, friends and our fans who have supported me since the false accusations were made after the AFC Championship game. I look forward to the opportunity to resume playing with my teammates and winning more games for the New England Patriots.

I’d like to believe that this is the end of it and we can now move on to actual football activities in the coming weeks, but there appears to be another lawsuit coming.