For a year and four months, the controversy over whether New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady did or did not cheat as part of the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts on January 18, 2015 by having footballs deflated below league standards, has raged. Deflategate, as it’s been coined, isn’t going away anytime soon as an appeals court ruled today that a lower court ruling overstepped it’s bounds, and with it, Commissioner Goodell’s original four-game suspension is reinstated. With it, Brady will miss the beginning of the season.
Deflategate has pitted two views: one view says that Goodell was on a witch hunt, didn’t understand basic science that would lead footballs to have lower air pressure due to cold weather, while the other says that Brady and the Patriots are known cheaters by citing the Spygate controversy.
Those encampments will likely not move greatly one way or the other based upon the appeals court ruling. And because of that, the business of Tom Brady will, strangely, benefit in some ways.
Now, Brady’s camp will likely say otherwise. In the long view, Brady’s reputation is soiled, and the possibility that someone will use Deflategate to damage Brady’s Hall of Fame odds will come into play.
Maybe.
But until then, the Patriots fans, and others that see Brady as being unduly punished will don his jersey or other merchandise with his name on it as a form of political protest. It’s here that the business side of Brady benefits.
There’s some proof of this that surfaced today. According to the NFL Players Association, Brady regained the top-spot in named merchandise sales. The list is based on total sales of all officially licensed merchandise from March 1, 2015 through February 29, 2016, where Brady pushed Seattle Seahawks Russell Wilson off the top spot.
Posted By: Jose Mercedes
Tuesday, May 3rd 2016 at 2:27PM
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