It’s over! It’s over!
Well, not quite, thanks to an impending appeal, but the over-inflated Deflategate saga reached a pivotal moment Thursday when Judge Richard Berman repealed Tom Brady’s four-game suspension.
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft responded to the news, supporting the quarterback who he calls a model representative of the NFL. Per Ben Volin of the Boston Globe, Kraft’s statement read:
“As I have said during this process and throughout his Patriots career, Tom Brady is a classy person of the highest integrity. He represents everything that is great about this game and this league.”
Not much else should have been expected from Kraft, who bought the franchise in 1995 and has watched Brady lead the Patriots to four Super Bowl championships.
Fortunately for NFL fans, they can soon observe Brady as a “tremendous athlete of the highest skill” instead of a “suspended quarterback of the highest clipboard-holding ability.” The veteran will be available for the entire 2015 regular season, which begins next week.
On Thursday, Sep. 10, New England kicks off their title defense opposite the shorthanded Pittsburgh Steelers. Star running back and speedy receiver Martavis Bryant are suspended for the opener. Nevertheless, that won’t matter to Brady and Co., and the Patriots should start the year with a classy victory.