Vincent Frank
As of right now New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady would not be playing for the team in its Week 1 outing against the Arizona Cardinals.
The future Hall of Fame signal caller is in the midst of appealing the four-game suspension the NFL levied against him for his alleged role in the Deflategate scandal that rocked the football world back in January of 2015.
Should his latest legal action not benefit the quarterback, he will have to sit out that early-season matchup of Super Bowl contenders.
For the defending NFC West champion Cardinals, this wouldn’t be the ideal scenario.
“I don’t want any excuses,” offensive coordinator Harold Goodwin said, via NFL.com. “The level we’re at right now as an organization, as a team — because we think we’re one of the best teams in the National Football League — hey, when we’re playing another team we want them to be at full capacity, too.”
This is a solid point. As we have seen throughout the sports world, one team taking advantage of another short-handed squad does bring skeptics out. “Could they have won if the other team was at full strength?”
That’s a question many would ask if the Brady-less Patriots were to lose their season opener against Arizona.
“Down the road, I don’t want to hear ‘coulda, woulda, shoulda,’ because they’re missing a guy. Obviously, I would like Tom to play,” Goodwin continued.
Taking on the mentality of the coaching staff, 2015 breakout performer Deone Bucannon reiterated what Goodwin had to say.
“I wouldn’t be a competitor if I said ‘not,'” the linebacker said. “I’m a competitor and he’s one of the best to ever do it. It would be awesome to play against him. I want them at their best because we’re definitely going to be at our best.”
Brady and his legal team just filed a second appeal with the Second Circuit United States Court of Appeals after that entity sided with the NFL earlier this year.
This came on the heels of Brady’s four-game suspension being overturned by another court months before.
It will be interesting to see how the court acts and whether it will provide Brady with a temporary stay of the suspension. If not, the Cardinals’ wishes will likely go unanswered.
