The National Football League had its day in court regarding the entire Deflategate case last week. The league itself is appealing a previous court decision to overturn the four-game suspension New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady received for his alleged involvement in the scandal.
Reports surfaced earlier this week that there are some major concerns the NFL was not being 100 percent truthful about the “facts” it presented to the appeals panel in the hearing last Thursday.
That’s not necessarily a shock.
Neither is this recent poll, conducted by Yahoo Sports, that indicates a vast majority of Americans don’t believe Brady’s version of the story.
The poll shows that just 16.3 percent believe Brady and the Patriots. Meanwhile, the very same poll shows that more Americans (43.4 percent) don’t know what to think about the entire mess than the ones who believe the NFL’s version (40.3 percent).
When looking at the New England area, the poll obviously takes a more friendly Patriots turn. A total of 58 percent of those surveyed side with the team, compared to just 18.7 percent believing the NFL’s version.
This is all fun and games, and it’s not going to have any impact on the NFL’s appeal. If overturned, Brady will have to serve his four-game suspension, which will likely begin starting in Week 1 of the 2016 season. If not, then the entire matter is pretty much over from a legal standpoint.
Of course, this won’t stop people from discussing the Patriots’ “cheating ways” or the NFL’s “strong-handed” actions. It will remain a debate around the football world as long as those involved are still major power players around the league.