Tom Brady, NFLPA file federal lawsuit over Deflategate ruling

Tom Brady asked a federal judge in Minnesota to overturn his four-game suspension for the scandal known as "Deflategate."

In a filing Wednesday, lawyers working with the NFL Players Association asked U.S. District Judge David Doty to vacate the suspension or at least put it on hold until the case can be heard. Attorney Jeffrey Kessler told The Associated Press that the league broke at least four procedural rules when it suspended the reigning Super Bowl MVP for "his alleged `general awareness' that somebody else violated a policy."

The union asked Doty to throw out the suspension before Sept. 4; that would allow Brady to participate in all practices before the Patriots' Sept. 10 season opener against the Steelers. If Doty needs more time, Brady's lawyers are asking him for an injunction that would prevent the league from enforcing the suspension.

"It is completely incomprehensible to me that the league continues to take steps to disparage one of its all-time great players, and a man for whom I have the utmost respect," Patriots owner Robert Kraft said. "I was wrong to put my faith in the league."

Taking the podium a day after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell upheld Brady's suspension, Kraft said he didn't fight the team's penalty — a $1 million fine and the loss of two draft picks — because he thought the league would go easy on the star quarterback.

Now, he said, he regrets his decision.

"I have come to the conclusion that this was never about doing what was fair and just," Kraft said, apologizing to fans and to Brady. "I truly believe that what I did in May ... would make it much easier for the league to exonerate Tom Brady. Unfortunately, I was wrong."

The NFL Players Association said later Wednesday that it will file a lawsuit in federal court in Minnesota challenging the punishment.

The NFL had determined the Patriots provided improperly inflated footballs in the AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. Investigator Ted Wells zeroed in on two equipment managers — one who called himself "The Deflator" — and said Brady was "at least generally aware" of the illegal deflation scheme.

Kraft said the Patriots did nothing wrong, but the team fired the two equipment managers whose text messages included discussions of football inflation.

"Six months removed from the AFC championship game, the league still has no hard evidence of anybody doing anything to tamper with the PSI levels of footballs," Kraft said.

Brady broke his silence in a 507-word Facebook post earlier Wednesday.

"To suggest that I destroyed a phone to avoid giving the NFL information it requested is completely wrong," he said. "There is no `smoking gun' and this controversy is manufactured to distract from the fact they have zero evidence of wrongdoing."

Kraft said the team turned over every cellphone not belonging to a player — including coach Bill Belichick. The powerful owner, who had been one of Goodell's most loyal allies, said the league's claim that Brady trashed his phone to obstruct the investigation was just the latest in a series of statements and leaks that "intentionally implied nefarious behavior" where there was none.

"Tom Brady is a person of great integrity and is a great ambassador of the game, both on and off the field," Kraft said.

The Patriots went on to win the Super Bowl for their fourth NFL title under Brady and Belichick.

Brady, who had earlier denied cheating accusations with the tepid "I don't think so," more forcefully defended himself in the Facebook post, claiming he cooperated with the investigation except where doing so would have set a bad precedent for his union brethren.​