Tom Brady not only violated his sport’s integrity by participating in a scheme to tamper with the inflation levels of footballs but actively tried to cover up the conspiracy, National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell ruled Tuesday, upholding the Patriot quarterback’s four-game suspension. 
 
 In a stunning statement, Goodell alleged that Brady’s “very troubling’’ coverup effort involved instructing his assistant to destroy his cellphone less than 24 hours before he was interviewed by Ted Wells, the NFL’s special investigator in Deflategate. 
 
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 The scandal rose from the charge that Patriots equipment attendants improperly deflated footballs below the league standard before Brady led the team to a 45-7 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Jan. 18 in the American Football Conference Championship game. 
 
 Goodell said Brady knew Wells sought evidence from his phone, which contained nearly 10,000 text messages in the previous four months, including the period of the alleged tampering. 
 
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 The case has attracted national attention because of Brady’s stature as a four-time Super Bowl champion and widespread suspicions that the Patriots have improperly cut corners while attaining their championships. 
 
 “Rather than simply failing to cooperate, Mr. Brady made a deliberate effort to ensure that investigators would never have access to information that he had been asked to produce,’’ Goodell wrote in a 20-page decision denying Brady’s appeal of his suspension. 
 
 Brady’s action “leads me to conclude that he was attempting to conceal evidence of his personal involvement in the tampering scheme,’’ Goodell ruled. 
 
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 Brady has denied any wrongdoing, and the NFL Players Association vowed Tuesday to appeal “this outrageous decision’’ in federal court. A judge could delay Brady’s suspension until a court resolves the issue. 
 
 The players union downplayed the significance of Brady’s destroyed phone and asserted that he provided league officials all of the information they sought. 
 
 “The fact that the NFL would resort to basing a suspension on a smoke screen of irrelevant text messages instead of admitting that they have all of the phone records they asked for is a new low, even for them, but it does nothing to correct their errors,’’ the union asserted in a prepared statement. 
 
 Brady’s agent, Don Yee, also attacked the ruling. 
 
 “The commissioner’s decision is deeply disappointing but not surprising because the appeal process was thoroughly lacking in procedural fairness,’’ Yee said. 
 
 Calling the process “a sham,’’ Yee said, “The decision is wrong and has no basis, and it diminishes the integrity of the game.’’ 
 
 The NFL, anticipating Brady’s appeal, immediately went to the US District Court in New York and filed a statement citing the commissioner’s power under the collective bargaining agreement to punish players for conduct detrimental to the sport. 
 
 ‘Notwithstanding my enormous respect for his accomplishments on the field . . . I find that . . . Mr. Brady engaged in conduct detrimental to the integrity of, and public confidence in, the game of professional football.’ Roger Goodell, NFL commissioner 
 
 The Patriots — who previously agreed to pay a $1 million fine and forfeit a first-round pick in the 2016 draft and a fourth-rounder in 2017 because of the scandal — expressed extreme disappointment in Goodell’s ruling Tuesday. 
 
 “We cannot comprehend the league’s position in this matter,’’ the Patriots statement said. “Most would agree that the penalties levied originally were excessive and unprecedented, especially in light of the fact that the league has no hard evidence of wrongdoing.’’ 
 
 The Patriots accused the NFL of “attempting to destroy the reputation of one of its greatest players and representatives.” 
 
 Goodell’s finding that Brady “willfully obstructed’’ the league’s investigation by having his cellphone destroyed raised the stakes in the controversy. When Troy Vincent, the NFL’s chief of football operations, issued Brady’s four-game suspension in May, he couched his findings to say it was “more probable than not’’ that Brady was “at least generally aware’’ that Patriots equipment attendants had improperly deflated his footballs. 
 
 Goodell dropped such qualifiers in accusing Brady of both participating in the tampering and trying to cover it up. 
 
 “Notwithstanding my enormous respect for his accomplishments on the field and for his contributions and role in the community, I find that, with respect to the game balls used in the AFC Championship game and subsequent investigation, Mr. Brady engaged in conduct detrimental to the integrity of, and public confidence in, the game of professional football,’’ Goodell concluded. 
 
 Wells had developed potentially damaging evidence of tampering from the cellphones of Patriots football ball attendants Jim McNally and John Jastremski, and he began asking for Brady’s phone records more than two weeks before he interviewed the quarterback March 6. Wells did so again during the session. 
 
 At no time during that period did Brady disclose that his cellphone had been destroyed, according to Goodell. He said records show Brady stopped using the phone no earlier than March 5 and no later than March 6, the day of the interview. 
 
 What’s more, Brady did not inform the NFL that he had the phone destroyed until June 18 and did not confirm it until his 10-hour appeal hearing June 23 at NFL headquarters in New York, Goodell stated. 
 
 Brady testified during the hearing that he routinely destroys his phones and SIM cards or directs his assistant to do so when he begins using a new one, as he did before the Wells interview. However, Goodell cited evidence that Brady did not destroy the cellphone he stopped using Nov. 6, 2014, before the one in question. 
 
 A forensic expert for the players union, Brad Maryman, submitted testimony at the hearing about Brady’s cellphone use. But Goodell described the analysis as extremely limited and of little value. 
 
 “All we know is that Mr. Brady exchanged nearly 10,000 text messages with many individuals over this period of approximately four months’’ ending March 6 on the phone he destroyed, Goodell stated. That equates to 80 texts per day. 
 
 Yee took issue with Goodell’s characterizations. 
 
 “We presented the commissioner with an unprecedented amount of electronic data, all of which is incontrovertible,’’ Yee said, although he did not specify the nature or content of the data. 
 
 “Tom was completely transparent,’’ Yee said. “All of the electronic information was ignored; we don’t know why. The extent to which Tom opened up his private life to the commissioner will become clear in the coming days.’’ 
 
 If McNally or Jastremski had any information that might clear Brady, Goodell never received it because Brady’s legal team declined the commissioner’s invitation to testify during or after Brady’s hearing. 
 
 The Patriots have indefinitely suspended both employees. 
 
 Goodell suggested it was odd that Brady would not want McNally or Jastremski to testify because “both presumably would have firsthand knowledge of the facts related to Mr. Brady’s denials.’’ 
 
 McNally also has never been interviewed by investigators about why he described himself as “the deflator,’’ among other damaging statements he made in text exchanges with Jastremski. The Patriots produced a rebuttal statement in May in which they asserted McNally’s moniker came from his losing weight. 
 
 Goodell said the evidence from Brady’s hearing included a 450-page transcript, more than 300 exhibits, and more than 30 summaries of interviews conducted by NFL security officials before Wells launched his investigation. 
 
 The union submitted studies, including one by the American Enterprise Institute, aimed at refuting the NFL’s conclusions about the inflation levels of Brady’s footballs in the AFC title game. The NFL said all 11 balls were found to be deflated below the league’s minimum standard of 12.5 pounds per square inch after they were approved by an official before the game. 
 
 Goodell ruled that the deflation could not be attributed to environmental, physical, or other natural factors, as Brady’s legal team and the Patriots have asserted. 
 
 “Instead, at least a substantial part of the decline was the result of tampering,’’ he said. 
 
 How does Tom Brady’s suspension affect the Patriots ||||| Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's four-game suspension for his role in using underinflated footballs during the AFC Championship Game was upheld Tuesday by commissioner Roger Goodell. 
 
 In announcing the decision, Goodell cited new evidence that emerged: On or shortly before March 6 -- the day Brady was interviewed by Ted Wells and his investigative team -- Brady instructed his assistant to destroy the cellphone he had been using since early November 2014, a period that included the AFC title game against the Colts and the initial weeks of the subsequent investigation. 
 
 The NFL said in Tuesday's statement that Brady destroyed the phone even though he was aware that investigators had requested access to text messages and other electronic information that had been stored on the phone. 
 
 Editor's Picks O'Connor: Tom Brady has only himself to blame Tom Brady hasn't offered a credible explanation in this case from the start, and for good reason: He doesn't have one, writes Ian O'Connor. 
 
 MacMullan: Brady needs to drop it and move on Tom Brady has nothing to gain by taking his NFL suspension to court, and it's time for him to leave it behind before doing more damage. 
 
 Goodell's 20-page appeal decision Wonder why Roger Goodell upheld Tom Brady's four-game suspension? The commissioner lays out his reasoning in this 20-page memo. 2 Related 
 
 According to the NFL, during the four months the cellphone was in use, Brady sent and received nearly 10,000 text messages, none of which can now be retrieved. At the time he arranged for its destruction, Brady knew that Wells and his team had asked for information from the cellphone. 
 
 Despite repeated requests for information from the phone, the fact that Brady destroyed the phone was not disclosed to the NFL until June 18 and was not confirmed until the day of Brady's appeal hearing on June 23. 
 
 During his appeal hearing, the NFL says Brady said it was his practice to destroy his cellphone and SIM cards when he gets a new cellphone. 
 
 Goodell said in the league's statement that Brady "went beyond a mere failure to cooperate in the investigation and supported a finding that he had sought to hide evidence of his own participation in the scheme." Based on Wells' report and the evidence presented at that hearing, Goodell also said that Brady was aware of, and took steps to support, the actions of other team employees to deflate game footballs below the levels allowed under NFL rules. 
 
 During settlement talks, the union requested that the record of Brady's appeal be sealed so that, in the NFL's opinion, the information that Brady destroyed his cellphone would not become public, a league official tells ESPN. The NFL declined to do so. 
 
 The league and Brady's representatives had engaged in settlement talks but couldn't find common ground, which wasn't a surprise. 
 
 The NFL told Brady that if he acknowledged that two Patriots equipment men were doing something illegal, and if he acknowledged that he didn't cooperate with the league, the NFL would be willing to reduce his suspension to two or maybe even one game, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter. Brady declined to agree to the offer, which as one source said, "tells you how Tom feels about this case." 
 
 Audio: Bob Ryan on The Russillo Show Bob Ryan covers the destruction of Tom Brady's cell phone around the time Brady met with investigators, his handling of Deflategate and how the situation affects his image. Listen 
 
 Brady, according to sources, remains adamant that he will fight a suspension for as long as he can, and that any punishment must specify that it's for failing to cooperate with an NFL investigation and not for breaking rules with footballs. 
 
 "The Commissioner's decision is deeply disappointing, but not surprising because the appeal process was thoroughly lacking in procedural fairness," Brady's agent, Don Yee, said Tuesday. "Most importantly, neither Tom nor the Patriots did anything wrong. And the NFL has no evidence that anything inappropriate occurred. The appeal process was a sham, resulting in the Commissioner rubber-stamping his own decision." 
 
 The NFL, meanwhile, filed suit in Manhattan on Tuesday to confirm Brady's suspension, but a source told Schefter that the matter of procedure is "no big deal." 
 
 The NFL Players Association's position is that the filing won't affect anything, the source said. "What it really does is show how scared [the NFL is] of the case and know how weak they are legally," the source said. 
 
 Brady, as he regularly does at this time of year, arrived early for training camp at Gillette Stadium on Monday. While Patriots veterans don't report until Wednesday, NFL rules state that quarterbacks and players returning from injuries can be required to report earlier. 
 
 Coach Bill Belichick met with the media on Wednesday. All other Patriots players are supposed to report to camp by Thursday. 
 
 On Tuesday afternoon the Patriots issued a statement expressing their displeasure with Tuesday's ruling while continuing to support Brady. 
 
 "We are extremely disappointed in today's ruling by Commissioner Goodell," the team said in the statement. "We cannot comprehend the league's position in this matter. Most would agree that the penalties levied originally were excessive and unprecedented, especially in light of the fact that the league has no hard evidence of wrongdoing. We continue to unequivocally believe in and support Tom Brady. We also believe that the laws of science continue to underscore the folly of this entire ordeal. Given all of this, it is incomprehensible as to why the league is attempting to destroy the reputation of one of its greatest players and representatives." 
 
 Brady appealed his suspension on June 23 to Goodell, who served as arbitrator despite the objections of the NFLPA. Attorney Jeffrey Kessler, who has had success taking on the NFL in other high-profile cases, led Brady's defense and said, "I think we put in a very compelling case." 
 
 Tom Brady deliberately destroyed evidence when the league began its investigation of the Patriots quarterback, Roger Goodell said. AP Photo/Stephan Savoia 
 
 The NFLPA filed motions Wednesday on Brady's behalf challenging the decision to uphold the suspension. The case was filed in U.S. District Court in Minnesota and assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Richard Kyle. The union had hoped for Judge David Doty, who historically has ruled in favor of players in labor cases against the NFL. 
 
 Among the points Brady's representatives are expected to argue: 
 
 • The ball-deflation policy was incorrectly applied to him, as the rules were meant for club personnel and not players. 
 
 • The Wells report doesn't prove he did anything illegal. 
 
 • If it is determined that the ball-deflation policy applied to Brady, the league failed to give him notice of the penalty, in essence making up the punishment without precedent. 
 
 • The NFL doesn't have the proper techniques and standards for measuring deflation of footballs. 
 
 • Goodell was not a neutral arbitrator. 
 
 As for Goodell taking 35 days to determine Brady's appeal, sources told ESPN's Dan Graziano that the delay was rooted in the NFL's viewpoint that its decision had to be designed, vetted and written to withstand a court challenge. Thus, the delay was mostly about whether the league is comfortable in the legal presentation of the decision. 
 
 Brady, who turns 38 on Aug. 3, will miss the first four games this season unless the case goes to court. Jimmy Garoppolo, a second-round draft pick in 2014, would replace Brady. 
 
 New England hosts Pittsburgh on Sept. 10 to open the regular season. The Patriots then go to Buffalo, host Jacksonville, have a bye, and are at Dallas in the last game of Brady's suspension. 
 
 "The Commissioner's decision and discipline has no precedent in all of NFL history," Yee said. "His decision alters the competitive balance of the upcoming season. The decision is wrong and has no basis, and it diminishes the integrity of the game." 
 
 Brady was suspended on May 11 after Wells' investigation found that it was "more probable than not" that Patriots personnel deliberately deflated footballs during the AFC title game against the Colts and that Brady was "at least generally aware" of the rule violations. The Patriots were fined $1 million and stripped of a 2016 first-round draft choice and a 2017 fourth-round draft choice. 
 
 Scientific arguments were a major part of Brady's defense. Brady's lawyers tried to shoot down the findings of an independent firm hired to provide scientific analysis of the air pressure inside the footballs used by the Patriots and Colts. The firm was retained as part of Wells' investigation. 
 
 Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.
– World, prepare to meet Jimmy Garoppolo. The NFL has upheld its decision to bench Tom Brady for four games over underinflated footballs, meaning backup Garoppolo will be in the spotlight. Brady had appealed, but NFL chief Roger Goodell said he's more convinced than ever that the QB not only ordered staffers to deflate the balls before a playoff game to make them easier to handle, he tried to cover up his actions, reports ESPN. A key factor in the decision was that Brady had his phone destroyed, reports the Boston Globe. "On or shortly before March 6, the day that Tom Brady met with independent investigator Ted Wells and his colleagues, Brady directed that the cell phone he had used for the prior four months be destroyed," says a league statement. "He did so even though he was aware that the investigators had requested access to text messages and other electronic information that had been stored on that phone." As a result, 10,000 Brady texts were gone for good. (One of the underinflated balls just sold for $44,000.)