If the appeal board is truly independent, can there be any other result other than overturning the suspension? The more I see, the more I read, the more apparent it becomes that this is a very transparent witch hunt.
The NFL stipulates a penalty of 25k for the offense. There is no proof of, not only Brady deflating the balls, but even the Patriots deflating them intentionally below legal limits. If, and they were, the NFL gauges were inaccurate, how can anyone say with any degree of certainty the Patriots ball boy had a better gauge?
Here is one view from a commenter on another article:
"Colonel Forbin 17 minutes ago
I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
Incident: The Vikings and Panthers illegally heat footballs on the sideline
NFL action: Send out memo saying that you can't do that
Incident: Brett Farve refuses to turn over his personal cell phone for an investigation
NFL action: $50,000 fine
Incident: Chargers used a stickum towel on the sideline for footballs/gloves, equipment guys try to impede the NFL investigation
NFL action: $20,000 fine
Incident: Patriots played the first half of the AFCCG with under-inflated footballs
NFL action: Brady suspended 4 games, Pats fined $1,000,000 and docked a 1st and 4th round draft pick."