Why does that logic apply to Brady but not Hardy? No one outside Dallas supports Hardy, but in this forum, Hardy becomes an innocent man, wrongfully persecuted by a league and judicial system all in cahoots to railroad him unfairly.
Actually, a huge contingent of people supported him in Carolina when the ugly truth about this girl started to come out. Personally, I don't support him at all in this, other than the rules for punishment in place in the NFL need to be followed. I don't pretend that the NFL is a played by choir boys. Quite the opposite.
Brady's situation is VERY different. The league is solely dependent upon a viewing public that believes in the integrity of what it is watching. Especially the wagering public. Without that belief, viewership and profit will dry up like the Mohave Desert. And that is exactly why Goodell had to come down hard on this. Teams have complained, and New England's history in this area isn't helping.
This is not a witch hunt. It's Goodell showing that the integrity of the game is solid, and that not even a superstar poster player like Brady is immune from punishment by the NFL.