NFL upholds Patriots QB Tom Brady's 4-game suspension

It's actually happened Dolphins fans, the NFL has decided to uphold the original four-game suspension that was handed down to New England Patriots quarterback and future Hall of Famer Tom Brady over the alleged use of under-inflated footballs during the 2014 AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts.

Brady was suspended by NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent in May following a league-sanctioned investigation by Ted Wells, who also was in charge of the BullyGate scandal a couple of years ago involving offensive linemen Jonathan Martin and Richie Incognito. The Patriots were fined $1 million and docked a pair of draft picks. The team didn't appeal its penalty, but Brady and his lawyers made their case during a 10-hour appeal hearing on June 23.

It has been made clear over and over again by Brady's camp that if the suspension was upheld, the issue would be taken to federal court. That is the next step the 4-time Super Bowl Champion will take.

But there are certain things that can't help but be questioned. For instance, there's the report that was originally made by ESPN's Stephen A. Smith regarding the now confirmed fact that Brady destroyed his phone. Brady recently explained to Commissioner Roger Goodell that he regularly destroys his phones and SIM cards shortly after he's through using them.

Whether this is true or not is something we may never definitively know, as it sounds incredibly far-fetched that anyone would do something so drastic so casually. Nevertheless, it has been confirmed that the phone has been destroyed, whether to eliminate evidence or something else entirely.

One has to wonder whether or not something bigger is going on in Brady's life that is causing him to take such extreme measures to conceal the information on his phone. If it was merely personal messages between him and his wife Gisele Bundchen, the worst that could happen - at least in my mind - is that he would suffer some brief embarrassment. Perhaps that is also too much for him.

Should the federal courts uphold the NFL's decision, then the New England Patriots will be without their starting QB for four games, forcing backup Jimmy Garoppolo to step up and lead the Patriots into battle. For the Dolphins, this could potentially be a four game headstart as Garoppolo is not even close to Tom Brady's skill level, and with any luck, the Dolphins will be able to take an early lead in the AFC East thanks to this development.

This story was written by Luis Sung. Follow him on Twitter: @FLSportDebater