The National Football League has lowered the boom on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
The league announced late Monday afternoon that Brady has been suspended for the first four games of the 2015 season for 'Deflategate,' in which footballs were deflated for the AFC Championship Game against Indianapolis. Additionally, and surprisingly, the Patriots were heavily penalized as well: The team was fined $1 million and stripped of its first-round draft choice in 2016 and its fourth-round pick in 2017.
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The move was surprising since the Wells Report into the incident specifically absolved owner Robert Kraft and coach Bill Belichick of any responsibility. Kraft is on record as saying the team would not fight any discipline imposed onto the team by the league.