Roger Goodell announces NFL will appeal Tom Brady decision

The NFL has no intention of letting Deflategate die in the immediate future.

Shortly after U.S. District Court Judge Berman vacated Tom Brady’s four game suspension, Roger Goodell issued a statement confirming the league will appeal the ruling.

“We are grateful to Judge Berman for hearing this matter, but respectfully disagree with today’s decision. We will appeal today’s ruling in order to uphold the collectively bargained responsibility to protect the integrity of the game,” Goodell wrote. “The commissioner’s responsibility to secure the competitive fairness of our game is a paramount principle, and the league and our 32 clubs will continue to pursue a path to that end. While the legal phase of this process continues, we look forward to focusing on football and the opening of the regular season.”

NFL officials could also choose to seek a stay of Berman’s enforcement in order to prevent Brady from playing, but Ben Volin of The Boston Globe reports that they are not expected to do that.

Among the many embarrassing aspects of this case for the NFL is the fact that the league made a preemptive strike by filing in Manhattan court before Brady appealed. That completely backfired in the NFL’s face, as Berman essentially mocked the Ted Wells report and bashed the league throughout the entire process.