Brady

[78crusader]

A four-game suspension is ridiculous.  The Chargers were found to have put some stickum on game balls.  A small fine, no suspensions.  The Vikings were found to have placed their game balls near a heater to warm them up.  A small fine, no suspensions. 

Ray Rice originally got a 2-game suspension for beating a woman senseless, and Brady gets four games for "more likely than not" knowing the game balls were altered to suit his preference. 

Peter King from Sports Illustrated had this to say (keep in mind the 12.5 psi referred to by King is the proper psi for NFL footballs):

"Officials used two gauges at halftime of the AFC Championship Game to measure the air pressure in 11 New England footballs and four Indianapolis footballs. On page 113 of the Wells report, after a description of the scientific Ideal Gas Law (eyes glaze over), Wells says the Patriots footballs should have measured between 11.32 psi and 11.52 psi. The average of one gauge for the 11 balls was 11.49 psi, on the upper range of what the balls should measure. The average of the other gauge was 11.11 psi, clearly lower than what the balls should have measured. Average all 22 readings, and you get 11.30 ... two-one-hundredths lower what the Ideal Gas Law would have allowed for balls that started the day at 12.5 psi. You're going to suspend someone—never mind a franchise quarterback, never mind without a smoking gun—for an air-pressure  measurement of 11.30 when the allowable measurement would have been 11.32?"

Paul

[valpotx]

It's an integrity thing and also takes into account the stage at which the offense occurred.  Since it was the Super Bowl, it makes the NFL sound worse in the public eye to constantly hear about how one team tried to gain an 'unfair advantage' over the other, in the championship game.  It's obvious that Goodell gauges public opinion before levying suspensions now, especially after the Rice debacle. 

[Kyle321n]

It's an integrity thing and also takes into account the stage at which the offense occurred.  Since it was the Super Bowl, it makes the NFL sound worse in the public eye to constantly hear about how one team tried to gain an 'unfair advantage' over the other, in the championship game.  It's obvious that Goodell gauges public opinion before levying suspensions now, especially after the Rice debacle. 

That's the funny thing, it wasn't the Super Bowl that this occurred. At the Super Bowl team officials aren't allowed to fiddle with the balls how they want and they keep those under lock and key. It was the AFC Championship that this happened.