Tom Brady suspended four games, Patriots docked draft picks in DeflateGate punishment

The NFL has suspended Tom Brady for four games, docked the Patriots their first-round pick in 2016 and their fourth-round pick in 2017, and fined them $1 million for deflating a few balls, the NFL announced today. That comes days after the Wells Report on the Patriots' improper deflating of football was released, but it seems mostly driven by Tom Brady's and the club's refusal to cooperate with an investigation -- and the fact that they were caught cheating for a second time, now.

I don't really care about how well-inflated balls are. I wouldn't notice if they changed the rules tomorrow to allow QBs to throw with completely uninflated balls. But hey, rules are rules, and the Patriots have repeatedly shown they really don't care about the rules -- they'll break them if it helps them win. And if it works, it works. I guess. I mean, if I were a New England fan I probably wouldn't be complaining about their winning ways.

But I'm not. So now I get to act smug about their punishment, just as I got to act smug about the Saints' punishment a few years ago. Hah!

I also get to act smug because for all the messes the Bucs have gotten themselves into over the years, at least they haven't run afoul of Roger Goodell's hammer. At least they've played within the rules. At least their losing ways were begotten fair and square.

And now we get to see if the Bucs can get back to winning. And when they do, and they will at some point, it'll be without cheating. I hope.