Patriots Fans Around the World Are Thrilled Tom Brady’s Suspension Is No More
Patriots fans around the world are celebrating the nullification of Tom Brady's suspension.
The New England Patriots are one of the most polarizing teams in the United States. But their success over the last 15 years has earned them a lot of international fans, who are reacting with glee to a New York judge’s decision to lift Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s four-game suspension.
The New England Patriots are one of the most polarizing teams in the United States. But their success over the last 15 years has earned them a lot of international fans, who are reacting with glee to a New York judge’s decision to lift Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s four-game suspension.
For those uninitiated with the minutia of the scandal known as “Deflategate” that was at the center of ruling: The NFL, led by commissioner Roger Goodell, determined that Brady played with purposefully deflated game balls to give his team a competitive advantage during a January playoff game in which the Patriots manhandled the Indianapolis Colts. Goodell suspended him for four games.
The quarterback, who is married to supermodel Gisele Bündchen, has a base salary of $8 million a year, looks great in a suit, and is widely despised outside of the greater Boston area for all of the above, appealed Goodell’s decision. On Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Richard M. Berman nullified the four-game ban. Now, Brady will be on the field a week from today to open the NFL season against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Patriots fans in the United States, who backed their quarterback all along, feel joyful and vindicated, as do their counterparts overseas. Below is a sampling of the social media eruption from foreign groups registered as official fan clubs of the team that are celebrating Brady’s victory while calling for Goodell to lose his job.
These two posts are from Patriots backers in the Netherlands.
They also retweeted this video from the Patriots’ Super Bowl celebration; after they beat the Colts, they defeated the Seattle Seahawks to become world champs:
Then there’s these from a club in the United Kingdom.
Patriots fans in Sweden are also thrilled with the news.
Patriots España, a club based in Spain, accused the NFL of being corrupt and of inventing the entire scandal to being with.
Even international football fans not associated with the Patriots were celebrating. Here’s a Tweet from Germany, praising Brady’s “acquittal.”
These fans can crow for now, but Thursday’s ruling isn’t the end of Brady’s saga. Hours after the ban was lifted, the NFL said it would appeal the ruling.
Photo credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
David Francis was a staff writer at Foreign Policy from 2014-2017.
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