Morris Mitchell and Daniel Farias
Staff Writer/Editor-in-Chief
morris.mitchell@hawks.shorter.edu
daniel.farias@hawks.shorter.edu
An entire season of football has passed since De ategate, where Tom Brady was accused of being a part of de ating footballs during the 2015 AFC championship game. But that didn’t keep Tom Brady out of the headlines this summer. He was given a four-game suspension from the NFL league of ce, and he took the suspension to court to attempt an appeal of the ruling.
After the appeal went to trial, Brady’s suspension was not overturned or reduced. As a result, the New England Patriots quarterback will not be undercenter for the first four games of the 2016-2017 season.
ESPN analyst, Todd McShay stated, “Brady has denied allegations of de ating the footballs in the 2015 AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts, where the Patriots routed the Colts on their way to a Super Bowl title two weeks later against the Seattle Seahawks.”
But these allegations didn’t just go away, even after the Super Bowl festivities. The league office tried to suspend Brady for the beginning of the 2015-2016 season, but the ruling was overturned and Brady was allowed to play the entire season.
For Brady and the Patriots, the news is not a death sentence on their season. With the entrance of young Jimmy Garoppolo, the Patriots could actually fair well in Brady’s absence.
Garoppolo has been under the tutelage of the Patriots star quarterback for two years, and his preseason has shown signs of a bright NFL career.
Garoppolo has only thrown 31 passes in 11 games over the course of his career. It’s hard to accurately predict whether he would shine as a full-time starter.
Yet, in his few playing oppor- tunities, Garoppolo has made 20 completions of 31 attempts with an overall quarterback rating of 91.9. Not too shabby for someone who hasn’t taken many snaps.
If Garoppolo was to magically go 4-0, throw 20 touchdowns and dominate the eld, Brady would still most likely return as the Patriots’ offensive commander-in-chief. Yet, some- thing about Garoppolo closely resembles Brady’s younger years. Garoppolo possesses the same calm, cool presence on the field that still defines Brady’s greatness.
If anyone has a shot at taking Brady’s spot, it’s Garoppolo. In all honesty, though, the likeli- hood of that scenario is almost impossible. Brady competes at a higher level now than ever. Quite a feat for a 39-year-old.
The Patriots began their season September 11th in a prime-time matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, where the Patriots came away with the win 23-21. Garoppolo will face Miami, Houston and Buffalo during remainder Brady’s time out. Two out of the four teams, Arizona and Houston, were playoff teams a year ago. The Patriots could either limp into the season, critically hurting their playoff chances, or Garoppolo could set Brady up well for the remainder of the season.
