Tom Brady Suspended: Twitter Reacts to QB's, Patriots' Deflategate Punishments

The NFL on Monday announced Tom Brady's and the New England Patriots' punishments for their roles in the Deflategate affair.   

NFL Network's Albert Breer provided the full details of the league's decision:

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, the $1 million fine is the largest ever handed out to a single team. Patriots owner Bob Kraft defended his quarterback in a statement, per Doug Kyed of NESN:

This comes after investigator Ted Wells' report (Warning: NSFW language) on the potential involvement of Brady and Patriots personnel in the intentional deflating of footballs to below league standards during last year's playoffs. Wells couldn't definitively say Brady or team employees broke the rules, but did say the evidence pointed in that direction.

Patriots defensive end Chandler Jones, linebacker Dont'a Hightower, running back LeGarrette Blount and tight end Brandon LaFell all weighed in with their reactions:

A few NFL stars weighed in with their opinions:

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning felt sorry for his quarterbacking comrade, per Paul Schwartz of the New York Post:

Ben Volin of Boston Globe reported that Jim McNally and John Jastremski, two team employees implicated in the situation, received indefinite suspensions:

The punishment would seem to fall on the harsher side. Four games is one-fourth of the regular season, and the loss of a first-round draft pick is nothing to scoff at. ESPN's Darren Rovell added that the suspension will be pretty financially costly for Brady:

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport didn't rule out Brady appealing the suspension:

Should Brady serve the full four games, NFL Network's Jeff Darlington feels that the timing of his return couldn't be much better in terms of narrative:

Indianapolis Colts long snapper Matt Overton is looking forward to the occasion:

Depending on the results of any potential appeal, New England will be without its starting quarterback for at least the first game or two of the 2015 season. Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith felt that the league was right to reprimand Brady and the Pats but that the punishment doesn't fit the crime:

ESPN's Keith Olbermann countered that the cover-up in this case was worse than the actual infraction. Thus New England, given its past history, effectively lost the high ground:

Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman took the same line of thinking:

Indeed, Troy Vincent, the league's executive vice president of football operations, indicated that the Patriots' past indiscretions came back to haunt them in Deflategate:

Rapoport highlighted one passage in which the NFL felt Brady stonewalled its investigation:

NFL on ESPN provided Vincent's full statement:

Patriots backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo now becomes the man of the moment. The 23-year-old showed promise coming out of Eastern Illinois, which is why the Patriots selected him in the second round of the 2014 NFL draft. He appeared in six games last year, going 19-of-27 for 182 yards and a touchdown.

Get ready to see if Garoppolo can excel in Brady's absence and actually manage to wrest the starting job away from the legendary signal-caller. Brady was a relative unknown when he replaced an injured Drew Bledsoe in 2001, and the rest is history.