Roger Goodell Says He Doesn't Regret How He Handled Tom Brady, Deflategate

More than a month after Tom Brady's four-game Deflategate suspension was overturned by federal judge Richard Berman, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell explained why the league decided to file an appeal regarding the decision. 

Speaking with reporters Wednesday at an owners meeting in New York City, Goodell said the league was motivated to appeal Berman's decision "because it is seeking to preserve its rights under the sport’s collective bargaining agreement," according to the Washington Post's Mark Maske. 

"This isn’t about any individual player, any individual incident," Goodell said, per Maske. "This is about the rights that we negotiated in 2011, the rights for us to have the authority to make sure we discipline."

The NFL's appeal reportedly won't be heard until the week of Feb. 1, 2016, at the earliest, according to ESPN.com, which is six days before Super Bowl 50 is set to take place in Santa Clara, California. Regardless, the New England Patriots quarterback is expected to be available for each of the team's games this season. 

Goodell's role as a disciplinarian has come under fire in recent weeks after ESPN's Outside the Lines reported the commissioner's Deflategate ruling was a "makeup call" for a relatively lenient Spygate ruling, according to an NFL owner who spoke with Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham. 

Wednesday, Goodell explained the reasoning behind his original discipline of Brady and detailed why the league has handed down punishments, per Maske:    

"

I have a lot of respect and admiration for Tom. I know him personally. As I say, I admire him tremendously. He is a future Hall of Fame player. But our rules apply to everybody. They apply to every single player. And every single player expects those rules to apply to everybody. Every coach does. Every fan does. Every partner, every team does.

We are not in favor of third-party arbitration with people that had no involvement or understanding of our policies or frankly a stake in the future of the NFL. So we’ve been very clear about that. But there are other alternatives. And we’ve continued those discussions. There’s been more discussions in the last couple months. And I expect they’ll continue. Whether they’re in the context of an extension or not, I don’t know. But we’re not tied to that.

"

The NFL will have to wait months before clarity emerges on the appeals front, so for now, all eyes will be on Brady and the Patriots as they seek to remain undefeated and capture back-to-back Super Bowl titles for the first time since 2004-05. 

Sitting at 3-0 with its bye week a thing of the past, New England has proved it won't be disturbed by noise regarding Deflategate. And with a tilt against the reeling Dallas Cowboys slated for Sunday afternoon (4:25 p.m. ET), the Patriots have a shot to make a statement and start 4-0 for the fourth time in franchise history.