On Tuesday, the NFL announced the Commissioner Roger Goodell has upheld New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's four-game suspension for his role in "Deflategate." Brady appealed his suspension last month.

"In terms of the appropriate level of discipline, the closest parallel of which I am aware is the collectively bargained discipline imposed for a first violation of the policy governing performance enhancing drugs; steroid use reflects an improper effort to secure a competitive advantage in, and threatens the integrity of the game," Goodell said in his lengthy appeal ruling. "The four-game suspension imposed on Mr. Brady is fully consistent with, if not more lenient than, the discipline ordinarily imposed for the most comparable effort by a player to secure an improper competitive advantage and (by using a masking agent) to cover up the underlying violation."

Meanwhile, Brady's agent, Don Yee, released his own statement following the announcement of the ruling. "The Commissioner's decision and discipline has no precedent in all of NFL history," Yee wrote. His decision alters the competitive balance of the upcoming season. The decision is wrong and has no basis, and it diminishes the integrity of the game."

The NFL Players Association for their part also released statement saying, "The Commissioner's ruling today did nothing to address the legal deficiencies of die process. The NFL remains stuck with the following facts: The NFL had no policy that applied to palyers; the NFL provided no notice of any such policy or potential discipline to players; the NFL resorted to a nebulous standard of "general awareness" to predicate a legally unjustified punishment; the NFL had no procedures in place until two days ago to test air pressure in footballs; and the NFL violated the plain meaning of the collective bargaining agreement."

Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com tweeted, "I'd be shocked if we aren't headed to court now."