Why Tom Brady's suspension doesn't make sense in the eyes of many NFL fans
There have been 20 players suspended by the NFL in 2015 and only three of those suspensions were longer than the four-game ban given to Tom Brady for his role in Deflategate.
Below is a chart showing all of the suspensions so far this year, as collected by Spotrac. The suspensions range in length from 1 to 16 games with nearly half (9) falling in the same group that includes Brady, four games.
While the NFL will argue that the different types of violations each fall under a different set of punishment guidelines as outlined in the collective bargaining agreement, it is easy to see why many fans have a problem with Brady's suspension even if they think he is guilty. At the end of the day, Brady's suspension is as long, and in some cases longer, than punishments handed down for things most fans consider to be much worse than conspiring to get a better grip on a football in cold weather.
