They cheated and they got caught, and they lied. So yes, they need to be punished. I say 2-4 games max. THAT BEING SAID...
Have you guys not heard former GREAT players come out in defense? This kind of stuff happens CONSTANTLY in sports, people do little things here and there to gain an edge. Pitchers in baseball cheat their butts off all the freaking time. Jerry Rice said he used stickum LONG after it was banned. Are we going to take the 49ers rings away from them too? How bout the literally thousands of guys who have taken PED's over the years?
Walter Payton said in his book that everytime he was tackled he would take the ball and place it a yard further upfield than where he was tackled, hoping to affect the spot. He said it may have not been much each time but over the years he probably gained more than a few extra yards that way. Isn't that cheating? Yep it is, but we dont all HATE Walter Peyton like we obviously hate Tom Brady so Brady is the one who needs to be crucified for "ruining the sanctity of the game." what a joke... Aaron Rodgers freely admitted that he likes an over inflated ball. where is the witch hunt for him? Jake Plummer laughed this whole thing off and said that literally EVERY QB IN THE LEAGUE did this when he was playing.
How bout basketball players who travel everytime they touch the ball. Just because they know they can get away with it because the officials wont call it, is it not still cheating?
And people invoking the holier than thou; "This is why I watch COLLEGE football." nonsense. Excuse me while I go throw up. Yeah, colleges definitely all play by the rules when they recruit 5 star guys...
Just saying, YES this is bad and deserves to be punished. But some of ya'll talking about lifetime bans, acting like this is this great travesty, this betrayal of the 'sanctity' of the game that just doesn't exist.
I just laugh at all the Brady hate.... Because that is exactly what this is from some people... You cant be ostriches with your heads in the sand about all other cheating that has always been going on in sports and suddenly pop up just to be affronted, offended and betrayed by this one incident. That is hypocrisy at its best!