Browns' OT Thomas ‘disappointed' Brady gave up Deflategate fight

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Cleveland Browns left tackle Joe Thomas has been a vocal advocate of Tom Brady’s fight against the NFL’s discipline of Brady in Deflategate.

So, it makes sense that, with Brady throwing up his hands and taking the four-game hit after 18 months of BS, Thomas isn’t on board with the move.

 “I was disappointed that he didn’t keep appealing, from a player’s standpoint,” Thomas said Saturday. “[I]t kind of gives the Commissioner a little bit more power that maybe was not necessarily already negotiated or settled.”

Thomas, the third overall pick in 2007, is one of the league’s premiere offensive linemen and a likely Hall of Famer.

Last summer, he crushed NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell for the discipline on Brady, saying, "I would equate what [Tom Brady] did to driving 66 [mph] in a 65 speed zone, and getting the death penalty."

Thomas also added, "I'm not sure if he realizes what he's doing is brilliant, but what he's doing is brilliant because he's made the NFL relevant 365 [days] by having these outrageous, ridiculous witch hunts. It's made the game more popular than ever and it's become so much more of an entertainment business and it's making so much money.

"That's why I'm sure there's plenty of people saying this is embarrassing for the league. But it's an entertainment business when it comes right down to it. When the game gets eyeballs in newspapers and on TV, that's what in the end is the goal for everyone. And that's what this controversy is giving them." 

When Brady’s suspension ends, his first game back in in Cleveland against Thomas’ Browns.

“I was hoping he would appeal for like one game,” Thomas joked. “So, he would be suspended Week Five and we didn’t have to see him.”

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