After the 2015 AFC Championship, Tom Brady went to his post-game press conference. The Patriots had just defeated the Colts by a whopping score of 45-7 and Brady was heading to his sixth Super Bowl. During the press conference the usual questions were asked followed by the usual answers. Then, a reporter informed Tom Brady that the Patriots footballs had been deflated before the game. Brady laughed it off and didn’t think anything of it except just another controversy the media was trying to start.

It was the beginning of Deflategate.

Roger Goodell, the NFL Commissioner, launched a full investigation into the deflated footballs and came up with this: Tom Brady “likely” knew. The punishments were harsher than any had anticipated. The Patriots were stripped of two draft picks, including their 2016 first round pick, they were fined 1 million dollars, and most egregious of all was a four game suspension for Tom Brady. The punishments were excessive to say the least.

After the punishments were levied, Robert Kraft, the owner of the Patriots, accepted the team penalties, hoping to move on. Brady appealed his punishment. After a settlement couldn’t be reached, the appeal was denied by the league, specifically Roger Goodell. Following this, in a public press conference, Kraft publicly said, “I was wrong to put my trust in the league.”

Tom Brady was left no choice but to take the matter to court, and the scandal spiraled into a mess of  lawyers and judges. Brady was staking the claim that Goodell had overused his powers in the suspension, which according to the rules of the league, is true. At most, it was an equipment violation which calls for a mere $25,000 fine compared to what the punishments were. Not to mention there was zero evidence to tie the mess to Brady. But Goodell claimed that it hurt the “integrity of the game.”

Ultimately, the judge ruled that the suspension was invalid and Brady could play. The NFL would appeal this decision, but that would be tabled until the end of the season to leave the Patriots to focus on their season.

After coming up short in the AFC Championship, the legal mess continued. And now the NFL’s appeal has won and the suspension has been reinstated, but now it seems to be the end of the road. Brady’s legal options are few with slim odds. He can try to have his case re-appealed, but the odds of that are less than one percent.

So here we are, over a year later and two NFL champs have been crowned since the story first broke, and it’s still relevant. Odds are the young Jimmy Garapollo will be starting the first four games while Brady watches and Goodell laughs. But here is why Tom Brady should be freed.

There is no evidence linking Brady to the deflated footballs. None! How can someone be punished without hard evidence. Our court systems live by the rule “innocent until proven guilty” but this is not that at all. There has been speculation about Brady’s destroyed cell phone that could have had evidence. When asked why he would do that Brady responded that this was a periodical thing that he does, which is true but the league held this against him.

When the footballs were first discovered to be deflated during the game, the score was 17-7 Patriots leading at halftime. The footballs were then properly inflated, and the Patriots then went on to win 45-7, powered by 28 points in the second half with properly inflated balls.

If you need even more reasons why Brady’s 4 game suspension is improper, consider this: Ray Rice was suspended two games for punching his wife in an elevator and dragging her out, and this was all on video. By suspending him for four games, the league is saying that Brady “likely knowing” about an equipment infraction is way worse.

So with all these reasons why would the league go after Tom Brady and the Patriots so hard? The Patriots have had a scandal in the past, and the owners of the league wanted a swift punishment for the Patriots. Goodell was pressured and gave in instead of doing the right thing.

Commissioner Goodell is the man to blame for this catastrophe. He has unjustly punished the Patriots and made Tom Brady the scapegoat in an unfair process. He’s consistently lied. He has said the Ted Wells report was an independent investigation when under oath in court he claimed otherwise.

The Ted Wells report is what came up with the weak conclusion that Brady “likely” knew when all the evidence is circumstantial. The report was riddled with inaccuracies, but the league went with it anyway in an attempt to take down the empire that has ruled over league for over a decade, the New England Patriots.

But they won’t be brought down. Belichick will regroup, keep drafting well, keep finding talent no else can, and above all else keep winning. Regardless of whether he is deservingly freed or not, Brady will return. All Goodell has done is angered the greatest quarterback of all time.