New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has fired back at the NFL for upholding a four-game ban against him over the "Deflate-gate" saga.
"I am very disappointed," Brady posted on his Facebook page on Wednesday.
"I did nothing wrong, and no one in the Patriots organisation did either."
One of the most high-profile athletes in American sport, Brady was found by Goodell to have been at least "generally aware" of a plot by Patriots staff to improperly reduce the air pressure of balls he used during this year's American Conference final against Indianapolis.
The Patriots defeated the Colts 45-7 on their way to a Super Bowl crown, the fourth of Brady's career.
Brady also took issue with the narrative of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in his 20-page ruling on Tuesday upholding his original suspension.
The 37-year-old iconic passer said he destroyed his mobile phone only after telling league investigator Ted Wells it would not be allowed to be examined under any circumstances. Brady said that was within union rules and not to hide evidence.
"I replaced my broken Samsung phone with a new iPhone 6 AFTER my attorneys made it clear to the NFL that my actual phone device would not be subjected to investigation under ANY circumstances," Brady said.
"As a member of a union, I was under no obligation to set a new precedent going forward, nor was I made aware at any time during Mr. Wells investigation, that failing to subject my cell phone to investigation would result in ANY discipline.
"Most importantly, I have never written, texted, emailed to anybody at anytime, anything related to football air pressure before this issue was raised at the AFC Championship game in January.
"To suggest that I destroyed a phone to avoid giving the NFL information it requested is completely wrong."
Brady also called it disappointing that his hours of testimony over the past six months led Goodell to uphold the ban only on a "probable" standard of him being "generally aware" of a violation.
"The fact is that neither I, nor any equipment person, did anything of which we have been accused," Brady said.
AFP