Federal judges seem displeased Tom Brady destroyed his cell phone

By foxsports
Published

Brady and his lawyers have explained this plenty of times and your acceptance of their excuses (he always gets new phones, he was concerned about privacy, etc.) probably hinged on your thoughts about Brady's involvement. But you know who wasn't buying what Brady and the lawyers were selling? The panel of three federal judges who heard the NFL's appeal today. Here are some of their incendiary (just imagine the fire emoji) quotes from the day in court:

Ooof. You know what they say about destroyed cell phones: They'll always come back to bite you in appeals hearings about the vacated punishment of an NFL MVP stemming from a 14-month-old incident involving the pressure of footballs. Textbook. 

Combined with a quote from Chin about the evidence of ball tampering being "compelling if not overwhelming," it seemed like such a rough day for Brady (who wasn't there) that Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware might as well have been wearing robes and holding gavels. 

(AP Photo/Winslow Townson)