Boston relieved as judge overturns Brady's 'Deflategate' suspension

By Scott Malone BOSTON (Reuters) - Bostonians ranging from workaday football fans to Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker reacted with relief on Thursday to the news that a federal judge had overturned an NFL decision to suspend star New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for four games. The city had been on edge since July when National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Brady, who has led the team to four Super Bowl victories, after a league probe concluded he had been "generally aware" of a team scheme to under-inflate footballs in a playoff game last season. "This is just a great relief off all our shoulders. I love it," said Drew Fiske, a 22-year-old funeral director from Brockton, Massachusetts, who said he planned to attend the team's final pre-season game against the New York Giants on Thursday night with his father. U.S. District Judge Richard Berman's ruling in New York on Thursday found that the suspension, which would have cost Brady about $2 million, faced several legal shortfalls, including that Brady had not been notified that he could be suspended for the alleged conduct. The league said it would appeal the decision. The Twitter feeds of Massachusetts officials including Congressmen and several police departments lit up instantly with pro-Brady messages after news of the ruling broke. "Bet Gronk is busting out some serious dance moves right about now," said U.S. Representative Joe Kennedy III, grandson of slain U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, referring to Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, who has won over Boston fans with his strong play and off-field antics, including dancing on a flatbed truck during the teams' Super Bowl victory parade in February, "Oveturned!" Baker said on Twitter. "It's time to raise the banner, play football." Others tweeted a modified version of a much-maligned sketch of Brady by New York courtroom artist Jane Rosenberg, in which the handsome 38-year-old had borne a resemblance to the comic book hero the Incredible Hulk. The modified sketch featured a large, toothy smile drawn of Brady's downcast features. A Dunkin Donuts outlet in Lewiston, Maine even went as far as rewarding Berman for his decision. "Judge Richard Berman gets free coffee for life," the store said on its billboard out front. 'SOME SHADY THINGS' Even as they celebrated the decision, some fans acknowledged the Patriots had drawn attention for a series of controversies even before "Deflategate." Those include a 2007 incident in which the team was disciplined by the NFL for videotaping the signals of the rival New York Jets during the teams' season opener and a controversial 2002 game against the Oakland Raiders when officials overturned a late-game sack of Brady citing an obscure "tuck rule." "They have pulled some shady things," acknowledged 34-year-old roofer Jason Haskins, of West Brookfield, Massachusetts, who nonetheless said he had regarded Brady's suspension as "nonsense." "If there was going to be discipline, it should have been against the whole team, not just him," Haskins said. "They wanted to make a martyr out of him because he has the biggest spotlight." In addition to his 15-season NFL career, Brady has attracted attention for his marriage to Brazilian fashion model Gisele Bundchen. At Boston's South Station transit hub, Kevin Greene said he had been doing a brisk business in "Free Brady" and "Squish the Commish" T-shirts. "I had a flurry of people here after the decision," said Greene, 50. "Tonight, we have a Patriots fan train leaving the station, so that'll be a good night." (The story adds dropped name Tom Brady in first paragraph) (Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Alan Crosby)