Sports
ESPN/ABC News Poll Shows Support for NFL over Patriots, Brady
In this Jan. 18, 2015, file photo, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady looks to pass during the first half of the NFL football AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts in Foxborough, Mass. The NFL suspended Brady for the first four games on Monday, May 11, 2015, for his role in a scheme to deflate footballs used in the AFC title game. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
(ESPN) — NFL fans, by nearly a 2-1 margin, support the league’s sanctions against New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and the team, and more than half think Brady himself cheated in what has become known as Deflategate.
The ESPN/ABC News poll found that 63 percent of all fans surveyed, and 76 percent of self-described “avid” fans, supported the NFL’s decision to suspend Brady for four games, fine the Patriots $1 million and take away a first-round and fourth-round draft pick from the team for its involvement in the using underinflated footballs during a January playoff game. In addition, 54 percent of all fans and 69 percent of avid fans think Brady “cheated,” while 52 percent overall and 63 percent of avid fans think, regardless of Brady’s actions, that the Patriots cheated.
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