Mail-it-in Friday: Should Tom Brady give up and accept his suspension?

Jul 30, 2015; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) looks on during training camp at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

Hooray! NFL training camps are here!

While I'd love to sit here and discuss what we have to look forward to in 2015, Deflategate won't allow it. It seems the NFL upheld Tom Brady's four-game suspension and all hell has broken loose. Brady and the NFLPA have filed a lawsuit to overturn the suspension and everything is a mess.

Lovely. Neither side wants to back down. A good, old-fashioned stalemate.

I've gotta ask: Should Tom Brady stop all this legal fighting, accept his suspension and get this whole thing behind him? I'll let you readers make the call.

OK, let's get to work!

THROW IN THE TOWEL?

RFN,

What's that old saying? If you're accused of something, just deny, deny, deny?

Tom Brady is in quite the bind at the moment. Hindsight being 20-20, he should have just copped to this whole thing months back. He probably would have skated with a fine and this nonsense would be in the rearview mirror. But no, it seems like his pride and love for his "reputation" is preventing him from backing down. How did that work out for guys like Roger Clemens? We only say this because the NFL has deemed him guilty. If he can disprove the Wells Report, we'd love to give him the benefit of the doubt.

But, really, who cares about reputation anyway? What does it matter? Even before Deflategate, Brady had multiple Super Bowl rings and a lot of the fans of 31 teams still didn't like him. It's like that for a lot of people. We know that no matter what we do, someone out there will think we suck. Do we bow before them? Do we change our lives to get their appreciation?

Of course not. We accept that you can't please them all and move on with life. It might be time to move on, Tom.

Dan,

Man, that brings up some bad poker memories.

I'm always the guy who tries to pull a baller move and go all in like I'm in "Rounders." Everyone knows I'm bluffing, of course, and I have to stand there like a goon while all the cards are turned over and it's revealed that I only have a busted straight.

Poker isn't my game, no matter how hard I try.

Nick,

I'm guessing you also use that profile pic on Tinder? Props on the abs ...

FREETB12,

Our first Patriots fan of the day.

Zachary,

I'm giving you an A+ for the "Galaxy Quest" reference.

Daryl,

I would have agreed with you about the phone bit, but then I read an interesting article in Wired about cellphones and retrieving old messages.

According to Wired, it doesn't matter if Tom smashed his phone because the data on it is still very much retrievable. It appears the public and the Twittersphere -- and I was guilty of this as well -- jumped on the juicy bit of news a bit early. So, now I'm totally confused.

Frenetic,

Great point. That's a reason why I feel Brady should maybe cut his losses.

He may well come out victorious in this situation, but at what cost? To have this continue to hang like a black cloud over the organization for God knows how long?

To force Bill Belichick to give monotone answers to constant Deflategate questions? Is it REALLY worth it just to protect a mythical repuation?

Sal,

But there's a lot to lose.

San Diego,

OK, you might be right. However, there apparently IS crying in baseball. Sorry, Jimmy Dugan, turns out you were wrong:

Zach,

You know what I find interesting is that when people predict how the Patriots will do without Tom Brady for the first month of the season, they always list a win over the Jaguars as a given.

Why?

Jacksonville has a bunch of emerging talent under Gus Bradley and who knows, this team could take a giant leap in 2015. I'm not so sure that a Patriots team with Jimmy Garoppolo under center is such a lock to get a win here.

Who knows, the Patriots could have an 0-4 record.

Broad Street,

Well, nobody has power over Patriots fans. That's not the issue here. Fans can yell and scream all they want with impunity. Nobody is suspending them.

Vinnie,

Is that all you had to say? How disappointing.

PREDICTION TIME!

So, if Tom Brady has to sit out four games in 2015, is it panic time in New England? Will another team take the top spot in the AFC East?

Linda,

Sorry, Patriots fans. I couldn't resist throwing this one in here.

#FreeBrady,

This is a tweet filled with blatant homerism. Yet, I can't argue with a single point this person made. I don't care who the Patriots do or don't have, I'm picking them until some other team in the division proves me wrong.

Jack,

Ummm ... no?

Toni,

#SidLovesLove.

I think that's a nice way to end the fun for this week. See you next time!