Our long national nightmare is over (actually, it’s just getting started).

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell upheld Tom Brady’s four-game suspension for the quarterback’s role in Deflategate and filed a 20-page report to help support his case.

Goodell’s reasoning included Brady destroying his cell phone shortly before being interviewed by investigator Ted Wells.

The next step in this long and laborious journey to hell is for Brady and his team of lawyers to take this case to federal court, which will happen, according to Jim Trotter of ESPN.

Clearly, if you’re a Brady supporter like some people I know, it’s hard to explain why he would destroy his cell phone unless he was guilty.

Even if he commonly does it as Brady indicated during his testimony at during the June 23 appeal case, the court of public opinion will come down hard on him…which the NFL probably knows.

A purely innocent man is not going to destroy his cell phone unless he is guilty or trying to protect others. By no means does Brady need to turn over his private cell phone to The Shield™ but when a particular one is destroyed…that’s not a good look.

What a mess.

If the suspension holds, Brady will miss games against Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Jacksonville, and Dallas. He’ll return for a Week 6 meeting against Indianapolis on Sunday Night Football.

Ryan Clark once called Tom Brady, the greatest living American. However, he is far from that today.