Tom Brady’s four-game Deflategate suspension was upheld by commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday. Goodell also says evidence supports that Brady “willfully obstructed” the investigation, including destroying his cell phone before a meeting with an investigator.

“The most significant new information that emerged in connection with the appeal was evidence that on or about March 6, 2015 – the very day that he was interviewed by Mr Wells and his investigative team – Mr. Brady instructed his assistant to destroy the cellphone that he had been using since early November 2014″, Goodell wrote.

In a 20-page decision, the league detailed their decision-making process with one new revelation, that Brady effectively destroyed his old cell phone. Both the game and the league need that.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady hasn’t spoken with the media, but his agent has been his voice. The Patriots were fined $1 million and docked a pair of draft picks but haven’t appealed that penalty. By filing in New York, the NFL will likely be able to have its case heard (and any petition by Brady to vacate the NFL’s decision) on its home turf. The players’ union has proposed a settlement on Brady’s four-game suspension last week, but has not gotten a response from the NFL.

Goodell’s decision is the latest chapter in a controversy that started when the New England Patriots were accused of using under-inflated footballs to gain a competitive advantage in January’s AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. In fact, the four-time Super Bowl victor reportedly likes his equipment managers to inform game officials of that before each game. Common sense dictates more quarterbacks than not have at least contemplated trying to get away with what Brady did. Worse than he did when it was only “more probable than not” that the Patriots deflated footballs and that Brady was “generally aware” of the deflation.

These punishments would be entirely appropriate – perhaps even a bit lenient – in the event the league had been provided with ironclad evidence of cheating. That was the day Brady met with the investigator looking into the episode.

In the end, Brady’s own actions may have undermined his appeal.

We went from a situation where the league was dragging its feet and allowing Brady to become somewhat of a sympathetic figure in the public eye. Now? “It’s a lose-lose for us because we want to play against Tom Brady and we want to beat him”. The destruction of the cell phone was not disclosed until June 18, nearly four months after the investigators had first sought electronic information from Brady. The 31-year-old Portland resident is convinced that a federal judge will exonerate Brady and reduce his suspension to zero games. There’s a strong chance Tom Brady will retire before he serves any suspension.

Jeffrey Kessler, to lead his defense at the hearing with Goodell and the NFL.