Tom Brady will miss the first four games of the upcoming NFL schedule. Unless he doesn't.
''Deflategate'' has crept into a third NFL season, and with the federal court's rejection on Wednesday of the New England quarterback's appeal of his suspension, it certainly appears that Brady will be sidelined into early October.
Brady still has the option of taking his case to the Supreme Court - one legal analyst called that nothing more than a ''Hail Mary'' - and getting the suspension for his role in the use of underinflated footballs in the 2014 AFC title game overturned or stayed.