Tom Brady Releases Statement On 'Deflategate' Decision

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady posted a statement to his Facebook page Friday, one day after a federal judge nullified his four-game suspension by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell because of the Deflategate scandal -- which stemmed from the Patriots' use of underinflated footballs during last season's AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. Brady consistently denied involvement in the deflations, and the judge decided to toss his suspension, citing that Brady received no notice that he could be suspended for general awareness of the alleged deflation scheme or for not cooperating with the investigation.

The judge also stated that the NFL’s general counsel was not made available as a witness and files in Brady’s appeal were not made accessible. The NFL made a statement Thursday, saying it planned to appeal the judge's decision. If the appeal is successful, Brady would miss the first four games on the Patriots' regular-season schedule. Brady's statement can be found below.

"The regular season starts tomorrow morning and I can’t wait to fully commit my energy and emotion to focus on the challenges of the 2015 NFL season. I want to thank my family, my friends, all of the fans, past and current players and my teammates for the support they have given me throughout this challenging experience. I also want to thank Judge Berman and his staff for their efforts to resolve this matter over the past five weeks. I am very grateful. My thanks also to the union's legal team who has fought so hard right along with me. While I am pleased to be eligible to play, I am sorry our league had to endure this. I don’t think it has been good for our sport - to a large degree, we have all lost. I am also sorry to anyone whose feelings I may have hurt as I have tried to work to resolve this situation. I love the NFL. It is a privilege to be a member of the NFL community and I will always try to do my best in representing my team and the league in a way that would make all members of this community proud. I look forward to the competition on the playing field and I hope the attention of NFL fans can return to where it belongs - on the many great players and coaches who work so hard every week, and sacrifice so much, to make this game great. Most importantly, I look forward to representing the New England Patriots on Thursday night in our season opener. I hope to make all of our fans proud this year … and beyond!"