In statement, Tom Brady thanks family, fans, and is ready for some damn football


Newly-freed from the clutches of Roger Goodell's incompetence, Pats quarterback Tom Brady posted a message on his Facebook account to thank his family, friends and of course the fans for their support through the last eight months of schadenfreude.

Brady's message covers everything top-to-bottom, including an apology for putting the league as a whole through this ridiculous ordeal (even though it was the NFL's fault, but that's the kind of guy TB12 is), thanking Judge Richard Berman and his staff for their hard work, and above it all, TB12 is ready to play some damn football:

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! 

Judge Richard Berman smacked the NFL around in his 40-page ruling Thursday, calling out Goodell for using "his own brand of industrial justice" in blindsiding Brady with an overzealous four-game ban.

Photo Credit: CSNNE.com