New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has had his four-game suspension by the NFL for his alleged role in the Deflategate scandal overturned by a federal judge today.

The Associated Press confirmed that federal court judge Richard Berman overturned the suspension, following hearings that resulted in no settlement between Brady and the league. The decision means that Brady will be able to start on Thursday, Sept. 10, when the Patriots open the season against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium.

The NFL had claimed that Brady did have a role in the deflation of footballs before the Patriots played the Indianapolis Colts during the AFC Championship Game in January. However, Brady has denied ever asking anyone to deflate the balls under the allowed levels.

The deflategate scandal has been the dominant sports narrative since the Patriots beat the Colts 45-7 and went on to win Super Bowl XLIX. It wasn’t until May that the NFL released Ted Wells’ report on the scandal and that report claimed that Brady was at least generally aware of deflated balls. Then, it took over a week for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to suspend Brady for a whopping four games, based on the Wells report.

Of course, Brady and the NFL Players Association filed an appeal, which was heard by Goodell himself. In July, Goodell refused to lower the suspension, even though previous instances of football doctoring had mostly resulted in fines.

The next step was Brady taking the case to court, where Berman heard the case in New York. And while Berman has overturned the NFL’s suspension, this whole calamity could go on even further since the NFL could appeal Berman’s decision, notes SI.

In addition to the four-game suspension, the Patriots were also fined $1 million and lost two draft picks. Patriots owner Bob Kraft decided not to appeal those sanctions, a decision he later regretted because the NFL kept the scandal alive by refusing to lower Brady’s suspension.

You can read the entire ruling right here, via The Boston Globe.

image courtesy of Jennifer Graylock/INFphoto.com