Everyone knew that whichever way U.S. District Judge Richard Berman decision went in the Deflategate case, someone would be appealing.  The judge found in New England Patriot’s star quarterback Tom Brady’s favor (decision just below) allowing him to play in the New England Patriots’ season opener next week. Within hours of the ruling, the NFL appealed the order vacating Brady’s four-game suspension.

U.S. District Judge Richard Berman’s decision in New York was a major setback for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who had suspended Brady for his alleged role in a scheme to deflate footballs used in the Patriots’ January playoff victory.

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The league’s appeal, which will likely take months to resolve, ensures the litigation will continue to loom over the 2015 season.

“We are grateful to Judge Berman for hearing this matter, but respectfully disagree with today’s decision,” Goodell said. “We will appeal today’s ruling in order to uphold the collectively bargained responsibility to protect the integrity of the game. The commissioner’s responsibility to secure the competitive fairness of our game is a paramount principle, and the league and our 32 clubs will continue to pursue a path to that end.  While the legal phase of this process continues, we look forward to focusing on football and the opening of the regular season,” Goodell said in a statement.

Brady, 38, had been banned until an Oct. 18 clash with the Indianapolis Colts, which would have cost him nearly $2 million in salary. He is expected to start the Patriots’ first game on Sept. 10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Shortly after the decision, the Patriots posted a picture on Twitter of Brady pumping his fist in the air during a game.

“Tom Brady is a classy person of the highest integrity,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft said in a statement. “He represents everything that is great about this game and this league.”

Brady did not comment on the ruling, but his lawyer, Andrew Tulumello, said, “We are gratified by the court’s decision and look forward to Mr. Brady’s return to the playing field.”

Patriots fans, Brady’s teammates and Massachusetts politicians reacted with glee to the news. New England running back LeGarrette Blount said on Twitter, “Let’s goooo TB12!!! This is gonna be a fun season!!! 1st win of the year for #PatsNation.”

Berman said Goodell’s ruling was plagued by “several significant legal deficiencies,” including a failure to notify Brady beforehand that his alleged conduct could be punished by suspension.

“The court finds that Brady had no notice that he could receive a four-game suspension for general awareness of ball deflation by others or participation in any scheme to deflate footballs,” Berman wrote.

The judge did not evaluate the underlying allegations, including whether Brady knew of the scheme, saying it was not his role as judge to review Goodell’s factual findings. The ruling can be found at http://bit.ly/1KtOh6L.

For seven months, the controversy has dominated sports radio, made national headlines and inspired nicknames like “Deflategate” and “Ballghazi.”

Brady was suspended over the footballs used in the Patriots’ 45-7 postseason victory against the Colts that sent them to the Super Bowl, where they defeated the Seattle Seahawks 28-24.

In May, Ted Wells, a lawyer the NFL hired to investigate the incident, found it was “more probable than not” that Brady was “generally aware” two low-level Patriots employees had conspired to let air out of the footballs, which can make them easier to grip.

Wells’ 243-page report, which cost more than $2.5 million, formed the basis for Brady’s suspension.

Berman, in addition to saying that Brady was not properly on notice that he could face a ban, criticized Goodell for comparing the quarterback’s penalty to that given to steroid users.

The judge also said Brady’s lawyers were improperly barred from cross-examining the NFL’s general counsel, Jeff Pash, who helped lead the Deflategate probe, and were unfairly denied access to certain investigative notes.

The league has already fined the Patriots a record $1 million and stripped the team of two draft picks, a penalty Kraft previously said he would “reluctantly” accept rather than appeal.

Amid months of recriminations and lawsuits, the stakes had grown beyond a mere four-game suspension. For the NFL and the union, the case became a test of how broadly to interpret Goodell’s authority to discipline players under the players’ collective bargaining agreement with the league.

For Brady, the allegations threatened his legacy as one of the NFL’s all-time greats. Brady and his wife, supermodel Gisele Bundchen, are one of the country’s most visible celebrity couples.

Brady was drafted with the 199th pick in the 2000 NFL draft and served as a backup for the Patriots before becoming the starter in his second season, leading the franchise to its first championship ever in 2002.

The quarterback is entering his 16th season and has played in six Super Bowls, winning four.

The NFL and the union had engaged in settlement talks for weeks with Berman, who urged them to find an acceptable solution. But a deal never emerged.

It is rare for a federal judge to overturn an arbitrator’s decision, in part because the legal standard is quite stringent.

“The courts say pretty much, unless something goofy going on, we’re not going to intervene,” said Alfred Yen, a Boston College Law School professor.

The ruling is the latest setback for Goodell, who has seen other punishments reduced or vacated on appeal, including in domestic abuse cases involving players Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson and Greg Hardy, as well as in the “Bountygate” case in which the New Orleans Saints were accused of paying bonuses for injuring opposing team players.

Deflategate is over. Tom Brady is free. The NFL looks really petty and should be embarrassed by their commissioner. Read US District Judge Richard Berman’s full ruling just below.

U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman has altered betting lines for the first four weeks of the NFL by overturning Tom Brady’s four game suspension. It’s insane that air pressure in a few footballs during a blowout AFC Title game was made into a federal case.

Judge Berman stated that Goodell’s suspension of the Patriots’ quarterback was “premised upon several significant legal deficiencies.”

“Because there was no notice of a four-game suspension in the circumstances presented here, Commissioner Goodell may be said to have dispensed his own brand of industrial justice,” Judge Berman stated.

The NFL wanted to make a big deal out of this scandal so that’s exactly what they got. Publicity was the main reason for going as far as the League did in my opinion. It worked too. Deflategate got as much media coverage as any one game all of the 2014 season. I don’t think the NFL wanted it to go quite this far though. They had to believe Brady would just accept his punishment like a good little employee.

The fact that Robert Kraft did not appeal his franchise’s separate punishment must have emboldened the League and Goodell. Brady wasn’t going to take his suspension so easily. Good thing too. It makes the League look even worse that they did not accept the one game settlement that Brady reportedly offered late in the game.

Baring an idiotic appeal by the NFL, Tom Brady will be starting for his Patriots in the opener against Pittsburgh. Even if the League appealed, I doubt any ruling would come before that game onSeptember 10.

I almost want Goodell to appeal this ruling. As relieved as I am that Deflategate is over, it would make my day to see Goodell make one last misstep in this ordeal. I would suffer through the extended Deflategate coverage in hopes that such an appeal would cause Goodell to be fired.

I have to believe the owners will make it very clear to Rog that they have seen and heard enough of this bullshit to last a lifetime. They will save him the embarrassment of an appeal if they know what’s good for their brand, which has taken a beating with this nonsense.

This ruling does a few things besides shifting the betting odds in the first four weeks. First it takes the pressure off Garoppolo to start game one.

The guy has gotten huge playing time in the preseason. Would it not be crazy if the Patriots ended up getting a nice trade offer for their backup as a result of his increased playing time?

I can also see the Patriots thinking of hanging onto Jimmy Garoppolo long term, after showing promise in the exhibition games. Either way, the kid from Eastern Illinois has made the most of Deflategate.

Maybe more importantly than the individual effects for Brady and the Pats, this ruling by a federal judge should show the rest of the players in the NFL where they need to go to get justice. Clearly Roger Goodell is not the right person to turn to for a fair hearing. Were I an NFLer, and could afford it, I would take any future grievances I have to the United States justice system.

In fact I wouldn’t put much effort into defending myself to Goodell at all. What’s the point? He is anti player, period.

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I’m sure it wasn’t cheap for Brady to make this appeal in a real courtroom, but I have a feeling Mr. Kraft will chip in for his guy. The players union would be wise to set up a fund specifically for cases that need to go before a real judge. Not every player has the cash that’s available to Tom Brady.

So if this is truly the end of Deflategate we can all move on with our lives. We fans can start focusing on fantasy football cheat sheets instead of “Ideal Gas Law.”

The poor court sketch artist can make her way back to a sense of normalcy.

Tom Brady can get all the first team reps.

Ted Wells can rest easy knowing all his “hard work” was useless.

Patriot fans can start writing some clever text for their signs on September 10.

And maybe, just maybe, Roger Goodell will take a long look at himself and see the damage he has done to the NFL’s image over the past couple years. I doubt that happens, but I bet the owners are taking a closer look at the man they have hired to run their business.

They should begin the search for a replacement commissioner. This one has done enough damage and is not fit to lead.