NEW YORK (AP):

A judge let the air out of 'Deflategate' yesterday, erasing New England quarterback Tom Brady's four-game suspension for a controversy the NFL claimed threatened football's integrity.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell promised to appeal.

United States District Judge, Richard M Berman, criticised Goodell for dispensing "his own brand of industrial justice" as he found multiple reasons to reject the suspension and find Brady's treatment "fundamentally unfair."

The Super Bowl winner has insisted he played no role in a conspiracy to deflate footballs below the allowable limit at last season's AFC championship game, a 45-7 rout of the Indianapolis Colts.

The judge cited "several significant legal deficiencies" in the league's handling of the controversy, including no advanced notice of potential penalties, the refusal to produce a key witness and the apparent first-ever discipline of a player based on a finding of "general awareness" of someone else's wrongdoing.

"The court finds that Brady had no notice that he could receive a four-game suspension for general awareness of ball deflation by others," the judge wrote.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league would not seek an emergency stay, freeing Brady to play, while an appeals court considers the case. The Patriots open September 10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft called Brady a "classy person of the highest integrity" and the penalty against him "unwarranted and unprecedented discipline." He said the ruling was thoughtful.