[JoeRedskin]

It really is hard to "prove" anything at hearings / trials, etc. There is a natural bias among the public (which I generally applaud) towards "innocent until shown guilty." When a person accused of something is shown destroying things that any reasonable person would say "Well, that would have been helpful," I have NO problem with (1) presuming the destroyed evidence showed guilt; and (2) severely punishing people for intentionally obstructing investigations even if the underlying violation is minor because they are attacking / undermining the ability of authority to punish actual wrong doers; thus, they injure everyone else in that system.

Deflategate was a mountain out of a molehill. Brady destroying a cellphone was a clear obstruction - I would have suspended him for that alone and, probably, for more than four games.