Perhaps more than any league, the N.F.L. has meted out suspensions for a stunning variety of misdeeds, including dogfighting, gambling, videotaping, texting, ball tampering, artificial crowd noise, bounties, bullying and drug use.
The league has presided over an extensive record of misconduct, even if the penalties at times seem inconsistent and arbitrary to some.
The penalties can range from $20,000 — the fine the San Diego Chargers paid for using grip-enhancing sticky towels in 2012 — to Michael Vick’s two-year suspension beginning in 2007 for involvement in a dogfighting ring.
The heavy penalties issued Monday to Tom Brady and the New England Patriots for their roles in the deflated-football scandal are the latest punishments in the long list.