After New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was slapped with a four-game suspension, the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) filed an appeal asking for a neutral arbitrator to hear the Deflategate case.

"Given the NFL's history of inconsistency and arbitrary decisions in disciplinary matters, it is only fair that a neutral arbitrator hear this appeal," the NFLPA said in a statement, as per NFL.com.

According to ESPN, the association filed the said the appeal an hour before the 5 p.m. deadline on Thursday but NFL spokesperson Greg Aiello said that the Commissioner Roger Goodell rejected the request.

"Commissioner Goodell will hear the appeal of Tom Brady's suspension in accordance with the process agreed upon with the NFL Players Association in the 2011 collective bargaining agreement," Aiello added.

After the investigation on the "Deflategate" incident in the NFL, the league suspended Tom Brady for four games and meted a $1 million fine for the New England Patriots.

Aside from these punishments, Yahoo Sports said that the Patriots will also lose their first-round draft pick next year and a fourth-round pick in 2017.

Based on the report submitted by league appointed lawyer Ted Wells, New York Times noted that it was "more probable than not" that it was Jim MacNally, a Patriots locker-room attendant, who controlled the air pressure in the footballs Brady used. The Times added that another Patriots employee, an equipment assistant, named John Jastremski, was also in direct communication with the quarterback and provided McNally with memorabilia including shoes and autographed footballs.

The ESPN report explained that under the collective bargaining agreement, the league is given 10 days to name an arbitrator and schedule a hearing.

Brady's camp earlier expressed their intention to appeal his suspension, noting that it has "no legitimate basis."

"The discipline is ridiculous and has no legitimate basis. In my opinion, this outcome was pre-determined; there was no fairness in the Wells investigation whatsoever. The NFL has a well-documented history of making poor disciplinary decisions that often are overturned when truly independent and neutral judges or arbitrators preside,and a former federal judge has found the commissioner has abused his discretion in the past, so this outcome does not surprise me," said Brady's agent Don Yee through Fox Sports' Mike Garafolo.

Meanwhile, NFL.com indicated that the Patriots organization has yet to announce if they will appeal the $1 million fine given to them and two forfeited draft picks.

Meanwhile, Patriots owner Robert Kraft said that the penalty "far exceeded any reasonable expectation."

A separate ESPN report said that Kraft authorized the publication of a 20,000-word rebuttal which challenged the findings of the Wells report. It noted that the conclusions in the said report were "incomplete, incorrect and lack context."

"There is no evidence that Tom Brady preferred footballs that were lower than 12.5 [pounds per square inch] and no evidence anyone even thought that he did," the rebuttal furthered.