Although Mike Cavanaugh wore a New England Patriots shirt as he sat behind the wheel of his taxicab on Fore Street on Thursday morning, he said his loyalty was less with the football team and more with the American justice system.

“I’m a bigger fan of law and order,” said Cavanaugh, 62, after learning that U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman had wiped out the four-game suspension imposed on Patriots quarterback Tom Brady by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “This judge, he handed down the right decision.”

In Cavanaugh’s opinion, the league produced no evidence that Brady conspired to deflate footballs below the allowable limit in last season’s AFC championship game. And even if Brady did prefer to use balls with slightly less air pressure to get a better grip, he wouldn’t have been the first to do so.

“This is nothing new,” Cavanaugh insisted. “Quarterbacks have been doing this for decades.”

What the costly, drawn-out affair did show, Cavanaugh said, was “how much of an incompetent fool this commissioner is. Hopefully, this will cost him his job.”

In the immediate aftermath of Berman’s decision to lift the suspension on Brady, local sentiment seemed to side clearly with the player. In a completely unscientific poll in Portland’s Old Port on Thursday morning, nobody expressed sympathy for Goodell.

“My inner New Englander is happy,” said Mary Katherine O’Brien, 35, who grew up in Blue Hill but now lives in Minneapolis and teaches at the University of Minnesota. “But in the broader context, the NFL really missed a chance to show an organizational approach of increased scrutiny and increased transparency to an issue.”

O’Brien, now a fan of the Minnesota Vikings, cited a recent report of NFL player arrests over the past five years. The Vikings lead the league with 18, followed by the Broncos (16), Colts (13) and Buccaneers (13). The Patriots are tied for 23rd (of 32 teams) with five.

With domestic violence, drug use and abuse, and traumatic brain injuries on its plate, the NFL could have shown a better approach to a problem as trifling as a little bit of air, she said.

“What is NFL leadership going to do with the way they address any problem?” she asked rhetorically. “This would have been a really low-stakes way to show that.”

Michael John, 40, is a business manager from New York City who figures the NFL’s 243-page report and harsh punishment of a marquee player on a marquee team was meant to deflect attention from the league’s true problems.

“I think the whole thing was a ruse,” he said, sipping coffee outside The Holy Donut on Exchange Street. “They found it convenient to distract people from the real issues in the NFL – steroids, wife-beating and head injuries.”

His wife, Kathryn John, 37, grew up in Philadelphia and roots for the Eagles. She expressed indifference to Brady’s plight, but not that of his wife.

“I’m a Giselle fan,” she said, referring to the model Giselle Bundchen. “I kind of figured he’d get off. His life is too perfect. I can’t imagine him getting punished.”

Nick Archambault, a Portland High School junior who plays quarterback for the Bulldogs, said, “I thought the penalty was too harsh considering the other issues players have been suspended for, like domestic violence, which they got the same amount of games. There was increased talk on sports radio this week how Brady was going to get off so I was pretty optimistic.”

His teammate, wide receiver Nehemiah Hughes, is not a Patriots fan. He roots for the Houston Texas.

“The ruling is a little ridiculous because the Patriots definitely cheated,” Hughes said. “I can’t believe the judge tossed it out. Brady should have gotten some games.

“You can’t be a quarterback every single down and not know how the ball is inflated. Brady had his hands in it, and on it. It definitely makes a difference because when I practice on my own, I practice with a bigger football. When I catch a regular football, it’s a lot easier. A smaller football is easier to catch.”

John Everett, 60, of Cape Elizabeth expressed amazement that the suspension was lifted.

“I thought for sure the commissioner’s authority would be upheld,” said Everett, a commercial banker. “But I’m glad I’m hearing this.”

Everett noted the impressive play in recent exhibition games of Brady’s backup, Jimmy Garoppolo, along with Brady’s subpar performances, and predicted the judge’s ruling will remove a dark cloud from the veteran with four Super Bowl rings.

“Now that’ll be lifted off Brady,” Everett said, “and he’ll start to play well.”

Back outside The Holy Donut, John, the business manager from New York City, lifted an arm in triumph.

“Know what’s best about this whole thing?” he said. “I drafted him in my fantasy league Tuesday night. Twelfth round! Nobody was picking him.”

Staff Writer Tom Chard contributed to this report.

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