Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has revealed that he was confident he would be facing Tom Brady in the 2015 season opener.
The New England Patriots quarterback was suspended for four matches by the NFL for being generally aware that members of his side's equipment staff deflated footballs in the AFC championship game.
However, US District judge Richard Berman vacated the ban imposed by league commissioner Roger Goodell.
Roethlisberger has admitted that he always thought he would be facing the Patriots with Brady as their signal-caller as he feels the original sanction was too "harsh".
He told reporters: "I wasn't surprised at all. I figured that would happen.
"Just felt like the league had done something without... I guess it was just more of a feeling, an inkling, of knowing that the commissioner jumped to a pretty harsh punishment."
The Steelers face the Patriots at Gillette Stadium on Thursday.
