The Replay: Andrew Luck, Jeff Gordon, and Tom Brady

» Purr the Win: Andrew Luck takes his love of whiskers to the next level in a new DirecTV commercial by playing his Don’t-Be-This-Me alter ego, a cat-hoarding milquetoast playing hide-and-seek with a kitty named Mr. Jaffer. Luck’s got the cat jokes down; now all he needs is a cellphone capable of sharing them:

» Hitting a Brick(yard) Wall: Jeff Gordon, who will retire at the end of this season, missed out on winning an unprecedented sixth race at the IMS when he crashed on Lap 50 of the Brickyard 400. Fortunately for Gordon, no one saw.

» Straight Outta Charlotte: Lance Stephenson—noted LeBron whisperer, combustible teammate, and part-time rapper known as BornReady—heralded his arrival to the Los Angeles Clippers by dropping his latest track, natch. Has Stephenson gotten a bad rap? You be the judge:

» Not Standing Pat: As expected, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will sue the NFL in the hopes of overturning a four-game Deflategate suspension. Is his case air-tight? Probably as much as those footballs used in last season’s AFC Championship game. Here, in five GIFs, a recap of recent developments and a look ahead to what we might see:

1. Brady destroys a key piece of evidence, his cellphone.

2. Brady’s Boston-based legal team appears to be caught off guard.

3. Brady learns the NFL will uphold his suspension.

4. The quarterback’s attorneys are working on a plan.

5. Rumored plan.

» Now Read This: There’s the World Cup, and then there’s the American football version, writes Rodger Sherman.

» Bonus: The Brady story told through emojis:

Here's an emoji recap of #DeflateGate: 🏈💨😭🙈🙉🙊😇🔎⏳📂📱🔨😡🔐🙌 It's better in GIF form: https://t.co/rTZAsWrOek (@IndyMonthly) #IMReplay #Colts

— Michael Rubino (@MARubino) July 31, 2015