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Tom Brady appeared Monday before Judge Richard M. Berman of Federal District Court in Manhattan.Credit Peter Foley/European Pressphoto Agency

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In a major setback for the N.F.L., New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady prevailed in his battle to have his four-game suspension overturned Thursday, as a federal judge reversed a ruling by Commissioner Roger Goodell to bench one of the league’s biggest stars in a dispute over underinflated balls he used in a January championship game.

Judge Richard M. Berman of Federal District Court in Manhattan did not rule on whether Brady tampered with the footballs in a bid for competitive advantage. Instead, he focused on the narrower question of whether the collective bargaining agreement between the N.F.L. and the players union gave Goodell the authority to carry out the suspension. Judge Berman ruled that it did not.

The 40-page decision picks apart the N.F.L.’s case, finding a number of faults and reflecting Berman’s skepticism in recent court hearings.

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Berman said Brady could not be suspended for “general awareness” of others’ conduct, as an N.F.L. investigative report determined.

“Brady had no notice that such conduct was prohibited or any reasonable certainty of potential discipline stemming from such conduct,’’ the judge wrote.

Even if the league believed Brady had obstructed the investigation, by having a cellphone destroyed before it could be fully examined, the judge sided with Brady’s argument that “there is no evidence of a record of past suspensions based purely on obstructing a league investigation.”

He found the N.F.L. did not give Brady adequate notice of the potential penalty for the misconduct he was accused of and it had been denied sufficient access to the N.F.L.’s investigative files.

An underinflated football would be easier for a quarterback to grip and throw. New England won the game in question, the A.F.C. championship game, against the Indianapolis Colts, 45-7, scoring most of its points in the second half after the Colts had complained about the balls.

Brady’s lawyers had argued that the N.F.L. did not warn him that he could be suspended for not cooperating with the league’s investigation, as a report commissioned by the N.F.L. asserted, or for playing a role in tampering with equipment, something that normally warrants a fine. Brady had denied any knowledge, but the N.F.L. report said the preponderance of evidence made it likely he knew about the balls.

Judge Berman’s ruling is a blow to Goodell, who has tried to expand his authority to suspend players for what he perceives to be violations of the integrity of the game.

Unless the N.F.L. can get a federal appeals court to issue an emergency injunction, Brady will play in the Patriots’ opening game Sept. 10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

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