NFL 2015: Offseason: DeflateGate

And it gets worse for New England: Gronk's a finalist for the cover of Madden.

NOooooOOOooOOOOOOOOOOooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooo

Rat Boy wrote:

And it gets worse for New England: Gronk's a finalist for the cover of Madden.

Finally, appropriate punishment...

Hasn't the Madden cover thing died already? The last 3 Madden cover athletes went to the Pro Bowl in their cover years, and two were All-Pro.

If Adrian Peterson had been on the Madden cover this past year, rather than the year before, then there'd be something to talk about.

*Legion* wrote:

Hasn't the Madden thing died already?

Iknowright?

I think the problem with the deflate-gate punishment is Roger Goodell and his inconsistency on punishment. San Diego had the stickum towel incident in 2012 and they were fined $20K. I think the crimes are pretty comparable, and yet the punishment was through the roof for the Pats. Granted, the Patriots did themselves no favors by the lack of cooperation. Brady's refusal to hand over his phone is, imo, an admission of guilt. Sure, he was cooperative by answering every question that was asked, but one can do that and lie through their teeth. Denying Wells the opportunity at a 2nd interview with McNally was also a little shady, imo.

The other big problem I have is that Belichick walks away virtually scott free. "Ignorance is not an excuse" worked perfectly fine for Sean Payton, but not BB?

At least Goodell didn't have evidence destroyed this time, so there's a plus.

Kush15 wrote:

I think the problem with the deflate-gate punishment is Roger Goodell and his inconsistency on punishment. San Diego had the stickum towel incident in 2012 and they were fined $20K. I think the crimes are pretty comparable, and yet the punishment was through the roof for the Pats. Granted, the Patriots did themselves no favors by the lack of cooperation. Brady's refusal to hand over his phone is, imo, an admission of guilt. Sure, he was cooperative by answering every question that was asked, but one can do that and lie through their teeth. Denying Wells the opportunity at a 2nd interview with McNally was also a little shady, imo.

I think the loss of two draft picks (really the 1st rounder, the 4th round pick isn't as bad) was Belichick's puishment. He didn't personally do anything wrong, but the team still takes a hit with the draft pick loss, the owner gets a million dollar fine, and Brady gets suspended. The suspension is too long to fit the crime, 2 games would have been understandable for the lack of cooperation. The fine is excessive until you take the view that this is an added punishment for the sideline cameras, then it makes sense.

Kush15 wrote:

At least Goodell didn't have evidence destroyed this time, so there's a plus.

Yeah. What the hell was he thinking back then?

Atras wrote:

Yeah. What the hell was he thinking back then?

That the information also included evidence of widespread cheating among many, if not all teams. I think he believed its release would have eroded much of the trust any sport requires in order to sell their content.

*Legion* wrote:

Holding is cheating too.

"If holding my ball is wrong, I don't wanna be right."

IMAGE(http://www.lobshots.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/tom-brady-gaze.jpg)

Patriots fire back: http://wellsreportcontext.com/

garion333 wrote:

Patriots fire back: http://wellsreportcontext.com/

So their explanation is that Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern were texting about weight loss?

Rat Boy wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Patriots fire back: http://wellsreportcontext.com/

So their explanation is that Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern were texting about weight loss?

And in related news, Tom Brady placed on the physically unable to perform list after injuring his arm reaching for excuses.

Roger Goodell to hear Brady's appeal personally. I don't think Roger's long for his job anymore.

Combine that with the fact that the report does not contain real evidence and if this were a court of actual law would be pretty simply thrown out.

Since this bit hasn't been addressed, I'd like to point out that this has no weight behind it at all. OJ was acquitted in a criminal court due to the failure of evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. However, he was found accountable in a civil court because "it was more than probable" to 12 people. The Wells report findings are more than enough to win a civil court case, and frankly, that's all the NFL needs here.

TheGameguru wrote:

One thing I'm confused about is if the Patriots are complaining that they did nothing wrong why did the club suspended indefinitely the two low ranking staffers without pay? Nothing like proclaiming your innocence and then sh*t canning the two saps who acted under Brady's direction. Classy.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...

garion333 wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:

One thing I'm confused about is if the Patriots are complaining that they did nothing wrong why did the club suspended indefinitely the two low ranking staffers without pay? Nothing like proclaiming your innocence and then sh*t canning the two saps who acted under Brady's direction. Classy.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...

Still a sh*tty move.. if you are 100% innocent and you go out of your way to refute the report why then cow tail to the league and suspend the two staffers? Certainly sends a clear message to the organization (even though its obvious and the same for all organizations) that rank matters.

Wonder if Tom will secretly send both guys a check.

TheGameguru wrote:
garion333 wrote:
TheGameguru wrote:

One thing I'm confused about is if the Patriots are complaining that they did nothing wrong why did the club suspended indefinitely the two low ranking staffers without pay? Nothing like proclaiming your innocence and then sh*t canning the two saps who acted under Brady's direction. Classy.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...

Still a sh*tty move.. if you are 100% innocent and you go out of your way to refute the report why then cow tail to the league and suspend the two staffers? Certainly sends a clear message to the organization (even though its obvious and the same for all organizations) that rank matters.

Wonder if Tom will secretly send both guys a check.

Why? Apparently he wouldn't sign anything else for them

Well, so much for Roger Goodell being dead to Bob Kraft.

Rat Boy wrote:

Well, so much for Roger Goodell being dead to Bob Kraft.

Highlight of that article:

IMAGE(http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--8IMcQm4H--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/gnfabq9yzwscpzq1ka12.jpg)

As noted in the article, that's only the appeal from the team. That does not apply to the players union's appeal filed on behalf of Tom Brady.

So the team penalties are accepted, but Brady's suspension still remains an open question until the resolution of the NFLPA appeal.

A nice turn of phrase:

I would reiterate here that I believe there was some jiggery-pokery done to the footballs used in the first half of the AFC Championship mismatch, and that it beggars belief that the quarterback didn’t know anything about it. I also would reiterate here that the whole fiasco has been such a self-evident waste of time, and money, and media attention that it’s hard to believe Donald Trump doesn’t have a hand in it somewhere. This is something that should have been laughed off the airwaves 15 minutes after the story broke. It was gamesmanship, pure and simple, worthy of a $25,000 fine and a stern letter of reprimand.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/ro...

Before even clicking the article I knew from the quote it would be written by Charles Pierce. He is not really objective about anything Patriots.

If it was "really no big deal", cooperating with the investigation would be the most direct way to make it all go away.

Supposedly Goodell won't recuse himself himself from Brady's appeal.

IMAGE(http://cache.blippitt.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Popcorn-02-Stephen-Colbert.gif)

Pats fans held their Free Tom Brady rally.

Sports fans are the best.

Top_Shelf wrote:

Pats fans held their Free Tom Brady rally.

Sports fans are the best.

/s

Top_Shelf wrote:

Pats fans held their Free Tom Brady rally.

Sports fans are the best.

Is he in jail?

TheGameguru wrote:
Top_Shelf wrote:

Pats fans held their Free Tom Brady rally.

Sports fans are the best.

Is he in jail?

Worse. He's not allowed to make money playing professional football for FOUR weeks.