NFL finds it probable Pats deflated balls

[jncuse]

My problem with this is that it is probably done all around the league... and the league decided to target one team after a complaint.

The proper way to handle the situation would have been to gather all the balls at halftime of one set of Sunday afternoon games and have a tester sent to all locations to see if there is an issue... which there would be with multiple teams no doubt. If it was found that say 8 teams out of 18 playing had played with their balls, then the league would sent out a memo to all teams saying it will test and enforce more hardily going forward. It could have also sent out a press release. If 8/18 had been caught there would be no outrage from NFL hypocritical fanboy.

The way this was done (on an isolated basis with only one team being pointed at), has created an outrage amongst the naive fanboy hypocrite community.

I have no rooting interest... I am not even much of a fan of the NF. But I know enough sports that this would not be a tactic that only one team would employ.

 

[Toga]

My problem with this is that it is probably done all around the league... and the league decided to target one team after a complaint.

The proper way to handle the situation would have been to gather all the balls at halftime of one set of Sunday afternoon games and have a tester sent to all locations to see if there is an issue... which there would be with multiple teams no doubt. If it was found that say 8 teams out of 18 playing had played with their balls, then the league would sent out a memo to all teams saying it will test and enforce more hardily going forward. It could have also sent out a press release. If 8/18 had been caught there would be no outrage from NFL hypocritical fanboy.

The way this was done (on an isolated basis with only one team being pointed at), has created an outrage amongst the naive fanboy hypocrite community.

I have no rooting interest... I am not even much of a fan of the NF. But I know enough sports that this would not be a tactic that only one team would employ.

" If it was found that say 8 teams out of 18 playing had played with their balls, then the league would sent out a memo to all teams saying it will test and enforce more hardily going forward."

Dear Teams:
Stop playing with your balls.

 

[jncuse]

I hope in tonight's NHL game they stop all the players from leaving the ice at the end of the first period, and test each one of their sticks. Every player with an illegal stick gets banned from the playoffs, and its team loses all its draft picks.

 

[jncuse]

" If it was found that say 8 teams out of 18 playing had played with their balls, then the league would sent out a memo to all teams saying it will test and enforce more hardily going forward."

Dear Teams:
Stop playing with your balls.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Alsacs]

If knocking out a woman on tape originally got 2 games, I can't wait to see how many games a football 0.3 PSI under expected should be? 16?

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Alsacs]

The first pick sucks doesn't hurt since its never top 15. There is little doubt IMO this suspension will be reduced on appeal. The fact they got no evidence Brady said deflate the footballs means if they get a neutral arbitrator no doubt Brady win.

Goodell also lost a huge ally and powerful owner.

 

[Orangeman]

The first pick sucks doesn't hurt since its never top 15. There is little doubt IMO this suspension will be reduced on appeal. The fact they got no evidence Brady said deflate the footballs means if they get a neutral arbitrator no doubt Brady win. Goodell also lost a huge ally and powerful owner.

If Goodell was smart he kept the 2007 tapes around knowing that with big money your best friend today could well be your enemy tomorrow.

The whole story that they were destroyed was ludicrous at the time and grows more ridic by the moment...why? For what purpose? In just 8 years the press has grown smarter and would never accept such a ludicrous answer today.

That said, for "deflated footballs" this punishment is stupid...for years of probable cheating, NFL fans were short-changed.

I doubt it's reduced...second offense and the Pats may not have confidence those tapes don't exist and 4 trophies are worth $2.5B to mr kraft

 

[Melancer46]

The reason I could see this being reduced is that supposedly Troy Vincent punished Brady as a multiple offender because the balls were deflated for multiple games... by that logic, you could argue that every player that has ever failed a drug test should skip right to the multiple-time offender punishments because they didn't smoke weed just once. If that is actually true (I think Schefter or someone mentioned it), I would imagine Brady's agent will really attack that point.

 

[Guinness]

The punishment seems to be more for the cover up and not cooperating with the league than it does the actual deflating of the balls.

 

[Cowtown]

The wording was very specific for a reason. This isn't a court of law so they don't have to have absolute proof.

Brady is going to be sitting a few games to start the season for sure.

Somebody gets it. You accept the rules of the 'club' when you join - in this case the policies and practices of the NFL - or don't join.

The punishment seems to be more for the cover up and not cooperating with the league than it does the actual deflating of the balls.

Indeed, the Patriots certainly did not "self report" anything. Their balking at cooperating with the investigation is indeed damning. And anyway, it all extends from the same root cause/problem. "Fruit of the poisoned tree," as it were.

When you combine all of this with the "Spygate" affair of some years ago, in which Belichick was caught secretly filming other teams' practices, the culture of cheating in the Patriots organization is too obvious to ignore. I don't feel bad for anyone over there.

 

[Cowtown]

Amazing that the NFL can commission this report but somehow didn't have the means to acquire that Ray Rice elevator video.

Two things are apparent here. First, the NFL is coming down hard on Brady/Patriots because they mishandled the Ray Rice situation, weighing in too lightly. Perhaps they're overreacting based on that? The second thing is that the Ray Rice situation occurred off the field, while the deflated balls were involved in an actual on-field game, and much worse, the league's crown jewel the Super Bowl. Thus the integrity of the game has been put at risk, and the NFL is obligated to act firmly, even without a smoking gun. "Say it ain't so, [Shoeless] Joe."

 

[NineOneSeven]

Two things are apparent here. First, the NFL is coming down hard on Brady/Patriots because they mishandled the Ray Rice situation, weighing in too lightly. Perhaps they're overreacting based on that? The second thing is that the Ray Rice situation occurred off the field, while the deflated balls were involved in an actual on-field game, and much worse, the league's crown jewel the Super Bowl. Thus the integrity of the game has been put at risk, and the NFL is obligated to act firmly, even without a smoking gun. "Say it ain't so, [Shoeless] Joe."

Minor edit-- AFC champ game.

 

[Cowtown]

Minor edit-- AFC champ game.

I stand corrected, thanks.

 

[Tobias Funke]

Two things are apparent here. First, the NFL is coming down hard on Brady/Patriots because they mishandled the Ray Rice situation, weighing in too lightly. Perhaps they're overreacting based on that? The second thing is that the Ray Rice situation occurred off the field, while the deflated balls were involved in an actual on-field game, and much worse, the league's crown jewel the Super Bowl. Thus the integrity of the game has been put at risk, and the NFL is obligated to act firmly, even without a smoking gun. "Say it ain't so, [Shoeless] Joe."

Yet the league could have stopped it from having any impact on the AFC championship by not running a sting operation. So integrity if the game was not only impacted by the pats but by the nfl as well.

 

[Orangeman]

Yet the league could have stopped it from having any impact on the AFC championship by not running a sting operation. So integrity if the game was not only impacted by the pats but by the nfl as well.

You keep saying this like it was an appropriate measure to take.

What if the Patriots have been cheating this way for years? Simply telling them to "cut it out this game" isn't really fair is it. Everyone says the Colts game was a blowout, and it was...but the Ravens had the Patriots on the ropes just a week earlier in the same conditions and easier-to-throw-and-catch footballs could have mattered. Maybe one of Edelmann's diving 3rd down completions bounce off instead?

So, no it would not have been appropriate to do that. Instead they followed normal procedures, and some guy nicknamed "the Deflator" took the balls into a bathroom and altered them. If the balls had been rechecked just before kickoff to have "no sting" there still would have been the same outcome, caught "cheating"

To take an analogy, supposedly the Patriots verified their tricky formations with the NFL before the Ravens game...the NFL could have said well, yeah, they're legal to the law but in practice you'll have to give our officials appropriate heads-up, etc, because that is in violation of the spirit of the rule, etc etc.

They didn't do that, because that's not what they do...same principle here.

The penalty is absurd when taken in a vacuum, but Brady "lied" and they "didn't cooperate" and there are serious questions about the "integrity of the league" (not the game...the league) that had to be addressed.

Fans won't she'll out $2500 a year to go to these things if they think there's monkey business between the front office and a favored franchise. This should be considered payback for destroying those video tapes just four days after the Spygate issue. What goes around...

 

[Tobias Funke]

You keep saying this like it was an appropriate measure to take.

What if the Patriots have been cheating this way for years? Simply telling them to "cut it out this game" isn't really fair is it. Everyone says the Colts game was a blowout, and it was...but the Ravens had the Patriots on the ropes just a week earlier in the same conditions and easier-to-throw-and-catch footballs could have mattered. Maybe one of Edelmann's diving 3rd down completions bounce off instead?

So, no it would not have been appropriate to do that. Instead they followed normal procedures, and some guy nicknamed "the Deflator" took the balls into a bathroom and altered them. If the balls had been rechecked just before kickoff to have "no sting" there still would have been the same outcome, caught "cheating"

To take an analogy, supposedly the Patriots verified their tricky formations with the NFL before the Ravens game...the NFL could have said well, yeah, they're legal to the law but in practice you'll have to give our officials appropriate heads-up, etc, because that is in violation of the spirit of the rule, etc etc.

They didn't do that, because that's not what they do...same principle here.

The penalty is absurd when taken in a vacuum, but Brady "lied" and they "didn't cooperate" and there are serious questions about the "integrity of the league" (not the game...the league) that had to be addressed.

Fans won't she'll out $2500 a year to go to these things if they think there's monkey business between the front office and a favored franchise. This should be considered payback for destroying those video tapes just four days after the Spygate issue. What goes around...

I am not saying that they just issue a warning. My point is that they should have done more before the game regarding actually writing down the measurements, and doing a secondary measurement closer to game time. If they were that concerned. You mention that they result would have been the same and I agree. My point is that they could have got tent the same result without "allowing" the pats to use deflated balls in the first half. They wanted to catch them red handed so they could prove it was involved in a game. That is where I have issue with the nfl.