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Tom Brady 4 game suspension upheld
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Thanks for the informative article, @rams2050, but was this written by Goodell's mom?
http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/07/28/tom-brady-appeal-deflategate-roger-goodell
Tom Brady’s Bad Day
The NFL laid the smack down Tuesday, upholding its four-game suspension of the Patriots QB and revealing he destroyed his phone during the league’s investigation into deflated footballs in the AFC title game.
by Peter King
Photo by Barry Chin/Getty Images
Tuesday was a bad day for Tom Brady. In upholding Brady’s four-game June suspension in last season’s alleged football-deflation scheme, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell accused one of sport’s golden boys of significantly obstructing league justice in the case.
And the ruling, issued two days before the Patriots’ first practice of the new season, made patently clear that only a stunning upset in federal court will stop the Super Bowl MVP from being banned from playing in a game that counts until Week 6, on Oct. 18.
As someone who read the Wells Report twice (okay, I skimmed the 100 deep-science pages about deflation rates), I felt the NFL had a load of damaging circumstantial evidence against Brady but nothing like a smoking gun that he directed his home-game footballs to be illegally under-inflated. Maybe in the day-long appeals hearing in June, Brady would bring something to the table to convince Goodell to soften the sanction.
But in the carefully crafted, brick-by-brick case built by the NFL in its 20-page smackdown of Brady on Tuesday, there was nothing to help him. (Certainly it’s possible that some pro-Brady stuff was excluded; we’ll see if that was the case when Brady’s side fights this in federal court.) The union called Goodell’s ruling “outrageous.’’ Brady’s agent, Don Yee, called the process “a sham.”
But the strong words couldn’t eclipse Goodell’s most damaging blow—that Brady directed that his cell phone used at the time of the AFC Championship Game be destroyed. Brady, according to Goodell, destroys former phones when he starts using new ones. But, also according to Goodell, Brady didn’t destroy the phone he used prior to the late-2014-season phone. Why?
Tuesday brought another day of public silence from Brady, even as the basic fact that neither Wells nor Goodell has produced definitive proof that Brady ordered the Code Red, that he told two football-preparers to doctor the balls to have less air pressure than the NFL’s mandated minimum of 12.5 pounds per square inch.
When they finally get to court, Brady’s lawyers will argue that the cell-phone destruction has zero merit in the case, because nowhere in the collective bargaining agreement does it say a player has to surrender his cell phone as part of any investigation.
The CBA calls for players to reasonably cooperate. Brady will say he did. But in the court of public opinion Tuesday night, the piece of evidence Goodell publicized in his ruling was the final straw to some who didn’t trust Brady anyway.
It’s not over. Brady may have a legal Hail Mary in him. But now, six weeks before opening night in Foxboro, even the league-is-out-to-get-us Bradyphiles in the six New England states have to admit: Brady is not giving us much reason to believe.
* * *
As a storm hit Foxboro and the home of the world champions late Tuesday afternoon, reality was setting in. A green unknown from Eastern Illinois, Jimmy Garoppolo, now will likely have to duel top quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger and Tony Romo in New England’s first and fourth games, sandwiched by facing top defensive coaches Rex Ryan (Buffalo) and Gus Bradley (Jacksonville) in games two and three.
Somehow—actually, right up until Tuesday afternoon, when the NFL reached out to the players’ union one final time to see if Brady’s reps would engage in serious talks on a disciplinary compromise—it always seemed a game or two or maybe three would get shaved from the ban.
But, two separate sources said, there was never a deal that was close, and the NFL never responded to a union offer of July 17 to try to settle. And a top union official, George Atallah, said Tuesday night: “No substantive discussions were had about terms, other than the union’s initial outreach. I cannot be clearer on this."
Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
Minus a settlement, the league wasn’t going to give Brady any benefit, particularly after the cell-phone destruction. Goodell’s ruling was more blunt than his original ruling in June, when he banned Brady for four games, fined the Patriots $1 million and docked the team first-round and fourth-round picks. Goodell also said definitively that the footballs used by New England’s offense in the AFC title game were tampered with.
The nuts and bolts of the Goodell ruling:
• He revealed that Brady “instructed his assistant to destroy the cellphone that he had been using” for about four months near the end of the season, including during the time the league accused Brady of participating in a scheme to reduce the air pressure in game footballs so they’d be more pliable, and more to his liking.
• The NFL accused Brady of obstruction. Goodell wrote: “Mr. Brady made a deliberate effort to ensure that investigators would never have access to information that he had been asked to produce … There was an affirmative effort by Mr. Brady to conceal potentially relevant evidence and to undermine the investigation.”
• Despite significant scientific claims to the contrary, Goodell went strong with his belief that air was removed from the New England footballs in the AFC Championship Game. “At least a substantial part of the decline was the result of tampering,” he wrote.
• Though the Wells Report said it was just more likely than not that Brady was a participant in the deflating of the football, or that Brady was “generally aware,” Goodell went much further. “Mr. Brady knew about, approved of, consented to, and provided inducements and rewards” supporting a system of tampering with the game balls, Goodell wrote.
So many questions are left this morning. The biggest: What are Brady’s chances in court? It's a fool's exercise to try to predict what will happen when the case goes before a judge, of course, but two points to consider here. The NFL is seeking to have Goodell’s appeal upheld in federal court in New York—friendlier than it would be, say, in New England if that’s where Brady’s side intends to seek relief for the quarterback.
This is precedent-setting, the NFL seeking a favorable venue simply to rule the league has done the right thing. Two league people could not remember that ever happening before, and certainly not in Goodell’s nine-year tenure. “The league’s playing offense now, not defense the way it was with the Rice case,” one club official said Tuesday night.
One legal expert suggested Tuesday night that Brady should be careful what he wishes for. If he barges ahead with the case in a venue such as New York—where a judge might not be inclined to enjoin the league, period, but likely wouldn’t agree to push a hearing back by six months, until the end of the NFL season—he would risk losing and being suspended for four games late in the season. Or even having the ban leak into January.
For now, Brady has to face the real possibility of something that’s happened roughly two games out of every 10 in his illustrious career.
Losing.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/29/tom-brady-im-very-disappointed-i-did-nothing-wrong/
Tom Brady: I’m very disappointed, I did nothing wrong
Posted by Michael David Smith on July 29, 2015
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has issued a statement denying any wrongdoing in Deflategate, and decrying NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s decision to suspend him for the first four games of the season.
“I am very disappointed by the NFL’s decision to uphold the 4 game suspension against me,” Brady wrote on Facebook. “I did nothing wrong, and no one in the Patriots organization did either.
“Despite submitting to hours of testimony over the past 6 months, it is disappointing that the Commissioner upheld my suspension based upon a standard that it was ‘probable’ that I was ‘generally aware’ of misconduct. The fact is that neither I, nor any equipment person, did anything of which we have been accused. He dismissed my hours of testimony and it is disappointing that he found it unreliable.
“I also disagree with yesterdays narrative surrounding my cellphone. I replaced my broken Samsung phone with a new iPhone 6 AFTER my attorneys made it clear to the NFL that my actual phone device would not be subjected to investigation under ANY circumstances.
As a member of a union, I was under no obligation to set a new precedent going forward, nor was I made aware at any time during Mr. Wells investigation, that failing to subject my cell phone to investigation would result in ANY discipline.
“Most importantly, I have never written, texted, emailed to anybody at anytime, anything related to football air pressure before this issue was raised at the AFC Championship game in January. To suggest that I destroyed a phone to avoid giving the NFL information it requested is completely wrong.
“To try and reconcile the record and fully cooperate with the investigation after I was disciplined in May, we turned over detailed pages of cell phone records and all of the emails that Mr. Wells requested. We even contacted the phone company to see if there was any possible way we could retrieve any/all of the actual text messages from my old phone. In short, we exhausted every possibility to give the NFL everything we could and offered to go thru the identity for every text and phone call during the relevant time.
Regardless, the NFL knows that Mr. Wells already had ALL relevant communications with Patriots personnel that either Mr. Wells saw or that I was questioned about in my appeal hearing. There is no ‘smoking gun’ and this controversy is manufactured to distract from the fact they have zero evidence of wrongdoing.
“I authorized the NFLPA to make a settlement offer to the NFL so that we could avoid going to court and put this inconsequential issue behind us as we move forward into this season. The discipline was upheld without any counter offer. I respect the Commissioners authority, but he also has to respect the CBA and my rights as a private citizen. I will not allow my unfair discipline to become a precedent for other NFL players without a fight.
“Lastly, I am overwhelmed and humbled by the support of family, friends and our fans who have supported me since the false accusations were made after the AFC Championship game. I look forward to the opportunity to resume playing with my teammates and winning more games for the New England Patriots.”
Although Brady didn’t specifically say so, his next step will be to go to court to attempt to have his suspension overturned. This battle isn’t over, and Brady doesn’t sound ready to give up the fight.
http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/07/28/tom-brady-appeal-deflategate-roger-goodell
Tom Brady’s Bad Day
The NFL laid the smack down Tuesday, upholding its four-game suspension of the Patriots QB and revealing he destroyed his phone during the league’s investigation into deflated footballs in the AFC title game.
by Peter King
Photo by Barry Chin/Getty Images
Tuesday was a bad day for Tom Brady. In upholding Brady’s four-game June suspension in last season’s alleged football-deflation scheme, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell accused one of sport’s golden boys of significantly obstructing league justice in the case.
And the ruling, issued two days before the Patriots’ first practice of the new season, made patently clear that only a stunning upset in federal court will stop the Super Bowl MVP from being banned from playing in a game that counts until Week 6, on Oct. 18.
As someone who read the Wells Report twice (okay, I skimmed the 100 deep-science pages about deflation rates), I felt the NFL had a load of damaging circumstantial evidence against Brady but nothing like a smoking gun that he directed his home-game footballs to be illegally under-inflated. Maybe in the day-long appeals hearing in June, Brady would bring something to the table to convince Goodell to soften the sanction.
But in the carefully crafted, brick-by-brick case built by the NFL in its 20-page smackdown of Brady on Tuesday, there was nothing to help him. (Certainly it’s possible that some pro-Brady stuff was excluded; we’ll see if that was the case when Brady’s side fights this in federal court.) The union called Goodell’s ruling “outrageous.’’ Brady’s agent, Don Yee, called the process “a sham.”
But the strong words couldn’t eclipse Goodell’s most damaging blow—that Brady directed that his cell phone used at the time of the AFC Championship Game be destroyed. Brady, according to Goodell, destroys former phones when he starts using new ones. But, also according to Goodell, Brady didn’t destroy the phone he used prior to the late-2014-season phone. Why?
Tuesday brought another day of public silence from Brady, even as the basic fact that neither Wells nor Goodell has produced definitive proof that Brady ordered the Code Red, that he told two football-preparers to doctor the balls to have less air pressure than the NFL’s mandated minimum of 12.5 pounds per square inch.
When they finally get to court, Brady’s lawyers will argue that the cell-phone destruction has zero merit in the case, because nowhere in the collective bargaining agreement does it say a player has to surrender his cell phone as part of any investigation.
The CBA calls for players to reasonably cooperate. Brady will say he did. But in the court of public opinion Tuesday night, the piece of evidence Goodell publicized in his ruling was the final straw to some who didn’t trust Brady anyway.
It’s not over. Brady may have a legal Hail Mary in him. But now, six weeks before opening night in Foxboro, even the league-is-out-to-get-us Bradyphiles in the six New England states have to admit: Brady is not giving us much reason to believe.
* * *
As a storm hit Foxboro and the home of the world champions late Tuesday afternoon, reality was setting in. A green unknown from Eastern Illinois, Jimmy Garoppolo, now will likely have to duel top quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger and Tony Romo in New England’s first and fourth games, sandwiched by facing top defensive coaches Rex Ryan (Buffalo) and Gus Bradley (Jacksonville) in games two and three.
Somehow—actually, right up until Tuesday afternoon, when the NFL reached out to the players’ union one final time to see if Brady’s reps would engage in serious talks on a disciplinary compromise—it always seemed a game or two or maybe three would get shaved from the ban.
But, two separate sources said, there was never a deal that was close, and the NFL never responded to a union offer of July 17 to try to settle. And a top union official, George Atallah, said Tuesday night: “No substantive discussions were had about terms, other than the union’s initial outreach. I cannot be clearer on this."
Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
Minus a settlement, the league wasn’t going to give Brady any benefit, particularly after the cell-phone destruction. Goodell’s ruling was more blunt than his original ruling in June, when he banned Brady for four games, fined the Patriots $1 million and docked the team first-round and fourth-round picks. Goodell also said definitively that the footballs used by New England’s offense in the AFC title game were tampered with.
The nuts and bolts of the Goodell ruling:
• He revealed that Brady “instructed his assistant to destroy the cellphone that he had been using” for about four months near the end of the season, including during the time the league accused Brady of participating in a scheme to reduce the air pressure in game footballs so they’d be more pliable, and more to his liking.
• The NFL accused Brady of obstruction. Goodell wrote: “Mr. Brady made a deliberate effort to ensure that investigators would never have access to information that he had been asked to produce … There was an affirmative effort by Mr. Brady to conceal potentially relevant evidence and to undermine the investigation.”
• Despite significant scientific claims to the contrary, Goodell went strong with his belief that air was removed from the New England footballs in the AFC Championship Game. “At least a substantial part of the decline was the result of tampering,” he wrote.
• Though the Wells Report said it was just more likely than not that Brady was a participant in the deflating of the football, or that Brady was “generally aware,” Goodell went much further. “Mr. Brady knew about, approved of, consented to, and provided inducements and rewards” supporting a system of tampering with the game balls, Goodell wrote.
So many questions are left this morning. The biggest: What are Brady’s chances in court? It's a fool's exercise to try to predict what will happen when the case goes before a judge, of course, but two points to consider here. The NFL is seeking to have Goodell’s appeal upheld in federal court in New York—friendlier than it would be, say, in New England if that’s where Brady’s side intends to seek relief for the quarterback.
This is precedent-setting, the NFL seeking a favorable venue simply to rule the league has done the right thing. Two league people could not remember that ever happening before, and certainly not in Goodell’s nine-year tenure. “The league’s playing offense now, not defense the way it was with the Rice case,” one club official said Tuesday night.
One legal expert suggested Tuesday night that Brady should be careful what he wishes for. If he barges ahead with the case in a venue such as New York—where a judge might not be inclined to enjoin the league, period, but likely wouldn’t agree to push a hearing back by six months, until the end of the NFL season—he would risk losing and being suspended for four games late in the season. Or even having the ban leak into January.
For now, Brady has to face the real possibility of something that’s happened roughly two games out of every 10 in his illustrious career.
Losing.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/29/tom-brady-im-very-disappointed-i-did-nothing-wrong/
Tom Brady: I’m very disappointed, I did nothing wrong
Posted by Michael David Smith on July 29, 2015
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has issued a statement denying any wrongdoing in Deflategate, and decrying NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s decision to suspend him for the first four games of the season.
“I am very disappointed by the NFL’s decision to uphold the 4 game suspension against me,” Brady wrote on Facebook. “I did nothing wrong, and no one in the Patriots organization did either.
“Despite submitting to hours of testimony over the past 6 months, it is disappointing that the Commissioner upheld my suspension based upon a standard that it was ‘probable’ that I was ‘generally aware’ of misconduct. The fact is that neither I, nor any equipment person, did anything of which we have been accused. He dismissed my hours of testimony and it is disappointing that he found it unreliable.
“I also disagree with yesterdays narrative surrounding my cellphone. I replaced my broken Samsung phone with a new iPhone 6 AFTER my attorneys made it clear to the NFL that my actual phone device would not be subjected to investigation under ANY circumstances.
As a member of a union, I was under no obligation to set a new precedent going forward, nor was I made aware at any time during Mr. Wells investigation, that failing to subject my cell phone to investigation would result in ANY discipline.
“Most importantly, I have never written, texted, emailed to anybody at anytime, anything related to football air pressure before this issue was raised at the AFC Championship game in January. To suggest that I destroyed a phone to avoid giving the NFL information it requested is completely wrong.
“To try and reconcile the record and fully cooperate with the investigation after I was disciplined in May, we turned over detailed pages of cell phone records and all of the emails that Mr. Wells requested. We even contacted the phone company to see if there was any possible way we could retrieve any/all of the actual text messages from my old phone. In short, we exhausted every possibility to give the NFL everything we could and offered to go thru the identity for every text and phone call during the relevant time.
Regardless, the NFL knows that Mr. Wells already had ALL relevant communications with Patriots personnel that either Mr. Wells saw or that I was questioned about in my appeal hearing. There is no ‘smoking gun’ and this controversy is manufactured to distract from the fact they have zero evidence of wrongdoing.
“I authorized the NFLPA to make a settlement offer to the NFL so that we could avoid going to court and put this inconsequential issue behind us as we move forward into this season. The discipline was upheld without any counter offer. I respect the Commissioners authority, but he also has to respect the CBA and my rights as a private citizen. I will not allow my unfair discipline to become a precedent for other NFL players without a fight.
“Lastly, I am overwhelmed and humbled by the support of family, friends and our fans who have supported me since the false accusations were made after the AFC Championship game. I look forward to the opportunity to resume playing with my teammates and winning more games for the New England Patriots.”
Although Brady didn’t specifically say so, his next step will be to go to court to attempt to have his suspension overturned. This battle isn’t over, and Brady doesn’t sound ready to give up the fight.
Stranger
How big is infinity?
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Stranger
How big is infinity?
- Joined
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very clever language here. "No one person" in the organization did anything wrong. He leaves open that the people acting collectively conspired to do something wrong. This language is very deliberate, and purposefully manipulative and deceiving.
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Click link below to watch video.
**************************
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/29/robert-kraft-tees-off-on/
Robert Kraft tees off on Brady ruling
Posted by Mike Florio on July 29, 2015
AP
[Editor’s note: On Wednesday morning, Patriots owner Robert Kraft unexpectedly provided a statement to the media before a previously-scheduled press conference from coach Bill Belichick. The full text of Robert Kraft’s statement appears below.]
I felt it was important to make a statement today, prior to the start of training camp. After this, I will not be talking about this matter until after the legal process plays itself out, and I would advise everyone in the organization to do the same and just concentrate on preparation for the 2015 season.
The decision handed down by the league yesterday is unfathomable to me. It is routine for discipline in the NFL to be reduced upon appeal. In the vast majority of these cases, there is tangible and hard evidence of the infraction for which the discipline is being imposed, and still the initial penalty gets reduced. Six months removed from the AFC championship game, the league still has no hard evidence of anybody doing anything to tamper with the PSI levels of footballs.
I continue to believe and unequivocally support Tom Brady. I first and foremost need to apologize to our fans, because I truly believe what I did in May, given the actual evidence of the situation and the league’s history on discipline matters, would make it much easier for the league to exonerate Tom Brady.
Unfortunately, I was wrong.
The league’s handling of this entire process has been extremely frustrating and disconcerting. I will never understand why an initial erroneous report regarding the PSI level of footballs was leaked by a source from the NFL a few days after the AFC championship game, [and] was never corrected by those who had the correct information. For four months, that report cast aspersions and shaped public opinion.
Yesterday’s decision by Commissioner was released in a similar manner, under an erroneous headline that read, “Tom Brady destroyed his cellphone.” This headline was designed to capture headlines across the country and obscure evidence regarding the tampering of air pressure in footballs.
It intentionally implied nefarious behavior and minimized the acknowledgement that Tom provided the history of every number he texted during that relevant time frame. And we had already provided the league with every cellphone of every non-NFLPA that they requested, including head coach Bill Belichick.
Tom Brady is a person of great integrity, and is a great ambassador of the game, both on and off the field. Yet for reasons that I cannot comprehend, there are those in the league office who are more determined to prove that they were right rather than admit any culpability of their own or take any responsibility for the initiation of a process and ensuing investigation that was flawed.
I have come to the conclusion that this was never about doing what was fair and just. Back in May, I had to make a difficult decision that I now regret. I tried to do what I thought was right. I chose not to take legal action. I wanted to return the focus to football.
I have been negotiating agreements on a global basis my entire life. I know there are times when you have to give up important points of principle to achieve a greater good. I acted in good faith and was optimistic that by taking the actions I took the league would have what they wanted. I was willing to accept the harshest penalty in the history of the NFL for an alleged ball violation because I believed it would help exonerate Tom.
I have often said, ‘If you want to get a deal done, sometimes you have to get the lawyers out of the room.’ I had hoped that Tom Brady’s appeal to the league would provide Roger Goodell the necessary explanation to overturn his suspension. Now, the league has taken the matter to court, which is a tactic that only a lawyer would recommend.
Once again, I want to apologize to the fans of the New England Patriots and Tom Brady. I was wrong to put my faith in the league. Given the facts, evidence, and laws of science that underscore this entire situation, it is completely incomprehensible to me that the league continues to take steps to disparage one of its all-time great players, and a man for whom I have the utmost respect.
Personally, this is very sad and disappointing to me.
**************************
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/29/robert-kraft-tees-off-on/
Robert Kraft tees off on Brady ruling
Posted by Mike Florio on July 29, 2015
[Editor’s note: On Wednesday morning, Patriots owner Robert Kraft unexpectedly provided a statement to the media before a previously-scheduled press conference from coach Bill Belichick. The full text of Robert Kraft’s statement appears below.]
I felt it was important to make a statement today, prior to the start of training camp. After this, I will not be talking about this matter until after the legal process plays itself out, and I would advise everyone in the organization to do the same and just concentrate on preparation for the 2015 season.
The decision handed down by the league yesterday is unfathomable to me. It is routine for discipline in the NFL to be reduced upon appeal. In the vast majority of these cases, there is tangible and hard evidence of the infraction for which the discipline is being imposed, and still the initial penalty gets reduced. Six months removed from the AFC championship game, the league still has no hard evidence of anybody doing anything to tamper with the PSI levels of footballs.
I continue to believe and unequivocally support Tom Brady. I first and foremost need to apologize to our fans, because I truly believe what I did in May, given the actual evidence of the situation and the league’s history on discipline matters, would make it much easier for the league to exonerate Tom Brady.
Unfortunately, I was wrong.
The league’s handling of this entire process has been extremely frustrating and disconcerting. I will never understand why an initial erroneous report regarding the PSI level of footballs was leaked by a source from the NFL a few days after the AFC championship game, [and] was never corrected by those who had the correct information. For four months, that report cast aspersions and shaped public opinion.
Yesterday’s decision by Commissioner was released in a similar manner, under an erroneous headline that read, “Tom Brady destroyed his cellphone.” This headline was designed to capture headlines across the country and obscure evidence regarding the tampering of air pressure in footballs.
It intentionally implied nefarious behavior and minimized the acknowledgement that Tom provided the history of every number he texted during that relevant time frame. And we had already provided the league with every cellphone of every non-NFLPA that they requested, including head coach Bill Belichick.
Tom Brady is a person of great integrity, and is a great ambassador of the game, both on and off the field. Yet for reasons that I cannot comprehend, there are those in the league office who are more determined to prove that they were right rather than admit any culpability of their own or take any responsibility for the initiation of a process and ensuing investigation that was flawed.
I have come to the conclusion that this was never about doing what was fair and just. Back in May, I had to make a difficult decision that I now regret. I tried to do what I thought was right. I chose not to take legal action. I wanted to return the focus to football.
I have been negotiating agreements on a global basis my entire life. I know there are times when you have to give up important points of principle to achieve a greater good. I acted in good faith and was optimistic that by taking the actions I took the league would have what they wanted. I was willing to accept the harshest penalty in the history of the NFL for an alleged ball violation because I believed it would help exonerate Tom.
I have often said, ‘If you want to get a deal done, sometimes you have to get the lawyers out of the room.’ I had hoped that Tom Brady’s appeal to the league would provide Roger Goodell the necessary explanation to overturn his suspension. Now, the league has taken the matter to court, which is a tactic that only a lawyer would recommend.
Once again, I want to apologize to the fans of the New England Patriots and Tom Brady. I was wrong to put my faith in the league. Given the facts, evidence, and laws of science that underscore this entire situation, it is completely incomprehensible to me that the league continues to take steps to disparage one of its all-time great players, and a man for whom I have the utmost respect.
Personally, this is very sad and disappointing to me.
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lol k Robert Kraft.Click link below to watch video.
**************************
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/29/robert-kraft-tees-off-on/
Robert Kraft tees off on Brady ruling
Posted by Mike Florio on July 29, 2015
AP
[Editor’s note: On Wednesday morning, Patriots owner Robert Kraft unexpectedly provided a statement to the media before a previously-scheduled press conference from coach Bill Belichick. The full text of Robert Kraft’s statement appears below.]
I felt it was important to make a statement today, prior to the start of training camp. After this, I will not be talking about this matter until after the legal process plays itself out, and I would advise everyone in the organization to do the same and just concentrate on preparation for the 2015 season.
The decision handed down by the league yesterday is unfathomable to me. It is routine for discipline in the NFL to be reduced upon appeal. In the vast majority of these cases, there is tangible and hard evidence of the infraction for which the discipline is being imposed, and still the initial penalty gets reduced. Six months removed from the AFC championship game, the league still has no hard evidence of anybody doing anything to tamper with the PSI levels of footballs.
I continue to believe and unequivocally support Tom Brady. I first and foremost need to apologize to our fans, because I truly believe what I did in May, given the actual evidence of the situation and the league’s history on discipline matters, would make it much easier for the league to exonerate Tom Brady.
Unfortunately, I was wrong.
The league’s handling of this entire process has been extremely frustrating and disconcerting. I will never understand why an initial erroneous report regarding the PSI level of footballs was leaked by a source from the NFL a few days after the AFC championship game, [and] was never corrected by those who had the correct information. For four months, that report cast aspersions and shaped public opinion.
Yesterday’s decision by Commissioner was released in a similar manner, under an erroneous headline that read, “Tom Brady destroyed his cellphone.” This headline was designed to capture headlines across the country and obscure evidence regarding the tampering of air pressure in footballs.
It intentionally implied nefarious behavior and minimized the acknowledgement that Tom provided the history of every number he texted during that relevant time frame. And we had already provided the league with every cellphone of every non-NFLPA that they requested, including head coach Bill Belichick.
Tom Brady is a person of great integrity, and is a great ambassador of the game, both on and off the field. Yet for reasons that I cannot comprehend, there are those in the league office who are more determined to prove that they were right rather than admit any culpability of their own or take any responsibility for the initiation of a process and ensuing investigation that was flawed.
I have come to the conclusion that this was never about doing what was fair and just. Back in May, I had to make a difficult decision that I now regret. I tried to do what I thought was right. I chose not to take legal action. I wanted to return the focus to football.
I have been negotiating agreements on a global basis my entire life. I know there are times when you have to give up important points of principle to achieve a greater good. I acted in good faith and was optimistic that by taking the actions I took the league would have what they wanted. I was willing to accept the harshest penalty in the history of the NFL for an alleged ball violation because I believed it would help exonerate Tom.
I have often said, ‘If you want to get a deal done, sometimes you have to get the lawyers out of the room.’ I had hoped that Tom Brady’s appeal to the league would provide Roger Goodell the necessary explanation to overturn his suspension. Now, the league has taken the matter to court, which is a tactic that only a lawyer would recommend.
Once again, I want to apologize to the fans of the New England Patriots and Tom Brady. I was wrong to put my faith in the league. Given the facts, evidence, and laws of science that underscore this entire situation, it is completely incomprehensible to me that the league continues to take steps to disparage one of its all-time great players, and a man for whom I have the utmost respect.
Personally, this is very sad and disappointing to me.
What a disgusting organization the Patriots are. You cheated. Just fucking admit it or let it go.
Stranger
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- Hugh
Not as unfathomable as watching your cheatriots cheat their way to several SB titles, including the one I had to watch against the Rams.
Great to see the league finally turn on the cheatriots. I hope this helps to create an environment where others now feel comfortable coming forward with the Truth.
sdakotaram
Rookie
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2014
- Messages
- 281
- Name
- sdakotaram
I'm so tired of the Pats what a POS organization they are. They have been proven cheaters......3 times (I'm sure there are more). Funny thing is they aren't that good unless they are cheating. NFL has gone out of the way to help them in the past (tuck rule/low hits on QB) now when they won't and sleezy Craft is crying about it. Screw the Pats. I wish Brady would have played back in the fearsome foursome/Youngblood days----they would have gotten him to quit in 1 year. Sorry about rant.....just so PO'd at a disgusting organization. :shooting:
LACHAMP46
A snazzy title
- Joined
- Jul 21, 2013
- Messages
- 11,735
Chris Long on deflated ballz
A Player’s Take on Deflategate
Jan 27 2015
Photographs by USA TODAY Sports
Chris Long
Social Media Editor
The 24-hour news cycle has an insatiable appetite. The phenomenon was no more apparent in the slow week between the playoffs and the Super Bowl. Just as media everywhere braced for the silence, a miracle happened. D’Qwell Jackson, a linebacker for the Colts, intercepted a football.
This wasn’t any ordinary football. You see, it had less air in it than usual. To the Colts, that seemed to be a big deal. The guy who unintentionally tossed him the rock is kind of a big deal, too. If you haven’t been living in a bunker with no Wi-Fi, a mile under an enormous rock this week, you know the rest of the story. But is this really just a convenient scoop, gift-wrapped for the media to stretch into an epic saga when they needed it most, or is this a legacy-altering scandal for Brady, Belichick and the Patriots?
Don’t get me wrong, Deflategate is the perfect storm of media and sports hype. It’s entertaining. It’s an equal opportunity touchdown of a story, accessible to the most well versed football analysts and your favorite cable news “personality” alike. It isn’t about unbalanced sets or the read option or Cover 2. It’s about air in a football. Air. Everyone knows a bit about that. Cue the experts!
Speaking of entertainment, we saw it all this week: morning show hosts clutching deflated pigskins, scientists theorizing on ESPN, and even government officials weighing in on the firmness of our nation’s footballs. The icing on the cake for me was seeing advertisers rushing to cash in on the chaos with their own best shot at a clever commercial. Krispy Kreme was one of the most notable. I even saw Maker’s Mark take an awkward shot at it. (Just another reason I prefer Jack Daniels.) And of course, it’s not a scandal until you throw a “-gate” on the end of it. Oh, and it rhymes. Bingo. Deflategate.
As an NFL player, watching Deflategate unfold (maybe explode is the better word) has been all the more surreal. I should have all the answers about how a football is supposed to look and feel. As a defensive end, however, when it comes to possessing the football, I’m just a fan with really good seats. I’ve probably handled the pigskin in a game about five times in seven years. The ball could turn into a small house pet in my hands and I wouldn’t notice. When I’m lucky enough to get the ball, I’m one of those kid-on-Christmas-morning defensive players who’s just trying not to pull a Leon Lett.
I’ve probably handled the pigskin in a game about five times in seven years. The ball could turn into a small house pet in my hands and I wouldn’t notice.
You want to know who handles the football more than anyone on the field? The refs. I’m not only talking about the pre-game inspection process. I’m talking about throughout the game, in between every play. Now, I’m not saying that an NFL referee should be a human psi (pounds per square inch) reading machine. (Silicon Valley, get on that.) But if a football feels so obviously different at 11 psi than it does at 13.5 psi — enough to argue that it lends a team a competitive advantage — maybe the best officials on the planet should have noticed something was awry that night at Gillette.
Another thing that was awry that night was the weather. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, who’ve been playing together in the AFC East for the last 15 years, know something about cold, wet weather. They seem to play their best when the temperature drops and snow or rain is falling. So if you believe Tom and Bill have been using deflated footballs, game in and game out, for a decade and a half, why is this the first time we’re hearing about it? That’s all the way back to 2001. You know how long ago that was? The first PT Cruiser came out in 2001. Creed was killing it in 2001. So either the Patriots have been doctoring footballs in every big game since Mulholland Drive was in theaters, or they’ve simply mastered the art of winning no matter the conditions.
Deflategate has also turned a lot of people into scientists. The scientist in me (also known as the dude who googles stuff) can see valid points on both sides of Deflategate. One guy I noticed last week was the host of the ESPN’s Sport Science, John Brenkus (a trustworthy University of Virginia grad at that). He concluded that “underinflated balls had a miniscule effect on any given play.” As ESPN’s authority on the the intersection of physics and sports, I couldn’t help but wonder if he made the folks in Bristol a little uncomfortable. The mothership has tirelessly led the effort to make Deflategate a spectacle.
Regardless, those physics folks have tended to agree on one thing: Changes in temperature can alter game ball pressure, changing the magic psi number in a big way. Both teams’ game balls were examined at halftime. Why were 11 of 12 Patriots footballs underinflated at the half while all of the Colts’ footballs remained “normal”? Common sense says that it’s likely there was some sort of human intervention, from someone in the Patriots camp. (Who it was, and why they did it, will give us a better idea of the necessary punishment.) But hypothetically, what if a team naturally prefers their footballs more inflated? They could overinflate the game balls to balance for the loss of pressure in the colder temperatures. That would be ludicrous right? What kind of idiot likes more air in their footballs?
A guy named Aaron Rodgers does. He likes them inflated to the max. Aaron Rodgers has reportedly said that he likes to “push the limit” on football air pressure. I feel sorry for Jordy Nelson catching those bullets up there in that brisk Green Bay climate. Then again I don’t because it must be nice having the best quarterback in the league throwing you passes, and the best quarterback also seems to employ a bit of gamesmanship. As Brenkus said this week on Sport Science, an overinflated football actually travels faster. How’s that for an advantage?
Doctoring of game balls is nothing new — it’s just new to the public (and new to guys like me who, sadly, never get to tote the rock).
So it seems that the doctoring of game balls is nothing new — it’s just new to the public (and new to guys like me who, sadly, never get to tote the rock). As recently as this November, cameras caught the Panthers and Vikings using sideline heaters to heat up their footballs because game temperatures were hovering in the teens. According to NFL VP of Officiating Dean Blandino, this was a violation of league rules. But what kind of violation — a grievous ethical one, or something more gray? Another example: former Buccaneers QB Brad Johnson has admitted paying $7,500 to have his footballs doctored to his specifications for Super Bowl XXXVII, a game in which the Bucs cruised to a 48-21 victory. He freely and openly offered up that information. No one’s calling Brad Johnson’s legacy into question (and they shouldn’t).
The thing about Deflategate is that you can marshal an argument to support each and every side. You might think I’m carrying water for the Patriots, but I’m actually not. As an NFL player, I can admire Brady’s career and still ask critical questions. Someone defending the Patriots could point out that the Pats outscored the Colts 28-0 in the second half, after the deflated footballs had been replaced. (It was a competitive game, at 17-7, at the end of the first half.) They could also bring up the fact that two out of three of Brady’s TD passes came in the second half, or that his only interception came in the first. Brady also threw for more yards in the second half (131 versus 95) and had eight fewer incompletions. Basically, the change didn’t seem to rattle him. Maybe this sample size is too small to prove a point. I’m sure, however, that if the Patriots had played miserably in the second half and lost the game, everyone calling for an asterisk next to the busts of Belichick and Brady in Canton would lead with that argument.
And what about the run game? What effect does a football’s pressure have on a team’s rushing? LeGarrette Blount rushed for 148 yards and the Patriots didn’t fumble once that night. For years now, the Patriots have been elite when it comes to protecting the football. I’ve heard stories of the Patriots running drills with soaking wet, slick footballs. My college coach and good friend Al Groh is one of the tougher branches on the Belichick coaching tree, so I’m familiar with this style of coaching. As another coach told me, you get what you emphasize. This emphasis has been paying off for years. But that’s just the football player in me talking.
This story isn’t as much about air pressure as it is about the cult of the New England Patriots.
Let’s get down to it: this story isn’t as much about air pressure as it is about the cult of the New England Patriots. The Patriots are really good at two things: winning football games and not giving a shit what you think about them. This modus operandi has earned the Patriots an equal number of fans and haters. One thing that drives people crazy is Belichick’s “less is more” school of media engagement. Media relations, after all, is a game. It involves three parties: the teams, the media and the fans. All three groups know it’s a game, but if a player or a coach doesn’t play ball, people get pissed. Bill Belichick is not only a Hall of Fame coach, but he is also the undisputed heavyweight champion when it comes to flustering members of the media. I find it hard to believe Deflategate would be as big of a story without Belichick and Brady as the villains. Anybody heard about the recent Cleveland Browns texting allegations? I didn’t think so.
It all came to a crescendo this week, as all eyes were fixed on Foxborough. This had to be it. We’d finally see contrition. We’d get our coveted admission of guilt. We’d finally see Tom Brady and Bill Belichick sheepishly take the podium and whisper “mercy.” But all Tom and Bill proceeded to do was twist the knife. Tom stuck to his story. And so did Bill. Days later, Belichick stole the show by calling an impromptu press conference and pulling the ultimate “have some” maneuver: he made the media wait, strolled in on his own schedule and went all Isaac Newton. The media, longing to get Coach Belichick’s time and attention for years, finally had it: in the form of a physics lesson. It was beautiful.
I never thought a story about the science of football could be so entertaining, thought provoking and funny. (I even stumbled upon an article titled “What Can I Tell My Kids About Deflategate?” so you can add “disturbing” to this list of adjectives.) This mess will change the future of the league. Starting after the Super Bowl. The least self-serving thing the NFL can do mid-Super Bowl week is release some damning grainy video of sideline footage — if they have it. You’d also better believe sideline protocol will be forever changed. League officials will sit in some crow’s nest in NYC monitoring the sideline like Saul in Homeland. (Look on the bright side, at least this might create jobs.)
Bill Belichick is not only a Hall of Fame coach, but he is also the undisputed heavyweight champion when it comes to flustering members of the media.
The real storyline this week should be about one of the most exciting, evenly matched Super Bowls in recent memory. It should be about Brady and Belichick’s last and best chance to take their place in history alongside Noll and Bradshaw, Walsh and Montana. But as usual, some members of the media chose to go after the low hanging fruit.
I’m not saying the Patriots should skate free. If it comes out that the Patriots are guilty of bending or breaking league rules, they should be punished. But we should wait for an investigation to play out. Even today, Patriots owner Robert Kraft doubled down on the the team’s innocence, maintaining he believes “unconditionally that the New England Patriots have done nothing inappropriate.”
No matter what comes of this, I don’t think I’ll be questioning the Patriots’ legacy. But that’s just one man’s opinion. Football is a profoundly difficult game. You could pair countless quarterbacks with countless head coaches and give them a bag of magic footballs and they’d still struggle to win a playoff game. Tom and Bill have won 20 (a record), with an ever-changing cast of characters in an ever-changing league. This Sunday’s Super Bowl may be one of their most difficult tasks yet. The Seahawks are as physical and complete a football team as I’ve seen in my seven years in the league. Beating them takes a hell of an effort. As a player, I know. We’ve been fortunate enough to beat them a few times, and we’ve always appreciated how special it was.
I know this for sure: the most perfect, pristine footballs of all time will be flying around that field in Glendale, Arizona this weekend. If the smoke clears on Monday and the Patriots are world champions, my hope is that everyone will appreciate the Patriots for sustaining one of the great runs by a franchise in league history. Either way, Bill Belichick won’t care what you think.
Chris Long
Social Media Editor
A Player’s Take on Deflategate
Jan 27 2015
Photographs by USA TODAY Sports
Chris Long
Social Media Editor
The 24-hour news cycle has an insatiable appetite. The phenomenon was no more apparent in the slow week between the playoffs and the Super Bowl. Just as media everywhere braced for the silence, a miracle happened. D’Qwell Jackson, a linebacker for the Colts, intercepted a football.
This wasn’t any ordinary football. You see, it had less air in it than usual. To the Colts, that seemed to be a big deal. The guy who unintentionally tossed him the rock is kind of a big deal, too. If you haven’t been living in a bunker with no Wi-Fi, a mile under an enormous rock this week, you know the rest of the story. But is this really just a convenient scoop, gift-wrapped for the media to stretch into an epic saga when they needed it most, or is this a legacy-altering scandal for Brady, Belichick and the Patriots?
Don’t get me wrong, Deflategate is the perfect storm of media and sports hype. It’s entertaining. It’s an equal opportunity touchdown of a story, accessible to the most well versed football analysts and your favorite cable news “personality” alike. It isn’t about unbalanced sets or the read option or Cover 2. It’s about air in a football. Air. Everyone knows a bit about that. Cue the experts!
Speaking of entertainment, we saw it all this week: morning show hosts clutching deflated pigskins, scientists theorizing on ESPN, and even government officials weighing in on the firmness of our nation’s footballs. The icing on the cake for me was seeing advertisers rushing to cash in on the chaos with their own best shot at a clever commercial. Krispy Kreme was one of the most notable. I even saw Maker’s Mark take an awkward shot at it. (Just another reason I prefer Jack Daniels.) And of course, it’s not a scandal until you throw a “-gate” on the end of it. Oh, and it rhymes. Bingo. Deflategate.
As an NFL player, watching Deflategate unfold (maybe explode is the better word) has been all the more surreal. I should have all the answers about how a football is supposed to look and feel. As a defensive end, however, when it comes to possessing the football, I’m just a fan with really good seats. I’ve probably handled the pigskin in a game about five times in seven years. The ball could turn into a small house pet in my hands and I wouldn’t notice. When I’m lucky enough to get the ball, I’m one of those kid-on-Christmas-morning defensive players who’s just trying not to pull a Leon Lett.
I’ve probably handled the pigskin in a game about five times in seven years. The ball could turn into a small house pet in my hands and I wouldn’t notice.
You want to know who handles the football more than anyone on the field? The refs. I’m not only talking about the pre-game inspection process. I’m talking about throughout the game, in between every play. Now, I’m not saying that an NFL referee should be a human psi (pounds per square inch) reading machine. (Silicon Valley, get on that.) But if a football feels so obviously different at 11 psi than it does at 13.5 psi — enough to argue that it lends a team a competitive advantage — maybe the best officials on the planet should have noticed something was awry that night at Gillette.
Another thing that was awry that night was the weather. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick, who’ve been playing together in the AFC East for the last 15 years, know something about cold, wet weather. They seem to play their best when the temperature drops and snow or rain is falling. So if you believe Tom and Bill have been using deflated footballs, game in and game out, for a decade and a half, why is this the first time we’re hearing about it? That’s all the way back to 2001. You know how long ago that was? The first PT Cruiser came out in 2001. Creed was killing it in 2001. So either the Patriots have been doctoring footballs in every big game since Mulholland Drive was in theaters, or they’ve simply mastered the art of winning no matter the conditions.
Deflategate has also turned a lot of people into scientists. The scientist in me (also known as the dude who googles stuff) can see valid points on both sides of Deflategate. One guy I noticed last week was the host of the ESPN’s Sport Science, John Brenkus (a trustworthy University of Virginia grad at that). He concluded that “underinflated balls had a miniscule effect on any given play.” As ESPN’s authority on the the intersection of physics and sports, I couldn’t help but wonder if he made the folks in Bristol a little uncomfortable. The mothership has tirelessly led the effort to make Deflategate a spectacle.
Regardless, those physics folks have tended to agree on one thing: Changes in temperature can alter game ball pressure, changing the magic psi number in a big way. Both teams’ game balls were examined at halftime. Why were 11 of 12 Patriots footballs underinflated at the half while all of the Colts’ footballs remained “normal”? Common sense says that it’s likely there was some sort of human intervention, from someone in the Patriots camp. (Who it was, and why they did it, will give us a better idea of the necessary punishment.) But hypothetically, what if a team naturally prefers their footballs more inflated? They could overinflate the game balls to balance for the loss of pressure in the colder temperatures. That would be ludicrous right? What kind of idiot likes more air in their footballs?
A guy named Aaron Rodgers does. He likes them inflated to the max. Aaron Rodgers has reportedly said that he likes to “push the limit” on football air pressure. I feel sorry for Jordy Nelson catching those bullets up there in that brisk Green Bay climate. Then again I don’t because it must be nice having the best quarterback in the league throwing you passes, and the best quarterback also seems to employ a bit of gamesmanship. As Brenkus said this week on Sport Science, an overinflated football actually travels faster. How’s that for an advantage?
Doctoring of game balls is nothing new — it’s just new to the public (and new to guys like me who, sadly, never get to tote the rock).
So it seems that the doctoring of game balls is nothing new — it’s just new to the public (and new to guys like me who, sadly, never get to tote the rock). As recently as this November, cameras caught the Panthers and Vikings using sideline heaters to heat up their footballs because game temperatures were hovering in the teens. According to NFL VP of Officiating Dean Blandino, this was a violation of league rules. But what kind of violation — a grievous ethical one, or something more gray? Another example: former Buccaneers QB Brad Johnson has admitted paying $7,500 to have his footballs doctored to his specifications for Super Bowl XXXVII, a game in which the Bucs cruised to a 48-21 victory. He freely and openly offered up that information. No one’s calling Brad Johnson’s legacy into question (and they shouldn’t).
The thing about Deflategate is that you can marshal an argument to support each and every side. You might think I’m carrying water for the Patriots, but I’m actually not. As an NFL player, I can admire Brady’s career and still ask critical questions. Someone defending the Patriots could point out that the Pats outscored the Colts 28-0 in the second half, after the deflated footballs had been replaced. (It was a competitive game, at 17-7, at the end of the first half.) They could also bring up the fact that two out of three of Brady’s TD passes came in the second half, or that his only interception came in the first. Brady also threw for more yards in the second half (131 versus 95) and had eight fewer incompletions. Basically, the change didn’t seem to rattle him. Maybe this sample size is too small to prove a point. I’m sure, however, that if the Patriots had played miserably in the second half and lost the game, everyone calling for an asterisk next to the busts of Belichick and Brady in Canton would lead with that argument.
And what about the run game? What effect does a football’s pressure have on a team’s rushing? LeGarrette Blount rushed for 148 yards and the Patriots didn’t fumble once that night. For years now, the Patriots have been elite when it comes to protecting the football. I’ve heard stories of the Patriots running drills with soaking wet, slick footballs. My college coach and good friend Al Groh is one of the tougher branches on the Belichick coaching tree, so I’m familiar with this style of coaching. As another coach told me, you get what you emphasize. This emphasis has been paying off for years. But that’s just the football player in me talking.
This story isn’t as much about air pressure as it is about the cult of the New England Patriots.
Let’s get down to it: this story isn’t as much about air pressure as it is about the cult of the New England Patriots. The Patriots are really good at two things: winning football games and not giving a shit what you think about them. This modus operandi has earned the Patriots an equal number of fans and haters. One thing that drives people crazy is Belichick’s “less is more” school of media engagement. Media relations, after all, is a game. It involves three parties: the teams, the media and the fans. All three groups know it’s a game, but if a player or a coach doesn’t play ball, people get pissed. Bill Belichick is not only a Hall of Fame coach, but he is also the undisputed heavyweight champion when it comes to flustering members of the media. I find it hard to believe Deflategate would be as big of a story without Belichick and Brady as the villains. Anybody heard about the recent Cleveland Browns texting allegations? I didn’t think so.
It all came to a crescendo this week, as all eyes were fixed on Foxborough. This had to be it. We’d finally see contrition. We’d get our coveted admission of guilt. We’d finally see Tom Brady and Bill Belichick sheepishly take the podium and whisper “mercy.” But all Tom and Bill proceeded to do was twist the knife. Tom stuck to his story. And so did Bill. Days later, Belichick stole the show by calling an impromptu press conference and pulling the ultimate “have some” maneuver: he made the media wait, strolled in on his own schedule and went all Isaac Newton. The media, longing to get Coach Belichick’s time and attention for years, finally had it: in the form of a physics lesson. It was beautiful.
I never thought a story about the science of football could be so entertaining, thought provoking and funny. (I even stumbled upon an article titled “What Can I Tell My Kids About Deflategate?” so you can add “disturbing” to this list of adjectives.) This mess will change the future of the league. Starting after the Super Bowl. The least self-serving thing the NFL can do mid-Super Bowl week is release some damning grainy video of sideline footage — if they have it. You’d also better believe sideline protocol will be forever changed. League officials will sit in some crow’s nest in NYC monitoring the sideline like Saul in Homeland. (Look on the bright side, at least this might create jobs.)
Bill Belichick is not only a Hall of Fame coach, but he is also the undisputed heavyweight champion when it comes to flustering members of the media.
The real storyline this week should be about one of the most exciting, evenly matched Super Bowls in recent memory. It should be about Brady and Belichick’s last and best chance to take their place in history alongside Noll and Bradshaw, Walsh and Montana. But as usual, some members of the media chose to go after the low hanging fruit.
I’m not saying the Patriots should skate free. If it comes out that the Patriots are guilty of bending or breaking league rules, they should be punished. But we should wait for an investigation to play out. Even today, Patriots owner Robert Kraft doubled down on the the team’s innocence, maintaining he believes “unconditionally that the New England Patriots have done nothing inappropriate.”
No matter what comes of this, I don’t think I’ll be questioning the Patriots’ legacy. But that’s just one man’s opinion. Football is a profoundly difficult game. You could pair countless quarterbacks with countless head coaches and give them a bag of magic footballs and they’d still struggle to win a playoff game. Tom and Bill have won 20 (a record), with an ever-changing cast of characters in an ever-changing league. This Sunday’s Super Bowl may be one of their most difficult tasks yet. The Seahawks are as physical and complete a football team as I’ve seen in my seven years in the league. Beating them takes a hell of an effort. As a player, I know. We’ve been fortunate enough to beat them a few times, and we’ve always appreciated how special it was.
I know this for sure: the most perfect, pristine footballs of all time will be flying around that field in Glendale, Arizona this weekend. If the smoke clears on Monday and the Patriots are world champions, my hope is that everyone will appreciate the Patriots for sustaining one of the great runs by a franchise in league history. Either way, Bill Belichick won’t care what you think.
Chris Long
Social Media Editor
Mikey Ram
Hall of Fame
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2014
- Messages
- 3,398
- Name
- Mike
Brady remains the lying POS right to the end..Now he is outraged that the suspension was upheld...He insists that he has done nothing wrong...His phone was "broken" and he asked the phone company if any of the info could be retrieved...Kraft regrets cooperating with the investigation because his bedmate Goodell didn't do what he wanted...Tom POS says he did everything they asked with regard to cooperating with the investigation...What a sack o' crap organization...And, as is so often the case, it starts at the top...Brady acts like he has the support of fans everywhere, when in fact I'm sure it extends no further than the lemmings of the New England area...I'm so sick of that pile of shit "team" that I don't care what happens to them at this point...It's obvious that they will never fess up to anything, regardless of the amount and quality of proof...Oh wow, suddenly feel like the sun has risen and it will be a beautiful day...I have never, and will never, wish injury upon any member of the NFL...Having said that, I'm very close to making an exception right now...
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2014
- Messages
- 20,922
- Name
- Peter
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...-eye-out-for-patriots-fans-at-goodells-house/
NFL asks police to keep an eye out for Patriots fans at Goodell’s house
Posted by Michael David Smith on July 29, 2015
Getty Images
The NFL is reportedly concerned about Commissioner Roger Goodell’s personal safety as a result of his decision to suspend Tom Brady for the first four games of the season.
According to the Portland Press Herald, Goodell owns a $6.5 million house in Scarborough, Maine, an area where most fans’ allegiance is to the Patriots. As a result, the NFL contacted Scarborough police just before Goodell announced his decision to uphold Brady’s suspension.
“They did reach out and let us know about the decision and that it might not be popular,” said Scarborough Police Chief Robbie Moulton.
Moulton added that there have been no problems or threats, but the police department is aware of the possibility of fans expressing their displeasure if Goodell makes an unpopular decision.
“We’re aware of the situation and will be patrolling the area certainly,” Moulton said. “In the past, when there have been unpopular decisions, there have been emails and things. I wouldn’t say it rose to the level of threats, but certainly expressing unhappiness.”
It should go without saying that Goodell and his family should be free of threats and harassment in their own home. If Goodell is concerned about the reactions of Patriots fans around his home, however, it will probably be a long time before he takes in a game at Gillette Stadium.
----------
Especially that guy in the hoodie dealing Three Card Monte. Dat guy cheats! Don’t let him set up in front of Rogers house….
NFL asks police to keep an eye out for Patriots fans at Goodell’s house
Posted by Michael David Smith on July 29, 2015
The NFL is reportedly concerned about Commissioner Roger Goodell’s personal safety as a result of his decision to suspend Tom Brady for the first four games of the season.
According to the Portland Press Herald, Goodell owns a $6.5 million house in Scarborough, Maine, an area where most fans’ allegiance is to the Patriots. As a result, the NFL contacted Scarborough police just before Goodell announced his decision to uphold Brady’s suspension.
“They did reach out and let us know about the decision and that it might not be popular,” said Scarborough Police Chief Robbie Moulton.
Moulton added that there have been no problems or threats, but the police department is aware of the possibility of fans expressing their displeasure if Goodell makes an unpopular decision.
“We’re aware of the situation and will be patrolling the area certainly,” Moulton said. “In the past, when there have been unpopular decisions, there have been emails and things. I wouldn’t say it rose to the level of threats, but certainly expressing unhappiness.”
It should go without saying that Goodell and his family should be free of threats and harassment in their own home. If Goodell is concerned about the reactions of Patriots fans around his home, however, it will probably be a long time before he takes in a game at Gillette Stadium.
----------
Especially that guy in the hoodie dealing Three Card Monte. Dat guy cheats! Don’t let him set up in front of Rogers house….
RAGRam
Pro Bowler
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2015
- Messages
- 1,150
-X-
Medium-sized Lebowski
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2010
- Messages
- 35,576
- Name
- The Dude
rams2050
Starter
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2011
- Messages
- 588
When Brady does take the field, especially at away games, the non-Cheatriots' fans are going to be freakin' brutal. The signs and the jeers will be EPIC, especially in places like Baltimore and New York where there is no love lost anyway between the two teams.
And I cannot freaking wait!!!
Does that make me EVIL???
Know what? If it does I just DON'T CARE!!!
And I cannot freaking wait!!!
Does that make me EVIL???
Know what? If it does I just DON'T CARE!!!
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2014
- Messages
- 5,342
Frankly, I was surprised it was that low.
http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/the_nfls_corporate_welfare.php
CodeMonkey
Possibly the OH but cannot self-identify
- Joined
- Jun 20, 2014
- Messages
- 3,449
I sort of feel sorry for Cheat appologists and their sad attempts at rationalization in the comments on these news stories and elsewhere. I find it amazing that people will force themselves believe anything to avoid dissonance of thought. The longer I live the more I understand how things like Nazi Germany can happen.
