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Speculation Thread: What do you think happened at Deflategate? (Merge)


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If you think the NFL "squashes" this on media day you are DELUSIONAL. Every news outlet not just the ones afraid of getting on BBs bad side will be there to rip them to shreds all week. It will be a CIRCUS. Last Thursday was the highway at 4 am, this week will be the highway at rush hour.

It has been reported that the players association has given its protection of all players for discussing the investigation saying they are not to comment and can use the PA as its shield. So yeah, it has been squashed.

 

http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/id/12221287/nflpa-advises-players-not-comment-deflategate-investigation-matthew-slater-new-england-patriots-says

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It has been reported that the players association has given its protection of all players for discussing the investigation saying they are not to comment and can use the PA as its shield. So yeah, it has been squashed.

http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/id/12221287/nflpa-advises-players-not-comment-deflategate-investigation-matthew-slater-new-england-patriots-says

That doesn't stop the media from bombarding us with the story especially at media day when now no player apparently can speak to it.

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I am not saying I have the answer to that or that the Pats did not do it but I am not the one that needs to prove it either. The NFL does. That has been my whole point and why ball tampering is insanely difficult to prove. This is what we were al saying from the get go when the news of the investigation came about. You have to prove it. The footballs don't prove who did it or who was ordered to do it.

 

My best guess is some equipment guy may talk for the fall for this and say he acted independently knowing that Brady likes the ball on the low end of the psi scale and with the bad weather he let some air out. But honestly, the way the Pats so defiantly said they didn't know on Thursday and Brady defended his ball boys, makes me believe the NFL will not find anything. Time will tell ...

 

 

They , IMO , don't really need to prove anything other than the weather couldn't have "REASONABLY" been accountable for 11 of 12 balls being exactly 2 PSI under while the Colt balls checked out OK. Have you ever watched a court TV channel ? People are convicted consistently with less circumstantial evidence than there is in this case. 

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I don't know why you keep saying this?    This isn't the first time.

 

There's a dead body found in your home.    And you're residents are the only ones with motive to kill.

 

The Patriots football's were found seriously below the minimum allowed pressure.    The Pats (and especially Brady) are the only ones with interest in doing this.    And they're the only ones with access to making it happen.     The fact that the NFL may never find out exactly who did it doesn't mean much.  

 

It.      Was.      Done.

 

I think the reason Brady said was he said at his presser is that he didn't want to risk being suspended for the Super Bowl.

 

I think if the NFL had privately told Brady he'd be allowed to play but fined 100k or 250k he might have admitted to being a part of it.     But absent that,  without any reassurance from the NFL, I think Brady is taking a stance that you can't punish me if you can't prove it's me.

 

OK.....

 

But I think the NFL will hammer the Pats somewhere down the road.    I'd expect a fine and a loss of draft pick(s)....    You can't reward the Pats for not confessing or the NFL not being able to find the exact guilty party.   Because if you do,  you're incentivizing cheating.

 

And Kraft will, of course,  apologize....   He's not going to complain,  at least not publicly.

We'll see how it turns out but I don't expect much of a punishment without proof of who did it and chain of command.

 

One other tidbit that is important here that I don't think anyone has mentioned, the rule book states that punishment can be increased based on the degree of competitive advantage gained. Everyone agrees that whatever advantage the Pats gained was minimal and did not alter the outcome of the game and that is why I believe in the NFL report they stated that they made the Pats play with inflated balls in the second half as the Pats scored 28 points vs 17 from first half to the second in worse weather conditions. That will be important point when determining punishment if any.

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They , IMO , don't really need to prove anything other than the weather couldn't have "REASONABLY" been accountable for 11 of 12 balls being exactly 2 PSI under while the Colt balls checked out OK. Have you ever watched a court TV channel ? People are convicted consistently with less circumstantial evidence than there is in this case. 

I think weather has been ruled out but I guess my question would be if they don't need anything else to throw the book at the Pats then why not have done it already and why hire an investigative team?

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We'll see how it turns out but I don't expect much of a punishment without proof of who did it and chain of command.

 

One other tidbit that is important here that I don't think anyone has mentioned, the rule book states that punishment can be increased based on the degree of competitive advantage gained. Everyone agrees that whatever advantage the Pats gained was minimal and did not alter the outcome of the game and that is why I believe in the NFL report they stated that they made the Pats play with inflated balls in the second half as the Pats scored 28 points vs 17 from first half to the second in worse weather conditions. That will be important point when determining punishment if any.

You really are dreaming The competitive advantage has to include the colts playing from behind! I dont know why I bother You have your head in the clouds .If they give the fair and just punishment BB is gone for a year and TB has all his stats marked with an astrick

Why would anyone else deflate the balls? Simple question , Answer is they wouldnt

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I think weather has been ruled out but I guess my question would be if they don't need anything else to throw the book at the Pats then why not have done it already and why hire an investigative team?

I just heard on the radio that the Pats have called a news conference to make a "significant announcement". Have you heard that too? (I quoted this only to ask you this question.)

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It has been reported that the players association has given its protection of all players for discussing the investigation saying they are not to comment and can use the PA as its shield. So yeah, it has been squashed.

http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/id/12221287/nflpa-advises-players-not-comment-deflategate-investigation-matthew-slater-new-england-patriots-says

no, no it hasnt. keep wishing though

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Its supposedly Brady, but I dont know. There is a live stream @ the patriots web site.

There are alot of nervous nellys on the pats board right now.

I saw that. It's generally not a good thing when the same person gives 2 news conferences in back to back days about an alleged scandal when there hasn't been any new development. Of course, it could also be nothing.
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If this is bad it's smart of them to do it when only herbs like tom curran are there instead of people asking real questions like why do these cheating scandals only follow this team

Yep my thinking too. I think they say they were doing their own investigation and found the culprit ... just guessing ...

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I think weather has been ruled out but I guess my question would be if they don't need anything else to throw the book at the Pats then why not have done it already and why hire an investigative team?

 

 

Because they want to know who was responsible for deflating the balls.

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Here is my theory, based on all the official and unofficial reports on this subject. If there are reports out there that contradict this, let me know.

After the regular season Colts Pats matchup, members of the Colts front office talked to the league office regarding their concerns that the Pats were using an under inflated football. This came up after a Mike Adams interception that felt' unusual'. The league assured the Colts they would look into it.

The league, they realize this is a loosely enforced rule. Pressure is checked before the game starts, but without suspicion, the "part time" referees are not trained to notice a difference in the football. The written rules are ambiguous and the equipment staff would have ample time to privately tamper with the footballs, if they chose to, before opening kick off.

Consistent with the way the league handled the Spygate and Bounty allegations, the NFL privately sends a letter to the Patriots detailing the allegations and politely telling them "if you are doing this, then stop. If this comes up again, there will be penalties."

The NFL doesn't want to suggest at this point that the Patriots may be getting an advantage by doing this. They don't want the story getting out at all, not in the aftermath of the Ray rice story and Goodell being at an all time low in job security, so the NFL chooses not to investigate further.

Fast forward to the AFC championship game. Colts staff are frustrated the league didn't act. They are upset about the ineligible formations the Pats used against Baltimore. They are offended by Brady's claim that the Ravens "clearly need to study the rule book." They inform the defensive players of their suspicions and inform them "if you get your hands on one of the Pats football's, bring them to our sideline so our guys can look at em."

Sure enough, Dqwell gets one right before half time, and the Colts equipment staff check a it. Its under inflated, just as expected. The Colts caught them. Pagano confirms it with Grigson, and it is reported to the referees and the league office. The Colts pressure the league to act, and the league checks the Pats football's at half time...only to confirm the Colts suspicions. Pagano goes into the locker room at half time telling his defensive players that the game is over...they caught em. They are using a fixed football. Stay calm, stay quiet and respect the process. The referees are confirming it as we speak.

But the Colts are shocked at the beginning of the third quarter when the referees inexplicably repump the balls and instruct the players to resume the game, directions that came from the league office. They can't delay the game to "figure it out", and they don't want it all unfolding on national television.

The Colts defense goes on the field in the second half confused and emotionally overwhelmed by the fact that the referees have not stopped play. The Pats, seeing this all unfolding, get fired up and see their opportunity. They take over the 3rd quarter against a distracted Colts defense who suddenly no longer have the mental capability to diagnose the Pats deceptive receiver plays, and are taking bad tackling angles on running plays. They can't get a turn over, Luck can't get anything going in the rain storm and eventually the "will to win" of the defense breaks. Final score 45 to 7 and a lot of dejected Colts who believe they got cheated. A lot of Colts who were completely taken off guard by the whole incident abd flabbergasted that the referees and league office never stopped play to "thoroughly investigate". Someone, a coach, executive, player or witness goes to Indianapolis Star writer Bob Kravitz and fills him in with the story. Kravitz, bitter about Spygate and the countless times the Pats have beaten the Colts....he relishes the fact that he is the one to break this story. The version of the story Kravitz publishes indicates that the league had prior knowledge of this and that the Colts forced the league to act on this. This is a bad look for the league, and a bad look for the Colts.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer goes on record at the senior bowl saying that he is "downright offended" by the suggestion that this is cheating and implied that other staffs do the same thing. Why? Because he is guilty of doing the same thing to help his young quarterback who slid in the draft due to scouts concerns about his small hands and ability to grip the football.

The Colts staff realize that they May have upset or offended some of their co workers by calling the Pats out on this. If they get called out on this, they look like sore losers or narcs. They politely ask the league to change the story, making it clear that the Colts were not involved. They instruct their coaches and players to parrot the company line "we didn't notice anything strange going on...and we don't feel cheated." Dwayne Allen says this on Twitter, Pagano in his presser and Dqwells comments contradict the original reports.

The league leaks the information that they "had already planned on checking the pressure on the Pats footballs at halftime based on other information" and denied claims that they were tipped on this back in November.

At this point, everyone is back tracking, worried about public perception. The Colts are withholding information about how this came up to begin with. The Pats are denying any knowledge of the situation before Monday morning. The league office is withholding information to the public, trying to avoid the perception that they were aware this was happening. They are 'officially' releasing as little information as possible, while leaking bits and pieces to this reporter or that reporter knowing full well that the official report can dispute any of the unofficial information we have been given so far.

They want us to read into each and every article regarding this story, trying to make sense of it all...and at the same time they are spinning us in circles with misinformation and half truths. Why didn't the official report tell us exactly how under inflated the football's were when they were reinspected? All we have to go off of is the unofficial report that "11 out of 12 balls were found at least 2 psi under minimum pressure."

The league likely has concluded its investigation and has decided to withhold any punishment until after the Super bowl is over. They simply cannot pull a team from the game without discussing this with the union and several other avenues. They cannot postpone or reschedule the game. There is simply too much money involved for the NFL, the advertisers, the city of Phoenix, etc. If the NFL admits at this point that they have found the allegations to be true, then everyone is saying the Pats should be DQed, and the league is scrambling to find a way to have the super bowl go on without a hitch.

Three months from now, when no one is talking football, the league will hand down the punishment for this, probably severe. But they will claim that they simply did not have enough time to conduct a thorough investigation before the super bowl game was played...just proving that the super bowl game is more of a sideshow of commercials then "the game" that decides the undisputed champions of football.

This is the same NFL office that has a proven track record on flubbing up their investigations and have been wholly unable to prevent controversy that wrecks the integrity of the game. Unless TMZ or another tabloid news outlet cracks this story wide open in the next seven days, this is the last we will hear of this story until some slow news day in the spring.

Again, if anyone can pierce holes in my theory then go ahead...that's why I am posting this.

Edited by 21isSuperman
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We'll see how it turns out but I don't expect much of a punishment without proof of who did it and chain of command.

 

One other tidbit that is important here that I don't think anyone has mentioned, the rule book states that punishment can be increased based on the degree of competitive advantage gained. Everyone agrees that whatever advantage the Pats gained was minimal and did not alter the outcome of the game and that is why I believe in the NFL report they stated that they made the Pats play with inflated balls in the second half as the Pats scored 28 points vs 17 from first half to the second in worse weather conditions. That will be important point when determining punishment if any.

 

I wouldn't want ANY of the degree of punishment to be determined by the competitive advantage (in this case)....  New England clearly was the better team.    This had no baring on the outcome of the game.    None.

 

But I would want the degree of punishment to be determined by things like the fact that New England would be a repeat offender.

 

Super Bowl spying -- one.    Jets spying -- two.    Deflategate -- three.

 

THAT would warrant a severe penalty in my opinion.

 

If a team thinks it can cheat and get away with it,  then they will.   And the NFL needs to make sure that other teams who are watching what happens here know that attempts to cheat will be dealt with harshly.

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