DeflateGate: Brady suspension expected (mega merge / updated)

[amfootball]

It doesn't bother me that Brady didn't turn over his phone. I probably wouldn't turn over my phone under these circumstances, in the name of privacy. 

Yee addressed that in the CNN interview and basically said it sets a horrible precedent for premier players to turn over a private phone in a league investigation. He also said that Wells job is more prosecutor than investigator. In other words, he is looking for you to prove innocence so any messages he got off of Brady's phone made them feel like Wells would have used it as a way to manipulate the report like he did with the gifts Brady gave his ball guy which is a common practice for Qbs to do with their equipment guys.

[SteelCityColt]

His agent already said last night that he and Brady believe he is innocent. He is not backing down or admitting any lying ...

 

So do you, as someone who has stated they believe Brady is implicated, think this is appropriate behaviour? 

[jvan1973]

Yee addressed that in the CNN interview and basically said it sets a horrible precedent for premier players to turn over a private phone in a league investigation. He also said that Wells job is more prosecutor than investigator. In other words, he is looking for you to prove innocence so any messages he got off of Brady's phone made them feel like Wells would have used it as a way to manipulate the report like he did with the gifts Brady gave his ball guy which is a common practice for Qbs to do with their equipment guys.

He still lied about knowing McNally. That alone is an obstruction to the investigation

[Lawrence Owen]

That was my take away too from reading it. Nowhere is Brady telling or texting his guys to make the balls below league minimum. There is absolutely no communication from Brady the day of the AFCCG either that ties him directly to McNally.

 

Did you see/hear Yee's interview on CNN last night? http://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2015/05/08/ac-intv-tom-brady-attorney-don-yee.cnn

 

It is clear that Brady is going to fight this report no matter the punishment. I think he is just waiting to see what the league rules in terms of punishment to see what form of legal action he should take. The Herald had a great break down of his legal recourse in this.

He's not going to take this to a court.  it is a flat out attempt to scare the NFL.  And for this reason.:

Brady did not turn in his phone for a reason, this is quite obvious.  If they take it to court, the Judge would order Brady to present his phone for investigation.  He would then have to. No matter if he even had his phone anymore or not.  If he didn't it would be obstruction of justice and he would be found guilty by default.  

Plus testimony would be taken from MANY NFL players and staff.  NO-one would mess with a QB footballs without that QB's express Notification.  

Circumstantial evidence in a court of law presented by large amounts is conceived as Foundation of guilt.

Going to court is a no-win situation.  This is just a scare tactic.

[Superman]

It makes everyone think you are guilty of something

 

Obviously. I still wouldn't turn my phone over without a court order. I have a reasonable right to privacy, and so does anyone that I'm using my phone to communicate with.

[amfootball]

So do you, as someone who has stated they believe Brady is implicated, think this is appropriate behaviour? 

Yes because Brady did not order them to make the balls below 12.5. He may have said make them soft or something along those lines. Look, his ball boys work for him so he is implicit in all that they do to prep his balls. But the report is trying to prove that he told them to deflate below the league limit and it fails to prove that on any level. I also don't think sticking a needle in the ball is in exact science either where the ball boy knows just how long it takes to lose a half psi or 1 psi.

[amfootball]

He still lied about knowing McNally. That alone is an obstruction to the investigation

Not if you read the report. As Dynasty already said and I quote, "First, it sounds mostly like Jastremsky is the one who talks to Brady, NOT McNally. When talking about the gifts, McNally was telling Jastremsky what shoe size he would want. That leads me to believe that Jastremsky is the 'middle man' in the communication. So when people say Brady lied about not knowing McNally...that may be true and he may only have really had a relationship with Jastremsky. And as has been mentioned, it is common practice for players to give the equipment guys gifts and autographs etc...so making the point that Brady is paying these guys for their silence is not fair or accurate.The text messages make it clear that McNally was feeling no love from Brady for all his hard work ...."

[jvan1973]

Yes because Brady did not order them to make the balls below 12.5. He may have said make them soft or something along those lines. Look, his ball boys work for him so he is implicit in all that they do to prep his balls. But the report is trying to prove that he told them to deflate below the league limit and it fails to prove that on any level. I also don't think sticking a needle in the ball is in exact science either where the ball knows just how long it takes to lose a half psi or 1 psi.

altering the balls after the pregame inspection in any way is a violation of the rules

[Superman]

Yee addressed that in the CNN interview and basically said it sets a horrible precedent for premier players to turn over a private phone in a league investigation. He also said that Wells job is more prosecutor than investigator. In other words, he is looking for you to prove innocence so any messages he got off of Brady's phone made them feel like Wells would have used it as a way to manipulate the report like he did with the gifts Brady gave his ball guy which is a common practice for Qbs to do with their equipment guys.

 

I don't care about precedent, nor do I care about Yee's hollow defense of his client. It's a simple matter of privacy. If that's going to be used against me by the governing power, oh well. I'll just take that risk. But if you want to go through my phone or phone records, go get a court order.

[amfootball]

altering the balls after the pregame inspection in any way is a violation of the rules

Yes. But Brady did not touch the balls and there is no communication of him telling his ball boys to do it either ... that is where the report is an epic fail.

[jvan1973]

Not if you read the report. As Dynasty already said and I quote, "First, it sounds mostly like Jastremsky is the one who talks to Brady, NOT McNally. When talking about the gifts, McNally was telling Jastremsky what shoe size he would want. That leads me to believe that Jastremsky is the 'middle man' in the communication. So when people say Brady lied about not knowing McNally...that may be true and he may only have really had a relationship with Jastremsky. And as has been mentioned, it is common practice for players to give the equipment guys gifts and autographs etc...so making the point that Brady is paying these guys for their silence is not fair or accurate.The text messages make it clear that McNally was feeling no love from Brady for all his hard work ...."

Its pretty obvious McNally couldn't stand Brady. They clearly had a relationship of some kind. Stop being naive

[jvan1973]

Yes. But Brady did not touch the balls and there is no communication of him telling his ball boys to do it either ... that is where the report is an epic fail.

There was no charges filed against Big Ben either. How many games did he get suspended for?

[Gramz]

 I keep hearing Brady with throw the other two under the Bus.

 

God I hope he does.....   there's no way either of them take the 5th after that.

[amfootball]

Its pretty obvious McNally couldn't stand Brady. They clearly had a relationship of some kind. Stop being naive

What are you basing that on? It was Jastremsky giving him his orders from Tom and it was clear that McNally was not feeling any love and therefore griping to Jastremsky about Tom. Nowhere does McNally indicate that he has any relationship with Tom beyond what Jastremsky tells him.

[OffensivelyPC]

After finally getting through the report, I think it's clear that McNally illegally deflated footballs after the officials had approved them. What isn't clear is Tom Brady's role in the whole thing. Yes, the report makes it very easy for those who want to implicate Brady to do that...but even the harshest critic can admit that there were some leaps made and inferences that really didn't do much to prove his guilt. 

 

Again, I want to go on record as saying that I dont necessarily believe he was innocent, I am just trying to play the other side and actually take the report for what it is. A couple f things stood out to me about the text messages.

 

First, it sounds mostly like Jastremsky is the one who talks to Brady, NOT McNally. When talking about the gifts, McNally was telling Jastremsky what shoe size he would want. That leads me to believe that Jastremsky is the 'middle man' in the communication. So when people say Brady lied about not knowing McNally...that may not be true and he may only have really had a relationship with Jastremsky. And as has been mentioned, it is common practice for players to give the equipment guys gifts and autographs etc...so making the point that Brady is paying these guys for their silence is not fair or accurate.

 

And about the cell phone...who cares if Brady didnt turn his over? Who knows what kind of personal stuff is on that phone, I would be a little worried too in this day and age if I was world famous and married to a supermodel. Should any texts from Brady show up on the other guys phones anyways? 

 

I don't know...I just feel like a lot of the things people are saying that proved his guilt are the biggest assumptions in the report. Yes yes...I know the terminology used is enough for the NFL to find guilt, but can you guys honestly say that if this was your team then you wouldnt find the holes and the things left out and the leaps made a little disconcerting? It isnt that outrageous for Patriots fans to defend Brady based on how the report was written. It certainly felt like there was a conclusion that Wells wanted to reach, and the report than wrote that narrative. 

 

Nobody is defending what happened. Clearly there was some funny business going on. Patriots fans are just questioning their quarterback's role in it and saying that it is NOT clear in the report that he was involved to the extent that many are assuming. And I dont think its that's too crazy. Any fan would of any team would act the same way.

A couple of things.  First, even if Jastremsky was the middle man, it was acknowledged that McNally/"McNulty" was employed by the Patriots for the past 32 years and has been preparing Brady's footballs since at least 2004.  So even if Jastremsky was the middle man in those texts, I find it awfully hard to believe that in the past 10 years, Brady didn't know at least on a first name basis the men who handled his game day footballs.  In fact,  a couple of practice balls signed by Brady were given to Brady by Jastremsky and handed to McNally.  The paragraph on page 89 reads as if all three men were present at the time of signing.  It's especially noteworthy that these gifts were given to McNally at the time Brady was selecting which game balls would be used during the Ravens game.  Page 95-96, Brady personally told McNally of his PSI preference.  At best, I think you can say that perhaps Brady didn't know McNally very well, but he certainly couldn't have been truthful when he said that he did not know him.  The report is pretty clear that Brady at least knew McNally's name and McNally's game day responsibilities.

 

Second, about the cell phone.  Not turning his cell over does look bad.  Did he have to do it?  No, but that doesn't mean it looks bad.  As far as discovering personal things about Brady, these investigations are done in confidentiality.  The only thing that is permitted to make the report are things relevant to the issue being discovered.  In fact, you can search for texts and limit the scope of searches by key words and whatnot.  It's done all the time in criminal investigations.  The stuff that's pertinent is permitted and the stuff that isn't is subject to confidentiality.  So if something like, Brady making bad comments about Belichick or infidelity with his wife in his texts, there would be pretty harsh sanctions against Wells if it were to ever have leaked - not to mention compromise the integrity of the investigation and the report.  

 

Finally, if this were my team, I would do what I could to support them.  I'm not calling any names out, but what I wouldn't do is draw inferences or make arguments that were completely against the facts in the report.  That's not in my DNA - I'm an attorney.  I might make arguments supported on facts to mitigate or contradict, but I won't call something frivolous contrary to the great weight of the evidence.  I didn't do it when Mathis was suspended.  I said he should have known better and should have asked the NFL, which he should.  I accepted the suspension as a fan, even if I thought the basis for hte suspension was a little over the top in light of the facts.  The fact of the matter was, he broke the rule and subjected himself to the PED policy.  Same with Irsay.  He drove while under the influence.  I accepted that as a fan.  What I didn't accept was how people made it seem how him carrying a bunch of cash was evidence of him as a drug user (or worse a drug peddler as some suggested).  He was found to have been intoxicated and driving - that's all I needed to know - and I wished for him to get the help he needed to come out a better person.  So yes, if I were a Pats fan, I would support my team.  But I would also feel compelled to at least accept the reality that my team probably cheated and tried to cover it up.  If it were the Colts I would (and have in the past) supported them but accepted the allegations that my team engaged in misconduct.  But I don't know how anyone can reach the conclusion that McNally and Jastremski altered the footballs and then in the same breath say that Brady's involvement was questionable.  It is, after all, his footballs.  He's the only person that touches them on every offensive snap.  I can't understand how anyone could buy the alternative solution that these guys did it on their own volition.  

[dynasty13]

Who has possession of the football used to surpass 50,000 yards?  And why?

 

As far as not handing the phone over. . . it's not a choice!  It's a clear violation of league rules, which isn't up for debate.

 

Um....the 50,000 yard ball is on display in the Patriots Hall of Fame...

[jvan1973]

What are you basing that on? It was Jastremsky giving him his orders from Tom and it was clear that McNally was not feeling any love and therefore griping to Jastremsky about Tom. Nowhere does McNally indicate that he has any relationship with Tom beyond what Jastremsky tells him.

,He says F*== Tom on multiple occasions in the text messages. I thought you read the report

[DougDew]

Yes because Brady did not order them to make the balls below 12.5. He may have said make them soft or something along those lines. Look, his ball boys work for him so he is implicit in all that they do to prep his balls. But the report is trying to prove that he told them to deflate below the league limit and it fails to prove that on any level. I also don't think sticking a needle in the ball is in exact science either where the ball boy knows just how long it takes to lose a half psi or 1 psi.

There doesn't have to be intent to deflate the balls below legal psi.  Theysimply deflate balls intentionally, and it ends up being below legal psi. You can't really prove intent.  Its inferred. 

 

If Brady suggests to anyone that he likes softer footballs "(no softer... a littel sofeter... a little softer... there, like that ") then someone in the Pats organization needs to be a backstop to ensure that the balls are not below legal limits. 

 

The lack of providing a backstop is inferred intent.  Brady is guilty of knowing about it, as is the organization.  You can't prove that Brady knew, or BB knew, or Kraft knew, or the equipment guys knew, that the balls were below legal limits, but the organization intentionally deflating balls after being inspected by the NFL and not ensuring they were still within legal limits infers intent and guilt upon the entire organization....not to any one person...but the organization as a whole.

[horseshoeblue22]

Could not agree more.

 

This one was a lay up for them and the screwed it up ... again. The thing that is absolutely stunning to me with regards to this and Colts fans is the fact that there is zero outrage over how this was handled by the league and a SB berth was on the line.

 

Grigson told the league prior to the game. They knew. And yet somehow, Walt Anderson for the first time in 19 years lost track of the Pats game balls prior to the game. And let me remind you that the start of the game was delayed due to the NFCCG going into overtime. Pletny of time to re-gauge those balls, find that they were deflated assuming they were, re-inflate them while noting the psi to then punish Pats and play the game on a level playing field. IF this had happened, a fair game is played, there is no investigation and Pats are punished within a day of the game. This is like 1,2,3, here. We are talking air ball pressure folks. Air ball pressure. Just check the balls. As soon as they waited to halftime it was too late. The balls had been out in the elements and they of course they screwed up the measurements with two different measurements being taken and managed to only gauge 4 of the Cotls balls because they ran out of time. And remember they had a HEADS up from Grigson. My gosh. This may be the worst black eye on the league yet second only to Rice. And now this report that can only go as far as to say probable, maybe, most likely because they messed up the procedure so bad.

 

As soon as Anderson lost track of the game footballs, they should have been ordered to re-check the pressures in the balls, especially after Grigson's direct email that they were being deflated AFTER the initial check...that we agree with. It would have eliminated any kind of grey area when it comes to this investigation. I think the Colts and their fans are furious that the league let "non-regulation" footballs on the field in our biggest game of the year. I think the Colts and their fans are furious that the league started checking the footballs during and after halftime, while still letting the game play out.

 

There's no way this was a sting operation by the league, and I really don't understand where that narrative comes from. There's only thing that has been consistent from the league through this whole process...they chose to do NOTHING.

 

1. Grigson emails league, suggesting that the Pats deflate the footballs after the referee's initial check.

 

The league does nothing. The league doesn't investigate Grigson's claims, because they came "after the fact" and the game was over. They don't speak with the Patriots about Grigson's concerns. They don't even make the head referee, Walt Anderson, aware of this...just simply told him to make sure the initial check was done. If the deflating was done after the initial check, then really, what good is the initial check under these circumstances?

 

--

 

2. Walt Anderson loses "chain of custody" with the game footballs. First time in his career this has happened. He is frantic, cussing and desperately looking for McNally and the game balls.

 

The league does nothing. They don't postpone the game to investigate why McNally took the footballs before being told to do so by the referees. They don't stop and make sure that the balls are still inflated to 12.5. They did nothing to substantiate Grigson's prior claim of deflation. They simply say "play ball" and let the game unfold.

 

--

 

3. After D'Qwell Jackson gets an interception, the Colts equipment staff realizes that the Patriots are still using deflated footballs. Telling the league about their concerns did no good, and I bet they were *. They informed the league again, in the middle of the game.

 

All the big-shot officials get involved and during halftime, the PSI levels in the footballs were found to be quite under-inflated. The Patriots were essentially caught red-handed with under-inflated footballs at this time. The league officials order the footballs to be re-inflated, "play ball" and let the game unfold. The league does nothing.

 

Meanwhile, the Colts staff and players are watching this "investigation" unfolding in the middle of the biggest game of their careers. Balls are coming off the field, being gauged, balls being removed from play, Patriots using the Colts game footballs at times in the second half...all kinds of things that just don't happen on any other Sunday. The Colts were convinced that the Patriots were caught doing this.

 

Imagine if you were in a high-stakes poker tournament, and you see an opponent pull a Queen of Hearts from his pocket during play. You ask the referees to check if that is an illegitimate Queen, and after inspection, the referee says that it is. The referee then decides to take the Queen from that player, but lets him continue playing in the tournament. Would that throw you off your game? Distracted and confused by the referee's verdict? You bet. The results of the second half of the game are just as illegitimate as the results of the first half.

 

4. Game is over, Patriots win. No word from the NFL about the inflation levels, or the fact that the Patriots were "caught" doing exactly what Grigson told them to watch out for. Game is over, Patriots win. Grigson calls the Indianapolis Star and gives them the story, and suddenly the whole world knows.

 

Now in the last scenario, imagine how you would feel if that poker player went on to win the million dollar check, and the referee stands there grinning and handing the winnings over to that player?

 

Despite their public comments, the Colts players and coaches did not feel like they were given a fair chance to win that game. They were convinced the Patriots "cheated", and they should not be awarded the win or the big prize of playing in the Superbowl. The story breaks, and the NFL is left sitting on their hands. They did not release any information, they did nothing. They did not suspend anyone involved, dole out any punishments or postpone the Superbowl game, they did nothing. When the public outrage grew and grew, they hired an independent investigator so they could continue to do nothing in peace.

 

5. Wells Report finally comes out, implicating Brady, McNally and Jastremski.

 

We have had public comments from Robert Kraft, Tom Brady, Tom Brady's father, Tom Brady's agent and countless other NFL players.

 

Most of the Patriots fans that were claiming that they would "wait for the official report before judgement" are now clinging on to the "probable" verbiage and claiming that Ted Wells was biased enough that he jumped to the conclusion Brady was guilty and then sought proof that supported that conclusion. 

 

But we haven't heard much from Roger Goodell, Troy Vincent, the NFLPA, the league officials or anyone that would be involved with handing out punishments for this offense. They waited and waited for the report to take any official action against the Patriots. Well, now the report has been made public for almost 48 hours. And look at that, the league continues to do nothing.

 

Are fans of the Colts (and non-Patriot fans of football) upset that the league has taken this stance? You're darned right we are. We're royally PO'ed, and there HAS to be some substantial punishment at this point. If the league doesn't make an example out of Tom Brady here, all the other players in the league will take the "integrity of the game" very lightly. Harsh punishment will stop other players from doing the same thing, or similar things like using stick-em on their gloves or any other substance/schemes that are deemed outside of the rules.

[SteelCityColt]

Yes because Brady did not order them to make the balls below 12.5. He may have said make them soft or something along those lines. Look, his ball boys work for him so he is implicit in all that they do to prep his balls. But the report is trying to prove that he told them to deflate below the league limit and it fails to prove that on any level. I also don't think sticking a needle in the ball is in exact science either where the ball knows just how long it takes to lose a half psi or 1 psi.

 

So why doesn't he say that rather then deny deny deny, to the point of denying he even knows one of the guys which is quite clearly a lie. Even if he had never met him say I'm sure he's aware of who he is. 

 

You know there are such things as pumps/needles with pressure gauges right? As Mr.Brady wasn't around at the time of the deflation there as no way to really do it by feel, so I'd propose by logical extension they had a PSI that had been agreed previously to work to.

 

No one really is mad at what they did, as cheating goes it's pretty low level, a breach of a technical stipulation if you will. What we're mad at is the attitude of your owner, of your QB and your fans to this. Quit with the hubris, quit with the arrogance, put your hands up and say I'm sorry. Even if Kraft knew nothing about it (and I don't think he did) he still has a responsibility as the owner to shoulder some of this instead of firing shots out at the league. 

[amfootball]

,He says F*== Tom on multiple occasions in the text messages. I thought you read the report

So? He is upset about Tom not acknowledging him or did you miss that?

[Gramz]

 just saw this...  How appropriate ~  Give the Donkeys a break today.  

 

[amfootball]

So why doesn't he say that then deny deny deny, to the point of denying he even knows one of the guys which is quite clearly a lie.  

 

You know there are such things as pumps/needles with pressure gauges right? As Mr.Brady wasn't around at the time of the deflation there as no way to really do it by feel, so I'd propose by logical extension they had a PSI that had been agreed previously to work to.

 

No one really is mad at what they did, as cheating goes it's pretty low level, a breach of a technical stipulation if you will. What we're mad at is the attitude of your owner, of your QB and your fans to this. Quit with the hubris, quit with the arrogance, put your hands up and say I'm sorry. Even if Kraft knew nothing about it (and I don't think he did) he still has a responsibility as the owner to shoulder some of this instead of firing shots out at the league. 

To your last graph, why? It is the league that went on this witch hunt over ball pressure and blew it up into a national story with this ridiculous investigation. The burden has always been on them to prove it and IMO they have failed with this report. There is no reason for the Pats to say anything as the report did not find any smoking gun as Kraft said it wouldn't. Not to mention they were trying to find a history of it and failed on that too and revealed that their own ref at the Jets game blew up games to an illegal limit.

[PrincetonTiger]

Tom Brady will become this generation's Pete Rose

[jvan1973]

So? He is upset about Tom not acknowledging him or did you miss that?

the text indicated tom had a tirade against him for the jets game. It never mentions anything about him wanting recognition. It does however mention that he wasn't going to ESPN with the story.... yet

What do you think he will do when tom throws him under the bus?

[dw49]

I used it on my son in high school had him write it thousands of times until he got it ,  Thru my use of this simple statement my boy who had been a failure caught up his grades & graduated .

 

A life lesson for him learned at 16 . 

 

Nice

[OffensivelyPC]

What are you basing that on? It was Jastremsky giving him his orders from Tom and it was clear that McNally was not feeling any love and therefore griping to Jastremsky about Tom. Nowhere does McNally indicate that he has any relationship with Tom beyond what Jastremsky tells him.

Except the report says that Brady personally told McNally how he likes his game balls prepared, according to both McNally and Jastremsky.

[jvan1973]

To your last graph, why? It is the league that went on this witch hunt over ball pressure and blew it up into a national story with this ridiculous investigation. The burden has always been on them to prove it and IMO they have failed with this report. There is no reason for the Pats to say anything as the report did not find any smoking gun as Kraft said it wouldn't. Not to mention they were trying to find a history of it and failed on that too and revealed that their own ref at the Jets game blew up games to an illegal limit.

The only mention of the 16 psi was from the texts. There was no other proof that actually happened

[amfootball]

the text indicated tom had a tirade against him for the jets game. It never mentions anything about him wanting recognition. It does however mention that he wasn't going to ESPN with the story.... yet

What do you think he will do when tom throws him under the bus?

lol. Tom isn't throwing him under the bus.

[GoPats]

There is another option. It sounds like Brady was * after the Jets game where the balls were inflated to 16 PSI. We know Brady...I'm sure he threw a tantrum and yelled at Jastremsky for how the balls were prepared, assuming they just did a poor job. But as the texts showed, it was actually the officials who inflated them too high, but the equipment guys got yelled at anyways because Brady likes the ball on the lower end. Clearly McNally held some ill will towards Brady based on the text, and it isn't unreasonable to assume that it was because he was blamed for those balls during the Jets game.

 

For all we know, that could have been the end of any conversation Brady had with them about the balls...but to avoid ever getting yelled at by Brady again, they went and made sure that the balls were as deflated as they could get them. The rest of those text messages read as playful banter between McNally and Jastremsky. Nowhere in the report does it say Tom Brady called him the deflator. Nowhere in the report is there any communication shown between Brady and McNally. The gifts weren't payoffs...it is common practice to 'tip' the equipment guys in that kind of way. 

 

Is that really such an 'out there' theory?

 

It's no crazier than some of the assumptions made in the report...it's perfectly reasonable to consider that as a possibility.

 

I ran through that scenario in my head as well... I know things that happen here in my workplace are often fixed and tucked under the rug before any hotheaded executive management types become aware of it, lol...

 

I can't see it though. Think of what we hear about preparation when it comes to TB. He doesn't leave things to chance or deviate much from his routines. My guess, as I mentioned yesterday, is that there was a "standing order" to bring footballs down for inspection the way they like 'em, and if the refs added air, they'd try to take it back out. If they didn't add air, great. (Meaning maybe it didn't happen in every single game.) That Jets game was a Thursday night, with a different routine and schedule, so maybe McNally didn't have a chance to let the air out. 

 

I don't want Brady to be involved here, and I certainly don't want to see his legacy compromised because I still think he's the GOAT regardless of this. I'm sure he wants to get back out on the field so he can show the world that he's the best no matter what the PSI is in the footballs he's throwing. 

 

Just to touch on some other thoughts this morning... 

 

1) All in all I don't agree with the notion that many have expressed here: "Cheating is cheating." Really, it's not. If it was, the penalty for any and all deliberate acts would be identical. There are degrees of it, and IMO, a slightly deflated ball has very little impact. Which makes it that much more annoying that it was done. You've seen it here in this thread, where people are taking it to the absolute extremes. 

 

2) The arguments over the science are, to me, and at this point anyway, moot. It sounds like Wells hired a questionable firm to do the analysis (in one "hired gun" report, the same company deemed secondhand cigarette smoke as being harmless), and I've heard all sorts of opinions on this. But as far as I'm concerned, the damning text messages make the science irrelevant. 

 

3) I thought Brady's agent's response to Brady not turning his phone over was a reasonable one, and presented a scenario I hadn't previously considered. Aside from that, Wells got everything he needed from Jastremski's phone anyway. 

[amfootball]

The only mention of the 16 psi was from the texts. There was no other proof that actually happened

Yes and yet no follow up from Wells on what happened with those games balls. He said he did interview the ref for that game but no comment in the report. So those texts stand as true with Wells just glossing over the fact that the Pats played with illegal footballs in that game because the ref blew them up too high.

[dw49]

There is another option. It sounds like Brady was * after the Jets game where the balls were inflated to 16 PSI. We know Brady...I'm sure he threw a tantrum and yelled at Jastremsky for how the balls were prepared, assuming they just did a poor job. But as the texts showed, it was actually the officials who inflated them too high, but the equipment guys got yelled at anyways because Brady likes the ball on the lower end. Clearly McNally held some ill will towards Brady based on the text, and it isn't unreasonable to assume that it was because he was blamed for those balls during the Jets game.

 

For all we know, that could have been the end of any conversation Brady had with them about the balls...but to avoid ever getting yelled at by Brady again, they went and made sure that the balls were as deflated as they could get them. The rest of those text messages read as playful banter between McNally and Jastremsky. Nowhere in the report does it say Tom Brady called him the deflator. Nowhere in the report is there any communication shown between Brady and McNally. The gifts weren't payoffs...it is common practice to 'tip' the equipment guys in that kind of way. 

 

Is that really such an 'out there' theory?

 

It's no crazier than some of the assumptions made in the report...it's perfectly reasonable to consider that as a possibility.

 

 

Yeah it's a way out there theory that those two guys were working on their own. 

[Gramz]

Okay, I'm done and off to work.  

 

I'll be back after said punishments are handed down and we have something new to discuss.

 

Ciao  

[Swan Ronson]

I don't know about all this punishment for Brady business, but any adult using the term 'lol' should definitely be made to sit a few rounds out.

[dw49]

His agent already said last night that he and Brady believe he is innocent. He is not backing down or admitting any lying ...

 

 

I didn't hear Brady say that and it's different when you hide behind a lawyer as everyone knows they can't tell the truth if they tried. Maybe he'll turn over his cell to help clear his name ?

[wig]

Um....the 50,000 yard ball is on display in the Patriots Hall of Fame...

 

 

Yeah?

 

"That same Monday, Jastremski spoke to McNally on the phone five times for a total of 58 minutes. It’s also worth noting that Jastremski had bragged to family members about Brady autographing the football with which he had eclipsed the 50,000-yard passing mark earlier that season and bequeathing it to him. "

 

http://www.newsweek.com/how-tom-bradys-deflate-gate-conspiracy-blew-soft-balls-and-damning-texts-329419

[PrincetonTiger]

Okay, I'm done and off to work.  

 

I'll be back after said punishments are handed down and we have something new to discuss.

 

Ciao  

The same here

[jvan1973]

Yes and yet no follow up from Wells on what happened with those games balls. He said he did interview the ref for that game but no comment in the report. So those texts stand as true with Wells just glossing over the fact that the Pats played with illegal footballs in that game because the ref blew them up too high.

yeah, that's not how truth works

[jvan1973]

lol. Tom isn't throwing him under the bus.

then he is going to admit being involved? Those are the only two options

[amfootball]

I didn't hear Brady say that and it's different when you hide behind a lawyer as everyone knows they can't tell the truth if they tried. Maybe he'll turn over his cell to help clear his name ?

I think Brady is letting his agent do the talking right now which is smart from a PR standpoint. His agent was there for the entire testimony for this reason in part. I think you will hear from Brady once the NFL hands out its discipline. If they go light basically saying the report did not prove anything conclusively about Brady than I think this all goes away but if they come down with any type of suspension than I think Brady will take legal action and get the PA involved as well. It will be ugly but very, very entertaining. lol.