DeflateGate: Brady suspension expected (mega merge / updated)

ColtRider · May 10, 2015

None so blind as those who will not see.

Superfly Jay · May 10, 2015

I believe brady should be suspended indefinitely and that he should lose eligibility to enter the hall fame.
If Peyton Manning or Andrew Luck were to cheat in this manner then I would ask they receive the same punishment. I am a Colts fan, and I enjoy watching all of the players who have played for us. But none of them is or ever will be more important than the Blue Shoe.
It is clear to me that this "deflate the ball cheating" had been going on for a very long time. One of the guys actually called himself the deflater. Jerome Bettis said that there is not a strong enough person on the planet who could rip a deflated ball away from him, but that a properly inflated ball can easily be fumbled away.
I ask everyone this - Is there a chance that the patriots also cheated against the Ravens? If so then is there a chance that deflated balls played a role in ball security during the patriots and Ravens game? If you answer yes, then you also must also agree that the entire Super Bowl is tainted. There is no doubt in my mind they cheated the entire year. Look at the fumble rates of the patriots players. It is mind-boggling when compared to rest of the NFL. And when those same players leave the patriots, they start fumbling again.
I will take it a step further. Let's say the Ravens would have beaten the patriots because a patriots player fumbled the ball away. Just one more turnover could have been the difference. Folks we would not be having this conversation, and Colts fans would possibly be rejoicing in Andrew Luck's first Super Bowl appearance, and maybe even a Super Bowl victory. The AFC Championship game would have been held in Indianapolis, with no rain or wind. Our offense would have been in its perfect climate. We had already handily beaten the Ravens. The Colts had already beaten the Seahawks a season before too.
The patriots do not deserve to hold the crown for 2014, and it is quite possible they stole a Super Bowl from the Colts.
Its an embarrassment to the NFL, and if Roger Goodell has any integrity for the National Football League then he will ban tom brady from the NFL, and never allow him to return again.

I agree.

Jhaze55 · May 10, 2015

I already did in a previous post on this thread but I will summarize again:
The report has zero evidence tying Brady to anything involving the AFCCG game. No texts, no messages, nothing.
Walt Anderson never wrote down the pre-game psi measurements and was unsure what gauge he used to measure the balls. This alone would get the report thrown out as it is hearsay and the most important fact in determining if balls were tampered with.
The halftime measurements which are now irrelevant given the pre-game psi is based on hearsay were done with two different gauges giving two different sets of data. On top of that only 4 Colts balls were measure to the Pats 11. And one of the Colts 4 balls had to be elimated due to a faulty reading.
Brady played with balls that were inflated to 16 psi during the Jets game. Wells apparently interviewd the ref that did that game but never shared his testimony as to why he inflated the balls to 16 psi which is 2.5 psi above the range. This would beg the question about how the balls are handled by the refs pre-game and again call into question Walt's handling of the balls at the AFCCG.

I could go on but I think you get the jist here. There are holes, big holes everywhere that would be shot down in a legal procedure regardless of verbiage used to try to impugn Brady.

To the bolded..

You don't NEED the pre-game psi. If the balls were cleared by the refs, it's obvious that the psi was in the acceptable range.

The report is pretty damning, no matter how many facts you try to spin.

Surge89 · May 10, 2015

Hey, it's the patriot way

Apparently lol

Not kidding, but my opinion of the Patriots just keeps getting worse the more she posts. Because I believe the Patriots organization most likely thinks the exact same which is sickening. They cheated and refuse to acknowledge and literally create delusional world's to justify Brady's actions.

From here on out Brady is nothing regardless of what is said or done. It's one thing to cheat but to tell everyone else that's accusing you its just sour grapes and saying it's "gamemanship" shows that truly he's just a dirty player And completely full of himself.

People like him are what's ruining the world today. Oh I did something bad? Well its your fault for putting the rule not me breaking it.

Apologies for the rant lol

Jason_ · May 10, 2015

And most bank managers don't get a heads up before the bank robbers show up and then allow them to rob the bank ...

Patriots = bank robbers. Hey...your words ;)

Surge89 · May 10, 2015

Sure but you need to read between the lines here. This isn't a leak. This is Aiello from the NFL saying the title was misleading. Now we know the NFL leaked the original story and now it is saying it is misleading. That is big. We will see ultimately but the back lash they are getting over a suspension from the networks and sponsors not to mention that report has to be weighing heavily here.
For once I will give the league credit here. They waited to punish to gauge public perception unlike Rice so they are being very smart IMO.

Lol living fairy land again. A guy not in the NFL reported on something not officially released.... duh it's a prediction. Duh a rep from the NFL isn't going to say anything about it until the NFL has made it publicly known. If you weren't desperately gasping at straws you'd understand this whole article literally means nothing just the same as the New Yorkers. It isn't "huge" it's flipping captain obvious telling you hi.

Dreamers sure dream big in Boston.

Jason_ · May 10, 2015

Just reading the tea leaves here ...

That explains a lot

Surge89 · May 10, 2015

That explains a lot

One of the best things I found out in this thread is there is a fellow IT poster :-)

BlueShoe · May 10, 2015

So you have no response other than to talk about critical thinking and logic? You hide behind verbiage like "strawmen" when I did present the facts as laid out in the Wells report? This response is about a half step below people who pick on posts for grammar and spelling ...

Page 46

"During interviews, when asked to explain the source of their concerns about the

Patriots game balls, Grigson, Sullivan, and other members of the Colts equipment staff

referenced the Colts Week 11 game against the Patriots in Indianapolis. During that game, Colts

strong safety Mike Adams intercepted two passes thrown by Tom Brady. On both occasions,

Adams handed the footballs to Brian Seabrooks, an Assistant Equipment Manager for the Colts,

on the sideline. Sullivan also examined the footballs because, as he described it, he always

checks to see how other teams prepare their balls to “make sure no one is doing a better job.”

Sullivan and Seabrooks said that the intercepted footballs appeared to be coated in a tacky

substance and seemed spongy or soft when squeezed. They explained that even though they did

not test the air pressure of the intercepted footballs at the time, based on their years of

experience, the softness of the balls raised suspicions."

BlueShoe · May 10, 2015

IF you want to call me fanatical then I think you have to also admit you are an extreme Patriot hater. I think that is fair so the conclusion of this is probably somewhere in the middle. I do think at times the league has given the Pats preferential treatment but in this case with ball deflation, it has been the opposite as this should have been handled and put to bed on Jan. 19.

Page 26

"As noted, there was a significant exception to the cooperation provided by the

Patriots. Although we requested a follow-up interview of Jim McNally after our initial

interview, counsel for the Patriots refused our request. We offered to conduct the interview at

any time or location that would be convenient for McNally, and explained—both in writing and

in-person during other meetings—that our follow-up questions would be limited to subject

matter directly relevant to the investigation that was developed following our initial interview

with McNally. McNally was one of the earliest Patriots personnel interviewed by our

investigative team and a number of important follow-up questions had arisen based on

subsequent interviews and information discovered after our initial interview of McNally.

Counsel for the Patriots, however, declined to produce McNally, and communicated an

unwillingness even to advise McNally of our request for a follow-up interview. We do not know

definitively whether McNally was, in fact, informed of our request. The investigative process

would have benefited from further questioning of McNally on certain topics, and we believe that

the actions of the Patriots and their counsel in this regard are inconsistent both with the club‟s

public pronouncements of full cooperation with the investigation and its obligations under

Section 2 of the Policy on Integrity of the Game & Enforcement of Competitive Rules."

NFLfan · May 10, 2015

AM at this point I don't understand what your trying to accomplish. Before the report came out I get it...the whole innocent before proven guilty thing and people jumped to a bunch of conclusions....now that it's out its pretty damning evidence. People obviously are having all sorts of opinions varying in how bad it is etc but continuing to try to defend a position that really has no leg to stand on just is going to make you look really bad and damage your credibility down the road in future threads. While we have a great deal of over-reactions on the board you need to just ignore them. Your going to have to take a more moderate approach here even if your heart doesn't want to accept what has happened. A lot of people that want to be level headed about all this have a hard time when others come in and stir the pot. Let this die down a bit. A lot think highly of Brady and his accomplishments but not of his handling of this situation and choices he made recently. The sooner the argument about what he and the patriots have done is over the sooner we get back to talking about legitimate football and yes can even talk about all the good accomplishments between the lines and what they might do this year. This thread will die when the punishment is out and done and people stop arguing about whether he did it or not etc. most level headed people and even the ones that hate Brady know that he is the most accomplished qb of our era but until they are allowed to voice their anger and get this out without someone stirring it up the sooner we move on to this season. Please just put down the banner....you don't have to carry it into every thread...beating the Brady drum isn't going to accomplish a thing. I respect all he has accomplished but in this situation he is dead wrong....the pats look real bad and you just got to accept that and either forgive and move on or look like a fanatic. When the pacers had their scuffle years ago I was upset. Sold my tickets and didn't support them until they cleaned up the team. Even if I felt that a lot of what happened wasn't all the players faults enough wrong was done and image hurt that I had to take a stand. Not saying you gotta stop cheering etc...but you gotta step back and objectively look at this and decide is it worth defending. I don't see how here....chalk it up to a black eye on them....and their rep and either demand better of them or let them go. If not you just look like a crazy sports fan and nothing you say will be taken seriously on the subject. Just my advice.

This is good advice offered in a respectful manner. This is another example of why this board needs you to continue to post...and post often.

BlueShoe · May 10, 2015

Great post SW1. Brady is planning on speaking after the punishment is handed down. He said that last night at Salem State when he spoke. He is waiting for the league's process to be completed.

Page 21:

"Similarly, although Tom Brady appeared for a requested interview and answered

questions voluntarily, he declined to make available any documents or electronic information

(including text messages and emails) that we requested, even though those requests were limited

to the subject matter of our investigation (such as messages concerning the preparation of game

balls, air pressure of balls, inflation of balls or deflation of balls) and we offered to allow Brady‟s

counsel to screen and control the production so that it would be limited strictly to responsive

materials and would not involve our taking possession of Brady‟s telephone or other electronic

devices. Our inability to review contemporaneous communications and other documents in

Brady‟s possession and control related to the matters under review potentially limited the

discovery of relevant evidence and was not helpful to the investigation."

3nk1du · May 10, 2015

2-6 games is not a slap on the wrist and this IS about his rep more so than the punishment. Anything beyond a fine and he is going to court. Yee made that pretty clear on his media tour this week ...

He won't go to the court he is afraid of what they could find on his cellphone, maybe some of his WRs and TEs knew about it(they have contact with the ball frequently) .

Did you read the Judith Batista article on the NFL.com? IMO it was very clear that the language that was used on the report is good enough to give Brady the sanction they see convenient.

BlueShoe · May 10, 2015

The report has zero evidence tying Brady to anything involving the AFCCG game. No texts, no messages, nothing
I could go on but I think you get the jist here. There are holes, big holes everywhere that would be shot down in a legal procedure regardless of verbiage used to try to impugn Brady.