[NFL] vBook: Colts vs Patriots (Deflategate)

[pkt77242]

Tom Brady Deflategate suspension: NFL offered reduction, per report - NFL - SI.com

 

[irishfan]

Tom Brady Deflategate suspension: NFL offered reduction, per report - NFL - SI.com

Tough to bend over backwards to the league that has gone out of it's way to smear you (even if guilty), but 1-game suspension is definitely tough to turn down if true.

On a different note, I posted this when the Wells Report came out, but I don't think anything cell phone related is an indication of guilt. There are a lot of things that could be on there that he would want to hide than don't have to do with deflating footballs. Could be cheating on his wife, be doing PEDs, texts filled with slurs, or simple things like complaints about teammates/coaches or making fun of other teams. Hell, I have a lot of joking texts I've sent on my phone that I would probably get crucified for if I were famous and they were read in the wrong tone.

 

[Irish YJ]

Tough to bend over backwards to the league that has gone out of it's way to smear you (even if guilty), but 1-game suspension is definitely tough to turn down if true.

On a different note, I posted this when the Wells Report came out, but I don't think anything cell phone related is an indication of guilt. There are a lot of things that could be on there that he would want to hide than don't have to do with deflating footballs. Could be cheating on his wife, be doing PEDs, texts filled with slurs, or simple things like complaints about teammates/coaches or making fun of other teams. Hell, I have a lot of joking texts I've sent on my phone that I would probably get crucified for if I were famous and they were read in the wrong tone.

Oh what incredible fun yet awaits us.

 

[NDPhilly]

pats fans are delusional. Wish he'd be banned for life.

Definitely not bitter about super bowl 39 still

 

[T Town Tommy]

Tommy Boy should have fallen on the sword as soon as the news came out. Simply stating that he liked the footballs as low as legally possible and maybe they went slightly too far when trying to meet his request - weather could have been a factor, etc. Admit doing it, play the "just a bit too far" scenario as an honest mistake, and the league probably goes light on him. The league probably slaps him with a fine just to say they addressed the issue, and Tommy Boy is suiting up against Pittsburgh free and clear. And those that liked him before still like him and those that hated him before still hate him.

 

[FrankMA]

Tough to bend over backwards to the league that has gone out of it's way to smear you (even if guilty), but 1-game suspension is definitely tough to turn down if true.

It would not be tough to turn down if not quilty. If they accused you of robbing a bank would you accept a one year prison sentence if offered instead of a 4 year sentence if you didn't rob the bank and they had no proof that you did?

 

[IrishLion]

BREAKING: Tom Brady caught on film kicking puppies and small children for sport.

"We deny these allegations. The video is one-sided and is simply an attempt to spoil Tom's pristine image. He has done nothing wrong. And even if the film looks bad, and Tom actually WERE kicking those puppies and children, the puppies and children probably deserved it.

We have destroyed the shoes used in the assault, but only because Tom routinely destroys his Uggs when he's done with them, so unfortunately they won't be available for evidence in the investigation. Also, his nickname 'the Kid and Puppy Kicker' is simply a coincidence and has nothing to do with the current issues."

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

Good article about this very point here:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">For the NFL, "Brady destroyed his cell phone" sounds better than "Brady offered to help gather missing text messages" <a href="http://t.co/zE6SVklCch">http://t.co/zE6SVklCch</a></p>— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) <a href="https://twitter.com/ProFootballTalk/status/626224691179593728">July 29, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

It sounds like they offered no help at all.

 

[wizards8507]

BREAKING: Tom Brady caught on film kicking puppies and small children for sport.

"We deny these allegations. The video is one-sided and is simply an attempt to spoil Tom's pristine image. He has done nothing wrong. And even if the film looks bad, and Tom actually WERE kicking those puppies and children, the puppies and children probably deserved it.

We have destroyed the shoes used in the assault, but only because Tom routinely destroys his Uggs when he's done with them, so unfortunately they won't be available for evidence in the investigation. Also, his nickname 'the Kid and Puppy Kicker' is simply a coincidence and has nothing to do with the current issues."

Wonderful analogy... except it has nothing to do with the facts of this particular case, as there's nothing even close to video evidence that Tom Brady had anything to do with anything, or that wrongdoing even took place. Two different pressure gauges with discrepancies of 0.4 PSI in a controlled environment produced different measurements on game-used footballs indoors and outdoors, anything but a controlled environment. That's zero proof of anything other than "ESPN and the NFL blew this out of proportion from day one so the NFL had to repeatedly double-down rather than admit that their equipment check protocols are bogus, their referees are prone to error, their special investigators manipulate data to reach a predetermined conclusion, and the commissioner is far from an impartial arbiter of his own decisions."

 

[irishfan]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Robert Kraft: "I was wrong to put my faith in the league."</p>— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeReiss/status/626395155990487041">July 29, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

This is very strong coming from an owner. He also apologized to fans for taking the penalty saying it was in good faith to get Brady exonerated and that it was a mistake. Seems to have no issue turning this into full blown Pats vs. NFL whereas before it was really Pats fans vs. NFL ha.

 

[palinurus]

Hard to say who looks like the bigger liar, Kraft or Brady. But their reputations, already marked by the organization's proven past cheating, are destroyed, and rightfully so. Brady's blaming of his lawyers shows how little character he actually has. What a disgraceful human being. And Kraft is stuck playing the foolish old man, trying to grasp a "legacy" of achievement, when the sports world will remember only his team's dishonesty and disgrace.

 

[wizards8507]

Hard to say who looks like the bigger liar, Kraft or Brady. But their reputations, already marked by the organization's proven past cheating, are destroyed, and rightfully so. Brady's blaming of his lawyers shows how little character he actually has. What a disgraceful human being. And Kraft is stuck playing the foolish old man, trying to grasp a "legacy" of achievement, when the sports world will remember only his team's dishonesty and disgrace.

lolumad?

 

[IrishLion]

Wonderful analogy... except it has nothing to do with the facts of this particular case, as there's nothing even close to video evidence that Tom Brady had anything to do with anything, or that wrongdoing even took place.

It was a joke about how Pats fans will blindly follow Brady no matter what.

I added the analogies about his Uggs and the nickname because it's laughable that people actually believe the nickname the "deflator" doesn't mean anything.

 

[irishfan]

It was a joke about how Pats fans will blindly follow Brady no matter what.

I added the analogies about his Uggs and the nickname because it's laughable that people actually believe the nickname the "deflator" doesn't mean anything.

It's also laughable that people put more weight on the "deflator" text from May of 2014 than this exchange below from October 17, 2014:

But why has no one mentioned the text messages that reference game balls being inflated to 16 PSI?

On Oct. 17, the morning after the Patriots defeated the New York Jets, McNally and Jastremski exchanged several text messages that seemed to indicate Tom Brady was upset over footballs being over-inflated.

“I checked some of the balls this morn…” Jastremski wrote to McNally. “The refs f—ed us…a few of them were almost at 16. They didn’t recheck (them) after they put air in them.”

McNally then responded by saying “F– Tom…16 is nothing…wait till next Sunday,” which was obviously sarcasm and McNally’s way of joking that he’s going to screw Brady, who has openly admitted he likes a softer ball.

Before he mentioned the 16 PSI issue to McNally, Jastremski also texted his fiancee about it.


“Ugh…Tom was right,” he wrote. “I just measured some of the balls. They supposed to be 13 lbs… They were like 16. Felt like bricks.”

Literally text-proof that the footballs are supposed to be at 13.0, and then the Wells Report states Brady asked for 12.5 after this game. But that text from months before the season carries more weight than any of the info that actually has to do with PSI. Not calling you out, because the "deflator" text was the one that got all the media attention. It's just funny that the only texts that actually reference PSI get ignored completely.

 

[wizards8507]

I added the analogies about his Uggs and the nickname because it's laughable that people actually believe the nickname the "deflator" doesn't mean anything.

Of course it does. But I don't think it's necessarily as "evil" as people make it out to be. There are three distinct possibilities, and each one of them points out that people are reacting like lunatics with selective outrage.

Possibility 1. TB instructs the equipment guy to under-inflate the balls below legal limits hoping to get away with it and play with illegal footballs. This is obviously the preferred narrative of the haters, because it plays into the "Patriots are cheaters" arc. If this is the case, then Aaron Rodgers should be suspended for the first four games of the season as well as Tom Brady.

Possibility 2. TB instructs the equipment guy to under-inflate the balls below legal limits because officials routinely add a "pregame pump" or two to the balls before kickoff. Bringing the balls below legal limits in anticipation that they're going to add air and bring the balls within legal limits is still a rules violation, but I wouldn't consider it cheating. Rather, it's a player trying to compensate for the incompetence of the officials. I highly doubt that the officials actually measuring the PSI in a ball and then leaving them alone for the rest of the game was common practice. I think they gave the balls a squeeze, added a few puffs of air, and that was that. The two different pressure gauges that show dramatically different readings as outlined in the Wells report supports this lackadaisical attitude towards equipment checks.

Possibility 3. TB instructs the equipment guy to make the balls "as soft as possible," assuming the equipment guy will take that to mean "as soft as possible within legal limits." There's nothing at all wrong with that scenario.

Literally text-proof that the footballs are supposed to be at 13.0, and then the Wells Report states Brady asked for 12.5 after this game. But that text from months before the season carries more weight than any of the info that actually has to do with PSI. Not calling you out, because the "deflator" text was the one that got all the media attention. It's just funny that the only texts that actually reference PSI get ignored completely.

Exactly! They literally texted the equivalent of "TOM LIKES HIS BALLS AT 13 PSI." In a world where the idiot referees are inflating balls to 16 PSI, a nickname like "the deflator" actually makes you a defender of the integrity of the game.

 

[IrishLion]

That's cool and all.... but it conveniently ignores that HIS NICKNAME IS THE DEFLATOR. What do you think he had been doing that whole time, and probably beforehand, if his nickname was "the Deflator"?

Just because Brady recognized that some balls were over-inflated, we can conveniently ignore the guys guilt-laden nickname? Or because Brady recognizes that the ball are over-inflated means that there was never any shady business to take them below the standard intentionally?

 

[wizards8507]

That's cool and all.... but it conveniently ignores that HIS NICKNAME IS THE DEFLATOR. What do you think he had been doing that whole time, and probably beforehand, if his nickname was "the Deflator"?

Just because Brady recognized that some balls were over-inflated, we can conveniently ignore the guys guilt-laden nickname? Or because Brady recognizes that the ball are over-inflated means that there was never any shady business to take them below the standard intentionally?

Because that's NOT a guilt-laden nickname. If the referees are pumping up balls to 16 PSI, it's the referees who are breaking the rules and "the deflator" who's saving the day.

 

[Bubbles]

Hard to say who looks like the bigger liar, Kraft or Brady. But their reputations, already marked by the organization's proven past cheating, are destroyed, and rightfully so. Brady's blaming of his lawyers shows how little character he actually has. What a disgraceful human being. And Kraft is stuck playing the foolish old man, trying to grasp a "legacy" of achievement, when the sports world will remember only his team's dishonesty and disgrace.

Lol....ok McCarthy.

 

[IrishLion]

Because that's NOT a guilt-laden nickname. If the referees are pumping up balls to 16 PSI, it's the referees who are breaking the rules and "the deflator" who's saving the day.

Right, but the text naming him the "Deflator" was sent well before texts about the referees over-inflating the balls.

So he has a shady nickname that he earned well before the incident. The question is whether or not the refs had been doing their job wrong for a while, or if he was deflating balls before it became an issue.

I know which is more likely, especially considering the past transgressions of the Patriots organization, but I don't expect Pats fans to see it the same way. Hence the joke about blindly following Brady and disregarding any evidence that may point to the contrary.

 

[irishfan]

Right, but the text naming him the "Deflator" was sent well before texts about the referees over-inflating the balls.

So he has a shady nickname that he earned well before the incident. The question is whether or not the refs had been doing their job wrong for a while, or if he was deflating balls before it became an issue.

I know which is more likely, especially considering the past transgressions of the Patriots organization, but I don't expect Pats fans to see it the same way. Hence the joke about blindly following Brady and disregarding any evidence that may point to the contrary.

So the guilty and cheating "deflator" who deflates footballs illegally every home game forgot to before the Week 6 game against the Jets who are arguably their biggest rival? It just slipped his mind? And then his partner for no reason texted his fiancee the next day that the footballs were supposed to be at 13 PSI? Sounds like the equipment guys have this deflating thing down to an exact science in New England.

 

[Rhode Irish]

This whole situation saddens me because it is clearly not about footballs and the amount of air in them, it is about an internal power struggle in the NFL. And it sucks that Brady has to be caught in the middle of it, but that is where we are.

I do not understand the obsession with texts and phones, because all of that is besides the point if there was no actual illegal manipulation of the footballs. And the science on that is perfectly clear at this point that the balls were not actually deflated. The NFL's focus on the circumstantial evidence and obsession with creating narrative through its public statements and leaked information, along with its continued refusal to acknowledge that the science shows no evidence of tampering with the footballs, is all of the evidence that you need regarding what this is all about.

 

[wizards8507]

The question is whether or not the refs had been doing their job wrong for a while, or if he was deflating balls before it became an issue.

I know which is more likely, especially considering the past transgressions of the Patriots organization, but I don't expect Pats fans to see it the same way.

Thank you for at least acknowledging that there are two possibilities. I just find it pretty amazing that you think the Patriots are so dishonest that their dishonesty is more likely, in your mind, than the NFL's incompetence. And that, when the two possibilities are Patriot dishonesty or NFL incompetence, you're okay with the NFL serving as judge, jury, and executioner over which it is.

 

[gkIrish]

I was convinced Brady knew about all this when he addressed the media and basically said he didn't know anything about ball pressure or how the balls are prepared. I think the only thing he admitted to was liking the balls to be at 12.5.

Then we get the texts and other reports about the Patriots process of ball preparation (to try and explain away the scientific reports by the NFL). Yet somehow I'm supposed to believe this guy doesn't know anything about all of this. Please.

 

[Irish Insanity]

This whole situation saddens me because it is clearly not about footballs and the amount of air in them, it is about an internal power struggle in the NFL. And it sucks that Brady has to be caught in the middle of it, but that is where we are.

I do not understand the obsession with texts and phones, because all of that is besides the point if there was no actual illegal manipulation of the footballs. And the science on that is perfectly clear at this point that the balls were not actually deflated. The NFL's focus on the circumstantial evidence and obsession with creating narrative through its public statements and leaked information, along with its continued refusal to acknowledge that the science shows no evidence of tampering with the footballs, is all of the evidence that you need regarding what this is all about.

You can't really believe this.

 

[Rhode Irish]

You can't really believe this.

I believe if you don't believe that you are either not very bright or not paying close enough attention, to be quite honest.

 

[Irish Insanity]

I believe if you don't believe that you are either not very bright or not paying close enough attention, to be quite honest.

I was sincerely curious. I don't know of, haven't read, and haven't heard of, a single person that shares that view.

 

[wizards8507]

You can't really believe this.

Did you read the Wells report? It's pretty clear that there were two different pressure gauges used to measure the footballs, and that those gauges were off from one another by as much as 0.4 PSI. Referee Walt Anderson said he remembered using the gauges in a sequence that would completely exonerate the Patriots, but he wasn't absolutely positive so the investigators concluded that he must have been mistaken and used the gauges in a sequence that would indicate deliberate tampering. It's also worth noting that one of the pressure gauges also showed that the Colts' footballs were also under the legal limit.

But not one person has bothered to respond to this.

 

[irishfan]

You can't really believe this.

Which part do you disagree with? The NFL leaked false info early which made Brady guilty from the start. They made no effort to correct the false media leak despite other instances when they've corrected the media. Hell, they even sent the Patriots false PSI info in their investigation letter and didn't correct that for months. The Wells Report cherry picks when to believe the referee and when not to to help fill the guilty narrative. They even ran a god damn sting operation. Not to mention that Goodell refused to let someone else hear Brady's appeal (which he has done in nearly every other case). Say what you want about the sketchy texts or Brady's phone, but the NFL has been far from the good guys throughout this entire thing.

I get the suspicions and people not trusting/liking the Patriots and Brady, but I figured more people would question the judgement of an authoritarian in Goodell who has shown he is incapable of handing down a single fair punishment in the past and who hired an "independent" investigator who cited client-attorney privilege to hide Deflategate correspondence for the Brady appeal.

 

[IrishLion]

Goodell sucks, no doubt... but to act like this is all about Goodell sucking, and then to turn around and to disregard the fact that the Patriots were *probably* being shady/cheating again is a bit hypocritical.

We can use Goodell's history to show why he's probably being unfair, but we can't use the Patriots' history to show that they were probably breaking the rules?

Do you guys not see any hypocrisy there?

 

[Irish Insanity]

I disagree with any part that makes Brady look like a victim and removes any responsibility from him.