Are you ready for some NFL Football? 2014 Edition.

[Slice of Life]

http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2015/2/24/8101617/cleveland-browns-logo-redesign-nfl-every-logo-lol

[boogielicious]

http://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2015/2/24/8101617/cleveland-browns-logo-redesign-nfl-every-logo-lol

LOL!

[Slice of Life]

https://nfllabor.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/investigative-and-expert-reports-re-footballs-used-during-afc-championsh.pdf

Well...

[newtogolf]

https://nfllabor.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/investigative-and-expert-reports-re-footballs-used-during-afc-championsh.pdf

Well...

Not a surprise we knew the Pats deflated the balls, the question only was who on the Pats did it, now we know.  Good to see that even Patriots staff can't stand Brady.

[mmoan2]

https://nfllabor.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/investigative-and-expert-reports-re-footballs-used-during-afc-championsh.pdf

Well...

Thanks for the link and I recognize its importance, but I have to laugh at a 150 page document about deflating footballs. What's next, a Congressional Committee Report on the kickoff return?

[Slice of Life]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/long-awaited-deflate-gate-investigation-implicates-pats--tom-brady-173408354.html

Just to add to it...

[dsc123]

This is like Christmas! ;)

[boogielicious]

Brady! This is like Christmas! ;)

HA!  I have to laugh at you.  This was just a total cover-our-ass statement by the NFL.  No proof whatsoever.  "more probable" = no clue.  Kraft's response was perfect.  What a waste of time by the incompetent Commissioner Badell.  End of discussion.

[dsc123]

HA!  I have to laugh at you.  This was just a total cover-our-ass statement by the NFL.  No proof whatsoever.  "more probable" = no clue.  Kraft's response was perfect.  What a waste of time by the incompetent Commissioner Badell.  End of discussion.

That's the summary, look at the text messages.  Or if you actually want to be informed, you could start with the part of the report titled "Specific Evidence and Analysis."  If you do that, you'll see all sorts of evidence that Brady directed this, that he flipped when the balls weren't to his liking, and that once the text messages discussing it were found, the Patriots refused to cooperate with further interviews.

I missed Kraft's response, did he apologize?  Or at least take back his demand for an apology from the NFL?  Did he give the ring back?

[Shindig]

That's the summary, look at the text messages.  Or if you actually want to be informed, you could start with the part of the report titled "Specific Evidence and Analysis."  If you do that, you'll see all sorts of evidence that Brady directed this, that he flipped when the balls weren't to his liking, and that once the text messages discussing it were found, the Patriots refused to cooperate with further interviews.  I missed Kraft's response, did he apologize?  Or at least take back his demand for an apology from the NFL?  Did he give the ring back?

Way to selectively read and miss what you didn't want to see. The messages also show the staff were deliberately over-inflating the balls to mess with him. There are lots of good reasons to hate the Patriots. The deflated ball nonsense isn't one of them. The real scandal here is that the NFL cares more about these balls than, say, the ones Aaron Rodgers uses (stated preference: inflated beyond allowed limit), and significantly more than they care about domestic violence and drug abuse. If only they had put this much effort into figuring out what Ray Rice did in that elevator, or what happened between Hardy and his girlfriend...

[dsc123]

Way to selectively read and miss what you didn't want to see. The messages also show the staff were deliberately over-inflating the balls to mess with him.

There are lots of good reasons to hate the Patriots. The deflated ball nonsense isn't one of them.

You've got to be kidding me.  They were jokes.  Read the report.  They prepared the footballs, the Golden Boy raised a ruckus, and they complained to each other "next time I'll make em like a ruby fall, f tom."  The text messages are just the juicy stuff.  The report also talks about valuable gifts from Brady to these guys, scientific experiments, etc.  Look at pages 122-124.

The real scandal here is that the NFL cares more about these balls than, say, the ones Aaron Rodgers uses (stated preference: inflated beyond allowed limit), and significantly more than they care about domestic violence and drug abuse. If only they had put this much effort into figuring out what Ray Rice did in that elevator, or what happened between Hardy and his girlfriend...

Its not illegal to have a preference, its illegal to change the balls after the refs check them.

Completely agree re ray rice, etc..  But that is completely irrelevant

[phan52]

https://nfllabor.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/investigative-and-expert-reports-re-footballs-used-during-afc-championsh.pdf

Well...

Cheating cheaters cheat.

[Golfingdad]

Cheating cheaters cheat.

You're coming dangerously close to sounding like you're trying to quote a Taylor Swift song here ... just saying.

[phan52]

Quote:

Originally Posted by phan52

Cheating cheaters cheat.

Originally Posted by Golfingdad

You're coming dangerously close to sounding like you're trying to quote a Taylor Swift song here ... just saying.

Shake it off.

[dsc123]

Brady denied being involved.

The evidence against him are basically as follows:

1.  Text messages between the equipment guys.

2.  He had never called Jastremski and then called him 6 times in the 3 days after the story broke, sent him texts making sure he was okay, and invited him in the QB room for the first and only time.  Wells said this "suggests that Brady was closely monitoring Jastremski."

3. Past comments about liking the balls flat.

4. implausible claim that he didn't even know who McNally was.

Brady refused to turn over his email or text messages.

Quote:

[McNally] said that on the day of the AFC Championship Game, he entered the bathroom, dropped the ball bags to his left, and used the urinal to his right.

That bathroom, however, does not contain a urinal.

[Shindig]

Well, at least we solved the mystery of who has been pissing on the wall in the Patriots' locker room. Good work NFL!

[Gunther]

Mark Cuban predicts $1 million fine for New England Patriots; says 'it'll make everybody pay attention" Don't often agree w Cubes but I do here. He gave some great insight to how these punishments are decided: How closely are you watching what Roger Goodell – judge, jury, and executioner – does to Tome Brady, Bill Belichick and the Patriots with all this evidence? Cuban: First of all, he’s not the judge, jury, and executioner. I don’t care what anybody says. He’s the mouthpiece. He’s the guy who stands up in the courtroom and announces what’s already been decided. He works at the discretion and pleasure of the owners. Period. End of story. And if you’re making $44 million a year – and he’s good at his job, I don’t mean to make this sound like I don’t think he does a great job, he does an amazing job - but when you’re getting paid $44 million a year, when you have 32 bosses say, ‘Jump.’ You say, ‘How high?’ … He’ll discuss it with the people he trusts in the ownership group, and that’s where they’ll decide. And it will be really, really interesting because I’m sure it’s like the NBA where there are a bunch of owners calling Roger right now saying ‘this is what we oughta do, we have to send a message, they’ve done this before…’ So, you’ll have a better understanding about the politics inside the NFL and the ownership groups by what’s announced and whatever the punishment is, if anything. Sorry, no idea how to put this into a quote box. Wonder if the NFL operates same as NBA?

[Shindig]

Sorry, no idea how to put this into a quote box. Wonder if the NFL operates same as NBA?

Enclose it in brackets that have the word "quote" in them, just like appears in the box when you quote somebody, except omit the name="..." url="..." portion of it (because Mark Cuban, to the best of my knowledge, hasn't posted on TST). But to your real point, yes, Goodell isn't actually the one who decides, and he is the mouthpiece. Part of his job is also taking the blame for things that look bad for the NFL. Back when the Ray Rice thing was going on, lots of people (very few of whom watch football) said he was a bad commissioner. This told me they don't know what his job actually is. Not that I'd say his tenure as commissioner has been good, or that I'm a fan of his, but he's pretty good at being the focal point for blame and doing what the owners collectively want him to do. As for the punishment, $1M wouldn't surprise me, nor would something less, nor would something more. No matter what the punishment is, it's likely that some people will think it was way too much and others will think it was way too little, and nothing that has come out since January 18 will have changed the minds of anyone in either camp.