I don’t know how interested you are in the whole Deflategate phenomenon, but if you actually read the Wells Report you’ll see that the accusations are very thinly based. Most basically, there is no evidence that the balls were intentionally deflated in the first place. Aside from the fact that they rely on the referee’s (Anderson) memory for the original PSI of the balls and compare 4 Colts’ footballs against 12 Patriots’ balls, there were two different gauges used, one which read systematically higher than the other. Anderson recalls having initially used the higher reading gauge, which would show that the balls deflated to the level predicted by the Ideal Gas Law. So Wells simply ignored Anderson’s memory here and assumed the lower-reading gauge was used. Really–there’s no case.
The texts are inconclusive and seem to refer to Brady’s preference for a certain PSI prior to the official inspection—nothing illegal there. But the basic point is that without evidence of intentional deflation they are irrelevant. I do like the Patriots but certainly find it believable that they would cheat. I just don’t see a clear sign they did in this case. But the league for some reason unknown to me seems very eager to convict them.
This was not a criminal act in a court of law that required a “conviction”. It was obvious what happened, and the report actually said Brady was “at least” aware of the “inappropriate activity” (implying he probably at least encouraged it). Yes, the activity was inappropriate, it broke league rules. Clearly. Regardless of psi, procedures were violated.
Not the crime of the century, or major rules violation. But it broke rules, so you punish. Seems like reasonable punishment too, not too severe and not too light.
You’re right, it was obvious what happened–nothing, as far as the PSI of the balls in the Colts game is concerned. The evidence is exculpatory, but Wells and Goodell are banking on the media and the fans to be too dim-witted and lazy to actually go through the details of the report. For the most part they were right in making this assumption, but not in every case. As I said there are numerous problems with the Wells Report, but the simplest problem was discovered by Mike Florio of PFT and has to do with the gauges used to measure the balls. I think I laid it out clearly enough in my previous comment.
The bottom line is that you can’t convict someone of bank robbery when the bank hasn’t even been robbed. (And it’s not a question of there not being enough evidence or it being “inconclusive”; the evidence, when not intentionally distorted, clearly shows that no manipulation of the footballs occurred.)
Therein lies the dilemma for Brady. Yes, the existing texts and report are inconclusive. But that is, in part, because Brady refused to turn over his texts. Brady and the Pats will likely appeal within the NFL appeal process. They will piss and moan and act all appalled. Yet, I assure you Brady will never take this to court or to any kind of evidentiary hearing because not only would he have to turn over his texts pursuant to discovery, but he would have to subject himself to cross-examination. If he was comfortable with the former, he would have already turned them over, and anyone who saw Brady’s initial press conference knows he doesn’t want to testify under oath.
This is just plain stupid.
Reinstate wife-beaters? Sure.
Never even suspend murderers and turn them into the face of the game? Why not.
Suspend some guy who likes his football a little under-inflated? YES YES YES.
This is all because many bettors in Vegas lost a TON of money on the Super Bowl when Seattle CHOKED
That is all.
The other team never used the balls, only the Patriots used them (and not for any kicking, just scrimmage snaps.)
Lets all obsess over something that was MEANINGLESS and ignore the real problems of Misogyny, Drug Abuse, Criminal Behavior, and Brain Damage in the most profitable professional sports in existence.
Much Ado About Nothing.
Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain…
If you pass a note to a teller saying you want all the money in the safe, and she presses a security button and security busts you, you have still committed a crime even though the bank was not robbed. Attempted bank robbery, etc.
Oh, if I am not mistaken, Brady has the right to appeal the suspension and even take the league to court. Of course doing that will require hearings and such. That would mean he has to turn over all his texts (has has refused to turn them over for some reason…). So, let’s see what he does. If he truly had absolutely nothing to do with it, he should appeal the suspension, yes?
Yes but the evidence of a “attempted robbery” rests on a few goofy, semi-illiterate texts between equipment guys written months earlier. They never talk about lowering the PSI below 12.5 and can easily be read as talking about getting the footballs into the pre-game inspection at the level Brady likes (and maybe they were assuming the refs wouldn’t test them and were trying to get them in a little below the allowed level–but that’s not what this whole business is about). Totally flimsy and ambiguous basis for an accusation.
Brady does have the right to appeal the suspension and his agent has already indicated he will. Unless I’m completely wrong about what I’ve read, there’s no way a neutral judge will uphold the suspension. As for court, I guess we’ll see. I doubt it. The thing is, it’s not that I insist that Brady and the Pats are not capable of bending the rules to get an advantage. Of course they are. And it’s clear that the league wanted to catch them and make an example of them, for whatever reason. I just think they picked the wrong case. But going to court would probably mean having to admit to a lot of other stuff that the Pats would prefer to keep hidden.
(And by the way as far as I understand appealing the case would not necessarily entail Brady turning over his phone.)
If one guy’s job is to deflate game balls to the level that Brady likes, within the permissible range of NFL rules, and he chooses to call himself “The Deflator” because that’s what he does, he deflates footballs to the point that Brady has publicly stated is his preference, I’m afraid I can’t see the rule-breaking involved. There are ZERO texts that indicate Brady ever asked to have the balls deflated beyond the permissible level of 12.5psi. If you can find a text that makes rule-breaking clear, please post it. People jump all over the word “deflate” in all its variations but not one of these references says “Deflate below the permissible range.” In other words, the conclusions reached by so many people (who haven’t read the report) are 100% innuendo.
From the Report:
“For the reasons described in this Report, and after a comprehensive investigation,
we have concluded that, in connection with the AFC Championship Game, it is more probable
than not that New England Patriots personnel participated in violations of the Playing Rules and
were involved in a deliberate effort to circumvent the rules. In particular, we have concluded
that it is more probable than not that Jim McNally (the Officials Locker Room attendant for the
Patriots) and John Jastremski (an equipment assistant for the Patriots) participated in a deliberate
effort to release air from Patriots game balls after the balls were examined by the referee. Based
on the evidence, it also is our view that it is more probable than not that Tom Brady (the
quarterback for the Patriots) was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities of
McNally and Jastremski involving the release of air from Patriots game balls”
Yes that is the official conclusion the Wells Report reached. I told you why I thought that conclusion was baseless. Your point? (If you told me that the Bush administration lied to go to war in Iraq and I replied with a quote from Cheney saying it was entirely justified, would you be satisfied with the response?)
In your case, Cheney is the equivalent of Brady. No, not morally by any means. But they are “accused”. So what kind of analogy is that anyway?
Most of the CIA said the WMD stuff did not exist, and the stuff that did was likely from old Curveball, who always had given bad info for his own benefit. Cheney then cherry picked what he wanted to defend his case. Cheney could not be convicted of anything because he hid info, and was careful about the language he used. Yet he clearly practiced deception, but was smart enough to legally cover his butt. Brady was slick might not have totally covered his butt, that’s why he won’t turn over the texts.
Your “question” presumes that an incident of cheating took place, and I dispute that wholeheartedly. I have read the Wells report forward and back, and there is NOTHING persuasive in it to substantiate the charge. If you’d like to debate the topic, I am ready and willing.
You missed the point of my analogy. In my example, Cheney is of course analogous to Wells. My point was that I was disputing the Wells Report so you can’t simply quote back its conclusion to me, any more than one can (legitimately) quote Cheney to someone who was disputing his Iraq policy.
The league decided there was a preponderance of the evidence they cheated, your denial notwithstanding. So I still find it unfair the deflator was treated more harshly than Brady.
He got off easy, so did the team. Ladies and gentlemen, your 2014-15 AFC Champions are: the Baltimore Ravens!! Super Bowl results nullified. Interesting year. Thanks Pats!
