They are also much farther north than them. The others are still in eastern United States. Suppose I call the East divisions in both conferences Mid-Atlantic instead? My goal was to get Miami out of a division with northeastern teams and into the south, Dallas out of the east, Indianapolis out of the south, as well as putting 4 teams geographically close together in all 8 divisions. Take a map, take 8 different color markers, and dot the map as I have it laid out. It's not perfect but it's certainly better than the current alignment. I didn't really have to swap New Orleans & Houston or San Diego & Seattle, either, but thought it was fun to mix it up a bit.
I just don't like the idea of teams switching conferences just for geographical purposes. It sounds like you just want Miami to be in an easier division. They are going to suck in any division. But the easiest way to do it would be to switch Miami with Baltimore. Then switch Miami with maybe Indy or Tennessee.
I couldn't care less about the ease or difficulty of Miami's schedule. They belong in the south, with southern teams. Switching Miami with Baltimore doesn't solve anything. Why would Miami be in the North division or in a division with northern teams? It doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Why would you not switch conferences for geographical purposes? That's the whole point of divisions - to group teams geographically. They did it with Seattle.
Kansas City is the odd man out. Smack dab in the middle of the country. There are only 7 teams truly in the west. It would technically make more sense to put Dallas or Houston in the west than KC. But then you'd have KC in the South which isn't exactly fitting, either.
They are also much farther north than them. The others are still in eastern United States. Suppose I call the East divisions in both conferences Mid-Atlantic instead? My goal was to get Miami out of a division with northeastern teams and into the south, Dallas out of the east, Indianapolis out of the south, as well as putting 4 teams geographically close together in all 8 divisions. Take a map, take 8 different color markers, and dot the map as I have it laid out. It's not perfect but it's certainly better than the current alignment. I didn't really have to swap New Orleans & Houston or San Diego & Seattle, either, but thought it was fun to mix it up a bit.
I just don't like the idea of teams switching conferences just for geographical purposes. It sounds like you just want Miami to be in an easier division. They are going to suck in any division. But the easiest way to do it would be to switch Miami with Baltimore. Then switch Miami with maybe Indy or Tennessee.
I couldn't care less about the ease or difficulty of Miami's schedule. They belong in the south, with southern teams. Switching Miami with Baltimore doesn't solve anything. Why would Miami be in the North division or in a division with northern teams? It doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Why would you not switch conferences for geographical purposes? That's the whole point of divisions - to group teams geographically. They did it with Seattle.
Kansas City is the odd man out. Smack dab in the middle of the country. There are only 7 teams truly in the west. It would technically make more sense to put Dallas or Houston in the west than KC. But then you'd have KC in the South which isn't exactly fitting, either.
I said switch Miami with Baltimore, then switch Miami with someone like indy or tennesee. That keeps everyone in the same conference and puts them closer to their geographical opponents. So the divisions would look like this:
AFC East: NE, Buffalo, NYJ, Baltimore
AFC North: Cincy, Cleveland, Pitt, indy
AFC South: Houston, Jax, Tennessee, Miami.
will myself to find a home, a home within myself we will find a way, we will find our place
^^^^Well, i don't think he should've been suspended (and i'm not a Pats fan). From what i read teams have been fined fucking with the ball. $25,000 , i think. But, who knows with the NFL.
Its more than that though. The whole spygate thing is obviously much bigger than the NFL let out. To protect the shield and super bowl results, the NFL destroyed the hard evidence and made it go away. Im sure not every owner was 100% pleased, but they all understand the need to be cohesive and protect the brand.
This was an purposeful attempt to break the rules, by repeat offenders who already got away with a pretty big one. It would have still been minor if Tom Brady half took responsibility at the forefront, said a few employees misunderstood and took it too far, it wont happen again, he would accept the NFL's punishment, winked and smiled into the camera.... would have been history that week and it would have probably been a slap on the wrist (Im guessing a little more than $25K).
Instead it was bold faced denial, destruction of evidence, and propaganda wars... followed by a prolonged CBA challenge that all dragged out over 18 months. Kraft breaks ranks and goes against the NFL, crying every chance he gets, when he was the one the other owners let slide back in the 2000s.
^^^^Well, i don't think he should've been suspended (and i'm not a Pats fan). From what i read teams have been fined fucking with the ball. $25,000 , i think. But, who knows with the NFL.
Its more than that though. The whole spygate thing is obviously much bigger than the NFL let out. To protect the shield and super bowl results, the NFL destroyed the hard evidence and made it go away. Im sure not every owner was 100% pleased, but they all understand the need to be cohesive and protect the brand.
This was an purposeful attempt to break the rules, by repeat offenders who already got away with a pretty big one. It would have still been minor if Tom Brady half took responsibility at the forefront, said a few employees misunderstood and took it too far, it wont happen again, he would accept the NFL's punishment, winked and smiled into the camera.... would have been history that week and it would have probably been a slap on the wrist (Im guessing a little more than $25K).
Instead it was bold faced denial, destruction of evidence, and propaganda wars... followed by a prolonged CBA challenge that all dragged out over 18 months. Kraft breaks ranks and goes against the NFL, crying every chance he gets, when he was the one the other owners let slide back in the 2000s.
1) I think people have thought way too much about it. See above.
2) As a bills fan, nothing keeps me happier than seeing Brady on the bench when we play the pats, but, Brady wasn't found to have done anything wrong. Nobody can prove he did ANYTHING. It's not a crime to break your phone. To punish Brady for Spygate is absurd and spiteful. There is no reason Brady should be serving a 4 game suspension.
will myself to find a home, a home within myself we will find a way, we will find our place
So the divisions would look like this: AFC East: NE, Buffalo, NYJ, Baltimore
AFC North: Cincy, Cleveland, Pitt, indy
AFC South: Houston, Jax, Tennessee, Miami.
Back when the Texans came in, the Bills were supposed to swap places with Baltimore to be in their natural habitat of Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati... but Ralph Wilson refused in order to preserve the 'rivalry' with Miami which is long dead. IMO we will get there at some point. It is still talked about in Buffalo a bunch as a real desire.
I had the following out of the box proposal: 4 Divisions
AFC North Buffalo Cleveland Pittsburgh Detroit Cincinnati Chicago Minnesota Green Bay
AFC South Houston Miami Jacksonville Tampa Bay Carolina New Orleans Atlanta Tennessee
NFC East New England NY Giants Washington Philadelphia Baltimore Dallas Indianapolis NY Jets
NFC West Denver Los Angeles Seattle Kansas City Oakland San Francisco San Diego Arizona
It is treated more like NCAA football. Play each Division team 1x. rotate home/away year to year. Pair up 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 for an extra Divisional game to make 8 Divisional games. It would also keep teams at the top of the Division duking it out once more each season. Then 4 from your other conference Division with typical home/away rotation, and 2/2 from each Division from the other conference with typical home/away rotation (or even assign out of division opponents (or some of them) by record.
Division winners get byes. #2 and #3 in each division play in the wildcard round.
And Im kind of bored with the 4-team Division thing
^^^^Well, i don't think he should've been suspended (and i'm not a Pats fan). From what i read teams have been fined fucking with the ball. $25,000 , i think. But, who knows with the NFL.
Its more than that though. The whole spygate thing is obviously much bigger than the NFL let out. To protect the shield and super bowl results, the NFL destroyed the hard evidence and made it go away. Im sure not every owner was 100% pleased, but they all understand the need to be cohesive and protect the brand.
This was an purposeful attempt to break the rules, by repeat offenders who already got away with a pretty big one. It would have still been minor if Tom Brady half took responsibility at the forefront, said a few employees misunderstood and took it too far, it wont happen again, he would accept the NFL's punishment, winked and smiled into the camera.... would have been history that week and it would have probably been a slap on the wrist (Im guessing a little more than $25K).
Instead it was bold faced denial, destruction of evidence, and propaganda wars... followed by a prolonged CBA challenge that all dragged out over 18 months. Kraft breaks ranks and goes against the NFL, crying every chance he gets, when he was the one the other owners let slide back in the 2000s.
exactly, not sure why some people have a hard time grasping this,
^^^^Well, i don't think he should've been suspended (and i'm not a Pats fan). From what i read teams have been fined fucking with the ball. $25,000 , i think. But, who knows with the NFL.
Its more than that though. The whole spygate thing is obviously much bigger than the NFL let out. To protect the shield and super bowl results, the NFL destroyed the hard evidence and made it go away. Im sure not every owner was 100% pleased, but they all understand the need to be cohesive and protect the brand.
This was an purposeful attempt to break the rules, by repeat offenders who already got away with a pretty big one. It would have still been minor if Tom Brady half took responsibility at the forefront, said a few employees misunderstood and took it too far, it wont happen again, he would accept the NFL's punishment, winked and smiled into the camera.... would have been history that week and it would have probably been a slap on the wrist (Im guessing a little more than $25K).
Instead it was bold faced denial, destruction of evidence, and propaganda wars... followed by a prolonged CBA challenge that all dragged out over 18 months. Kraft breaks ranks and goes against the NFL, crying every chance he gets, when he was the one the other owners let slide back in the 2000s.
1) I think people have thought way too much about it. See above.
2) As a bills fan, nothing keeps me happier than seeing Brady on the bench when we play the pats, but, Brady wasn't found to have done anything wrong. Nobody can prove he did ANYTHING. It's not a crime to break your phone. To punish Brady for Spygate is absurd and spiteful. There is no reason Brady should be serving a 4 game suspension.
^^^^Well, i don't think he should've been suspended (and i'm not a Pats fan). From what i read teams have been fined fucking with the ball. $25,000 , i think. But, who knows with the NFL.
Its more than that though. The whole spygate thing is obviously much bigger than the NFL let out. To protect the shield and super bowl results, the NFL destroyed the hard evidence and made it go away. Im sure not every owner was 100% pleased, but they all understand the need to be cohesive and protect the brand.
This was an purposeful attempt to break the rules, by repeat offenders who already got away with a pretty big one. It would have still been minor if Tom Brady half took responsibility at the forefront, said a few employees misunderstood and took it too far, it wont happen again, he would accept the NFL's punishment, winked and smiled into the camera.... would have been history that week and it would have probably been a slap on the wrist (Im guessing a little more than $25K).
Instead it was bold faced denial, destruction of evidence, and propaganda wars... followed by a prolonged CBA challenge that all dragged out over 18 months. Kraft breaks ranks and goes against the NFL, crying every chance he gets, when he was the one the other owners let slide back in the 2000s.
exactly, not sure why some people have a hard time grasping this,
I have a hard time grasping a 4 game suspension when wife beaters, drunk drivers, gun toters, & drug possessors/violators get the same or less.
They are also much farther north than them. The others are still in eastern United States. Suppose I call the East divisions in both conferences Mid-Atlantic instead? My goal was to get Miami out of a division with northeastern teams and into the south, Dallas out of the east, Indianapolis out of the south, as well as putting 4 teams geographically close together in all 8 divisions. Take a map, take 8 different color markers, and dot the map as I have it laid out. It's not perfect but it's certainly better than the current alignment. I didn't really have to swap New Orleans & Houston or San Diego & Seattle, either, but thought it was fun to mix it up a bit.
I just don't like the idea of teams switching conferences just for geographical purposes. It sounds like you just want Miami to be in an easier division. They are going to suck in any division. But the easiest way to do it would be to switch Miami with Baltimore. Then switch Miami with maybe Indy or Tennessee.
I couldn't care less about the ease or difficulty of Miami's schedule. They belong in the south, with southern teams. Switching Miami with Baltimore doesn't solve anything. Why would Miami be in the North division or in a division with northern teams? It doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Why would you not switch conferences for geographical purposes? That's the whole point of divisions - to group teams geographically. They did it with Seattle.
Kansas City is the odd man out. Smack dab in the middle of the country. There are only 7 teams truly in the west. It would technically make more sense to put Dallas or Houston in the west than KC. But then you'd have KC in the South which isn't exactly fitting, either.
I said switch Miami with Baltimore, then switch Miami with someone like indy or tennesee. That keeps everyone in the same conference and puts them closer to their geographical opponents. So the divisions would look like this:
^^^^Well, i don't think he should've been suspended (and i'm not a Pats fan). From what i read teams have been fined fucking with the ball. $25,000 , i think. But, who knows with the NFL.
Its more than that though. The whole spygate thing is obviously much bigger than the NFL let out. To protect the shield and super bowl results, the NFL destroyed the hard evidence and made it go away. Im sure not every owner was 100% pleased, but they all understand the need to be cohesive and protect the brand.
This was an purposeful attempt to break the rules, by repeat offenders who already got away with a pretty big one. It would have still been minor if Tom Brady half took responsibility at the forefront, said a few employees misunderstood and took it too far, it wont happen again, he would accept the NFL's punishment, winked and smiled into the camera.... would have been history that week and it would have probably been a slap on the wrist (Im guessing a little more than $25K).
Instead it was bold faced denial, destruction of evidence, and propaganda wars... followed by a prolonged CBA challenge that all dragged out over 18 months. Kraft breaks ranks and goes against the NFL, crying every chance he gets, when he was the one the other owners let slide back in the 2000s.
exactly, not sure why some people have a hard time grasping this,
I have a hard time grasping a 4 game suspension when wife beaters, drunk drivers, gun toters, & drug possessors/violators get the same or less.
off field behavior vs. integrity of the game from the same franchise who has been caught fucking with the integrity of the game on multiple occasions. keep doing the same things over and over the penalties get harsher.
So a football that is under-inflated ruins the integrity of the game more than allowing someone to play who beats their girlfriend or wife?? Ooooookay then...
The one good thing about Indy being in the AFC South and not the North is I don't have to worry about invading Steelers, Browns, and Bengals fans. Oh my!
So a football that is under-inflated ruins the integrity of the game more than allowing someone to play who beats their girlfriend or wife?? Ooooookay then...
a franchise repeatedly cheating ruins the integrity of the game more than off field behavior of individuals.
So a football that is under-inflated ruins the integrity of the game more than allowing someone to play who beats their girlfriend or wife?? Ooooookay then...
a franchise repeatedly cheating ruins the integrity of the game more than off field behavior of individuals.
Letting people who should be charged with crimes and thrown in jail represent your brand, and honoring them for their on-field achivements is less detrimental to the game's integrity than football PSI. Ooooookay then...
So a football that is under-inflated ruins the integrity of the game more than allowing someone to play who beats their girlfriend or wife?? Ooooookay then...
a franchise repeatedly cheating ruins the integrity of the game more than off field behavior of individuals.
Letting people who should be charged with crimes and thrown in jail represent your brand, and honoring them for their on-field achivements is less detrimental to the game's integrity than football PSI. Ooooookay then...
yes on field cheating DURING THE GAME is more detrimental to the integrity of the game than some dude getting a DUI. Johnny Manziel being a fucking idiot doesn't hurt he integrity of the GAME itself. It just means Johnny Manziel is an ass.
Pete Rose is banned for life for fucking with the integrity of the game. Others convicted of crimes are not. got it yet?
8/28/98- Camden, NJ
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Tres Mts.- 3/23/11- Philly. PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
So a football that is under-inflated ruins the integrity of the game more than allowing someone to play who beats their girlfriend or wife?? Ooooookay then...
a franchise repeatedly cheating ruins the integrity of the game more than off field behavior of individuals.
Letting people who should be charged with crimes and thrown in jail represent your brand, and honoring them for their on-field achivements is less detrimental to the game's integrity than football PSI. Ooooookay then...
yes on field cheating DURING THE GAME is more detrimental to the integrity of the game than some dude getting a DUI. Johnny Manziel being a fucking idiot doesn't hurt he integrity of the GAME itself. It just means Johnny Manziel is an ass.
Pete Rose is banned for life for fucking with the integrity of the game. Others convicted of crimes are not. got it yet?
Nope. Letting criminals, abusive behavior, etc represent your brand is pretty damned detrimental. How you guys fail to see that is beyond me. I'm not saying cheating doesn't ruin the integrity of the game. But I really don't understand how anyone can argue a 4 game suspension for football PSI is on the same level or worse than only getting 4 games for beating your wife/girlfriend or having a gun & drugs in your car during a routine traffic stop or drunk driving, etc. Both on field and off field antics ruin the integrity of the game. Look up the definition of integrity. The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. The NFL has no morals when it comes to allowing criminals to not only play but be honored. A fucking football that is slightly underpumped doesn't ruin shit.
if I held up a liquor store, then went to a friend's house. We play chess. He goes to get a snack and I take 3 of his pieces off his board unbeknownst to him. Which action hurt the integrity of the chess game more?
To be honest, I couldn't care less what these guys do off the field. As long as they aren't in prison or deported, let them play. Much simpler that way.
and if the air volume in footballs was no big deal.... there wouldnt be a regulation.... and someone wouldnt build an underhanded process on stealing footballs, sneaking them into a back room, letting the air out of them, then introducing them into the game
if I held up a liquor store, then went to a friend's house. We play chess. He goes to get a snack and I take 3 of his pieces off his board unbeknownst to him. Which action hurt the integrity of the chess game more?
Not even a good example. For one, you and your friend are not being paid millions to represent a brand. You and your friend are not in the public eye, with millions of kids looking up to you hoping to play chess like you someday. You don't have student chess-letes now thinking "Oh, it's okay if I hold up a liquor store, I'll still get to play chess."
Youre kind of backing into a larger point. The nfl wants to protect its image over all else. The pats broke ranks in order to cover up cheating. Control was taken away from the nfl (during superbowl week nonetheless), therefore some of the punishment is probably punitive in light of that (and repeat offenders). Im sure the nfl wouldnt have had that circus tom brady denial press conference with his stupid hat proclaiming "we arent isis"...or the equally silly pc of belichick explaining his own homebrew science experiments he conducted.
It would have been head off, pr pros would massage it, the penalty would have been less... and it would be ancient history long ago.
Ray rice is constantly brought up as a strawman measuring stick. The nfl messed up on that one. Im sure they know it. How about guys getting suspended 4 games+ for smoking weed?
Youre kind of backing into a larger point. The nfl wants to protect its image over all else. The pats broke ranks in order to cover up cheating. Control was taken away from the nfl (during superbowl week nonetheless), therefore some of the punishment is probably punitive in light of that (and repeat offenders). Im sure the nfl wouldnt have had that circus tom brady denial press conference with his stupid hat proclaiming "we arent isis"...or the equally silly pc of belichick explaining his own homebrew science experiments he conducted.
It would have been head off, pr pros would massage it, the penalty would have been less... and it would be ancient history long ago.
Ray rice is constantly brought up as a strawman measuring stick. The nfl messed up on that one. Im sure they know it. How about guys getting suspended 4 games+ for smoking weed?
Protect its image? Lol. Thats a joke right? How did the pats "break rank" to cover up cheating? There is still no evidence that Brady did anything wrong. If you want to nail the pats for Spygate, then you should probably have some physical evidence that they broke any rule in the first place. And if you just want to punish them, fine, take the draft pjcks. But to punish an individual player with zero evidence is not protecting the shield and it's image. It's spiteful and makes Goodell look foolish.
will myself to find a home, a home within myself we will find a way, we will find our place
The NFL wants all the information and requires full honesty so it can have control of every situation. Players are generally wild cards as they are technically just a contracted union. But with the 32 owners, the NFL B.O.G. expects them to always put the NFL-first. Instead, Kraft went on a crusade, cried a lot, stopped in an effort to get his way, then when he still didn't get his way, continued crying.
I'm not a Goodell fan but its plain to see what happened with this and how the Patriots handled it poorly (and that they had an obvious procedure to deflate footballs whether or not you think its a serious violation).
Comments
Why would you not switch conferences for geographical purposes? That's the whole point of divisions - to group teams geographically. They did it with Seattle.
Kansas City is the odd man out. Smack dab in the middle of the country. There are only 7 teams truly in the west. It would technically make more sense to put Dallas or Houston in the west than KC. But then you'd have KC in the South which isn't exactly fitting, either.
AFC East:
NE, Buffalo, NYJ, Baltimore
AFC North:
Cincy, Cleveland, Pitt, indy
AFC South:
Houston, Jax, Tennessee, Miami.
we will find a way, we will find our place
This was an purposeful attempt to break the rules, by repeat offenders who already got away with a pretty big one. It would have still been minor if Tom Brady half took responsibility at the forefront, said a few employees misunderstood and took it too far, it wont happen again, he would accept the NFL's punishment, winked and smiled into the camera.... would have been history that week and it would have probably been a slap on the wrist (Im guessing a little more than $25K).
Instead it was bold faced denial, destruction of evidence, and propaganda wars... followed by a prolonged CBA challenge that all dragged out over 18 months. Kraft breaks ranks and goes against the NFL, crying every chance he gets, when he was the one the other owners let slide back in the 2000s.
2) As a bills fan, nothing keeps me happier than seeing Brady on the bench when we play the pats, but, Brady wasn't found to have done anything wrong. Nobody can prove he did ANYTHING. It's not a crime to break your phone. To punish Brady for Spygate is absurd and spiteful. There is no reason Brady should be serving a 4 game suspension.
we will find a way, we will find our place
IMO we will get there at some point. It is still talked about in Buffalo a bunch as a real desire.
I had the following out of the box proposal: 4 Divisions
AFC North
Buffalo
Cleveland
Pittsburgh
Detroit
Cincinnati
Chicago
Minnesota
Green Bay
AFC South
Houston
Miami
Jacksonville
Tampa Bay
Carolina
New Orleans
Atlanta
Tennessee
NFC East
New England
NY Giants
Washington
Philadelphia
Baltimore
Dallas
Indianapolis
NY Jets
NFC West
Denver
Los Angeles
Seattle
Kansas City
Oakland
San Francisco
San Diego
Arizona
It is treated more like NCAA football. Play each Division team 1x. rotate home/away year to year. Pair up 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 for an extra Divisional game to make 8 Divisional games. It would also keep teams at the top of the Division duking it out once more each season. Then 4 from your other conference Division with typical home/away rotation, and 2/2 from each Division from the other conference with typical home/away rotation (or even assign out of division opponents (or some of them) by record.
Division winners get byes. #2 and #3 in each division play in the wildcard round.
And Im kind of bored with the 4-team Division thing
Tom O.
"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"
-The Writer
Pete Rose is banned for life for fucking with the integrity of the game. Others convicted of crimes are not. got it yet?
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/17124739/dennis-green-former-minnesota-vikings-arizona-cardinals-coach-dies-age-67
10/31/09- Philly
5/21/10- NYC
9/2/12- Philly, PA
7/19/13- Wrigley
10/19/13- Brooklyn, NY
10/21/13- Philly, PA
10/22/13- Philly, PA
10/27/13- Baltimore, MD
4/28/16- Philly, PA
4/29/16- Philly, PA
5/1/16- NYC
5/2/16- NYC
9/2/18- Boston, MA
9/4/18- Boston, MA
9/14/22- Camden, NJ
9/7/24- Philly, PA
9/9/24- Philly, PA
Eddie Vedder- 6/25/11- Philly, PA
RNDM- 3/9/16- Philly, PA
"They were what we thought they were!"
we will find a way, we will find our place
I'm not saying cheating doesn't ruin the integrity of the game. But I really don't understand how anyone can argue a 4 game suspension for football PSI is on the same level or worse than only getting 4 games for beating your wife/girlfriend or having a gun & drugs in your car during a routine traffic stop or drunk driving, etc. Both on field and off field antics ruin the integrity of the game. Look up the definition of integrity. The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. The NFL has no morals when it comes to allowing criminals to not only play but be honored. A fucking football that is slightly underpumped doesn't ruin shit.
Which action hurt the integrity of the chess game more?
Tom O.
"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"
-The Writer
and if the air volume in footballs was no big deal.... there wouldnt be a regulation.... and someone wouldnt build an underhanded process on stealing footballs, sneaking them into a back room, letting the air out of them, then introducing them into the game
It would have been head off, pr pros would massage it, the penalty would have been less... and it would be ancient history long ago.
Ray rice is constantly brought up as a strawman measuring stick. The nfl messed up on that one. Im sure they know it. How about guys getting suspended 4 games+ for smoking weed?
we will find a way, we will find our place
Players are generally wild cards as they are technically just a contracted union. But with the 32 owners, the NFL B.O.G. expects them to always put the NFL-first. Instead, Kraft went on a crusade, cried a lot, stopped in an effort to get his way, then when he still didn't get his way, continued crying.
I'm not a Goodell fan but its plain to see what happened with this and how the Patriots handled it poorly (and that they had an obvious procedure to deflate footballs whether or not you think its a serious violation).