The National Football League

JimmyV · May 2015

Jason P said:

JimmyV said:

Poncier said:

Cliffy6745 said:

Jason P said:
By the way, Mr. Kraft's daughter (grand daughter?) is strikingly beautiful!
ha. I think it's his girlfriend.
It is his girlfriend
And well done, Mr. Kraft. Also, he doesn't own Kraft foods or Kraft macaroni and cheese.

That is good to know. In the past I've felt like a piece of my soul was shrinking away while making me some mac & cheese, thinking that a part of the profits were going to the owner of the Pats. Now I can eat that heart clogging fake colored crap with impunity.

Ha! Felt the same way when the Hess family owned the Jets but they had the cheapest gas in town.

Jason P · May 2015

I say no suspension, but he has to wear a scarlet "D" on his jersey for the rest of his career.

Also, Tom needs to take a course taught by Saul Goodman on who to train your henchmen and how to cover your tracks. Thank god he didn't up to this point, because so for it has been great comedy.

He has had Bill Belichick, a grand master of subterfuge, guiding him his entire career. Between Tom and Aaron Hernandez, I don't know what the hell is going on.

(Also, there is no way in hell that Belichick didn't know what was going on. He is just too smart to get caught)

Jason P · May 2015

F5

JimmyV · May 2015

Statement from Tom Brady's agent, Don Yee:

"The Wells report, with all due respect, is a significant and terrible disappointment. It’s omission of key facts and lines of inquiry suggest the investigators reached a conclusion first, and then determined so-called facts later. One fact alone taints this entire report. What does it say about the league office’s protocols and ethics when it allows one team to tip it off to an issue prior to a championship game, and no league officials or game officials notified the Patriots of the same issue prior to the game? This suggests it may be more probable than not that the league cooperated with the Colts in perpetrating a sting operation. The Wells report buries this issue in a footnote on page 46 without any further elaboration. The league is a significant client of the investigators' law firm; it appears to be a rich source of billings and media exposure based on content in the law firm's website. This was not an independent investigation and the contents of the report bear that out – all one has to do is read closely and critically, as opposed to simply reading headlines. The investigators' assumptions and inferences are easily debunked or subject to multiple interpretations. Much of the report’s vulnerabilities are buried in the footnotes, which is a common legal writing tactic. It is a sad day for the league as it has abdicated the resolution of football-specific issues to people who don’t understand the context or culture of the sport. I was physically present for my client’s interview. I have verbatim notes of the interview. Tom made himself available for nearly an entire day and patiently answered every question. It was clear to me the investigators had limited understanding of professional football. For reasons unknown, the Wells report omitted nearly all of Tom’s testimony, most of which was critical because it would have provided this report with the context that it lacks. Mr. Wells promised back in January to share the results of this investigation publicly, so why not follow through and make public all of the information gathered and let the public draw its own conclusions? This report contains significant and tragic flaws, and it is common knowledge in the legal industry that reports like this generally are written for the benefit of the purchaser."

Wobbie · May 2015

^^^^^ I wouldn't doubt it was kind of a sting but that still doesn't mean it didn't happen. You can argue the right or wrong of how the league handled it but that doesn't exonerate the Golden Boy.

JimmyV · May 2015

imalive said:
^^^^^ I wouldn't doubt it was kind of a sting but that still doesn't mean it didn't happen. You can argue the right or wrong of how the league handled it but that doesn't exonerate the Golden Boy.

This is exactly 100% correct. Whether or not there was manipulation of the footballs and whether or not there was a sting operation at the AFC Championship Game are two separate questions.

Indifference71 · May 2015

JimmyV said:

imalive said:
^^^^^ I wouldn't doubt it was kind of a sting but that still doesn't mean it didn't happen. You can argue the right or wrong of how the league handled it but that doesn't exonerate the Golden Boy.
This is exactly 100% correct. Whether or not there was manipulation of the footballs and whether or not there was a sting operation at the AFC Championship Game are two separate questions.

And even if it was a sting, is that so bad? They got a tip that a team is breaking the rules so why not try to catch them in the act??? If they had warned the Pats about it, they obviously wouldn't have fucked around with the PSI in the footballs.

JimmyV · May 2015

Indifference71 said:

JimmyV said:

imalive said:
^^^^^ I wouldn't doubt it was kind of a sting but that still doesn't mean it didn't happen. You can argue the right or wrong of how the league handled it but that doesn't exonerate the Golden Boy.
This is exactly 100% correct. Whether or not there was manipulation of the footballs and whether or not there was a sting operation at the AFC Championship Game are two separate questions.

And even if it was a sting, is that so bad? They got a tip that a team is breaking the rules so why not try to catch them in the act??? If they had warned the Pats about it, they obviously wouldn't have fucked around with the PSI in the footballs.

You can't argue integrity of the game is paramount and then allow the first half of a championship game to be played with one team allegedly having a competitive advantage that you knew about going in. That is why the league refuses to admit a sting took place. The Mike Florio article I posted earlier clearly shows, based on Wells own report, that a sting did take place. It doesn't mean that there was nothing to catch but it does prove that someone within the NFL power structure wanted to catch the Pats. Catching them was more important than any integrity of the game.

Indifference71 · May 2015

JimmyV said:

Indifference71 said:

JimmyV said:

imalive said:
^^^^^ I wouldn't doubt it was kind of a sting but that still doesn't mean it didn't happen. You can argue the right or wrong of how the league handled it but that doesn't exonerate the Golden Boy.
This is exactly 100% correct. Whether or not there was manipulation of the footballs and whether or not there was a sting operation at the AFC Championship Game are two separate questions.

And even if it was a sting, is that so bad? They got a tip that a team is breaking the rules so why not try to catch them in the act??? If they had warned the Pats about it, they obviously wouldn't have fucked around with the PSI in the footballs.
You can't argue integrity of the game is paramount and then allow the first half of a championship game to be played with one team allegedly having a competitive advantage that you knew about going in. That is why the league refuses to admit a sting took place. The Mike Florio article I posted earlier clearly shows, based on Wells own report, that a sting did take place. It doesn't mean that there was nothing to catch but it does prove that someone within the NFL power structure wanted to catch the Pats. Catching them was more important than any integrity of the game.

NFL didn't know for sure that the Pats were tampering with the PSI. It was just a concern brought forth by another team. So what should they have done? Warned the Pats??? Either way, there isn't a good answer. Either the Pats don't get caught because the NFL lets them know about it or they possibly play some of the game with under-inflated footballs.

Jason P · May 2015

I'm not sure if it was a sting operation, or just another example of Roger Goodell's "Shield" bumbling it's way through an extraordinary season of pure incompetence.

Other teams tipped the Colts off. The Colts tipped the NFL off. A competent commissioner would have addressed the issue with the Patriots and let them know they were going to be checking the balls under close scrutiny, not to let Tom Brady off the hook, but so they don't have a media circus on their hands the week before the goddamn Super Bowl.

On the other hand, his agent using the "That's Not Fair" defense is pretty amusing considering Tom was doing something that's not fair.

JimmyV · May 2015

Jason P said:
A competent commissioner would have addressed the issue with the Patriots and let them know they were going to be checking the balls under close scrutiny, not to let Tom Brady off the hook, but so they don't have a media circus on their hands the week before the goddamn Super Bowl.

This is exactly right.

Wobbie · May 2015

JimmyV said:

Indifference71 said:

JimmyV said:

imalive said:
^^^^^ I wouldn't doubt it was kind of a sting but that still doesn't mean it didn't happen. You can argue the right or wrong of how the league handled it but that doesn't exonerate the Golden Boy.
This is exactly 100% correct. Whether or not there was manipulation of the footballs and whether or not there was a sting operation at the AFC Championship Game are two separate questions.

And even if it was a sting, is that so bad? They got a tip that a team is breaking the rules so why not try to catch them in the act??? If they had warned the Pats about it, they obviously wouldn't have fucked around with the PSI in the footballs.
You can't argue integrity of the game is paramount and then allow the first half of a championship game to be played with one team allegedly having a competitive advantage that you knew about going in. That is why the league refuses to admit a sting took place. The Mike Florio article I posted earlier clearly shows, based on Wells own report, that a sting did take place. It doesn't mean that there was nothing to catch but it does prove that someone within the NFL power structure wanted to catch the Pats. Catching them was more important than any integrity of the game.

which is odd since Kraft and Goodell are "boys."

yesterday's original "big story" (LeSean McCoy) just went away when the report came out.

JimmyV · May 2015

Indifference71 said:

JimmyV said:

Indifference71 said:

JimmyV said:

imalive said:
^^^^^ I wouldn't doubt it was kind of a sting but that still doesn't mean it didn't happen. You can argue the right or wrong of how the league handled it but that doesn't exonerate the Golden Boy.
This is exactly 100% correct. Whether or not there was manipulation of the footballs and whether or not there was a sting operation at the AFC Championship Game are two separate questions.

And even if it was a sting, is that so bad? They got a tip that a team is breaking the rules so why not try to catch them in the act??? If they had warned the Pats about it, they obviously wouldn't have fucked around with the PSI in the footballs.
You can't argue integrity of the game is paramount and then allow the first half of a championship game to be played with one team allegedly having a competitive advantage that you knew about going in. That is why the league refuses to admit a sting took place. The Mike Florio article I posted earlier clearly shows, based on Wells own report, that a sting did take place. It doesn't mean that there was nothing to catch but it does prove that someone within the NFL power structure wanted to catch the Pats. Catching them was more important than any integrity of the game.

NFL didn't know for sure that the Pats were tampering with the PSI. It was just a concern brought forth by another team. So what should they have done? Warned the Pats??? Either way, there isn't a good answer. Either the Pats don't get caught because the NFL lets them know about it or they possibly play some of the game with under-inflated footballs.

There might not be any good answers, but some are worse than others. Launching a sting operation, followed by a series of targeted media leaks, followed by a questionable 104 day investigation is a pretty bad one.

Indifference71 · May 2015

Jason P said:

On the other hand, his agent using the "That's Not Fair" defense is pretty amusing considering Tom was doing something that's not fair.

Yep. Either way, it's not fair.

Like you said, just another example of the incompetence under Goodell.

JimmyV · May 2015

imalive said:

JimmyV said:

Indifference71 said:

JimmyV said:

imalive said:
^^^^^ I wouldn't doubt it was kind of a sting but that still doesn't mean it didn't happen. You can argue the right or wrong of how the league handled it but that doesn't exonerate the Golden Boy.
This is exactly 100% correct. Whether or not there was manipulation of the footballs and whether or not there was a sting operation at the AFC Championship Game are two separate questions.

And even if it was a sting, is that so bad? They got a tip that a team is breaking the rules so why not try to catch them in the act??? If they had warned the Pats about it, they obviously wouldn't have fucked around with the PSI in the footballs.
You can't argue integrity of the game is paramount and then allow the first half of a championship game to be played with one team allegedly having a competitive advantage that you knew about going in. That is why the league refuses to admit a sting took place. The Mike Florio article I posted earlier clearly shows, based on Wells own report, that a sting did take place. It doesn't mean that there was nothing to catch but it does prove that someone within the NFL power structure wanted to catch the Pats. Catching them was more important than any integrity of the game.

which is odd since Kraft and Goodell are "boys."

yesterday's original "big story" (LeSean McCoy) just went away when the report came out.

LeSean is the Wells Report's biggest winner.

Wobbie · May 2015

JimmyV said:

imalive said:

JimmyV said:

Indifference71 said:

JimmyV said:

imalive said:
^^^^^ I wouldn't doubt it was kind of a sting but that still doesn't mean it didn't happen. You can argue the right or wrong of how the league handled it but that doesn't exonerate the Golden Boy.
This is exactly 100% correct. Whether or not there was manipulation of the footballs and whether or not there was a sting operation at the AFC Championship Game are two separate questions.

And even if it was a sting, is that so bad? They got a tip that a team is breaking the rules so why not try to catch them in the act??? If they had warned the Pats about it, they obviously wouldn't have fucked around with the PSI in the footballs.
You can't argue integrity of the game is paramount and then allow the first half of a championship game to be played with one team allegedly having a competitive advantage that you knew about going in. That is why the league refuses to admit a sting took place. The Mike Florio article I posted earlier clearly shows, based on Wells own report, that a sting did take place. It doesn't mean that there was nothing to catch but it does prove that someone within the NFL power structure wanted to catch the Pats. Catching them was more important than any integrity of the game.

which is odd since Kraft and Goodell are "boys."

yesterday's original "big story" (LeSean McCoy) just went away when the report came out.
LeSean is the Wells Report's biggest winner.

or Chip....

Jason P · May 2015

I'm assuming Brady's punishment will be based on a spin from the"Wheel of Destiny" that was put together by Goodell. Probably the same wheel used for deciding the fate of Ray Rice and Sean Payton.

There is a good chance Tom could miss a couple of preseason games, or the entire season. Only the wheel knows. I would be nervous as shit if I was a Pats fan.

Wobbie · May 2015

Jason P said:
I'm assuming Brady's punishment will be based on a spin from the"Wheel of Destiny" that was put together by Goodell. Probably the same wheel used for deciding the fate of Ray Rice and Sean Payton.

There is a good chance Tom could miss a couple of preseason games, or the entire season. Only the wheel knows. I would be nervous as shit if I was a Pats fan.

Pats will sneak in and rig that fucker to land on "One Preseason Game"

JimmyV · May 2015

Jason P said:
I'm assuming Brady's punishment will be based on a spin from the"Wheel of Destiny" that was put together by Goodell. Probably the same wheel used for deciding the fate of Ray Rice and Sean Payton.

There is a good chance Tom could miss a couple of preseason games, or the entire season. Only the wheel knows. I would be nervous as shit if I was a Pats fan.

I'd probably be nervous if I wasn't just kinda numb at this point. My guess would be four with a reduction to two following an appeal. With this league office though all bets are off. The real punishment to Brady is the damage to his reputation.

Indifference71 · May 2015

JimmyV said:

Jason P said:
I'm assuming Brady's punishment will be based on a spin from the"Wheel of Destiny" that was put together by Goodell. Probably the same wheel used for deciding the fate of Ray Rice and Sean Payton.

There is a good chance Tom could miss a couple of preseason games, or the entire season. Only the wheel knows. I would be nervous as shit if I was a Pats fan.

I'd probably be nervous if I wasn't just kinda numb at this point. My guess would be four with a reduction to two following an appeal. With this league office though all bets are off. The real punishment to Brady is the damage to his reputation.

And if this is true, that is punishment well-deserved.

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