The National Football League

The Juggler said:

yeah, maybe. but it's the dumbest rule to begin with. such a minor infraction, yet the media drove the nfl to this ridiculous ruling. the outrage by people is just hilarious to me....

Absolutely a dumb rule and absolutely one that has never been treated as a big deal until now. There's a reason why it hasn't been changed in decades and is supposed to carry a $25,000 fine. The league blew this up into a huge deal in order to go after the Patriots. When the Patriots "didn't fully comply" with the charade, they used that refusal as a justification for extreme punishment.

We see this kind of thing in politics all the time. One side trumps up a charge and pretends to be outraged so that it can go after the other. Investigations and hearings become weapons, not tools to help uncover any kind of "truth". Much like the situation here, what might be true is far less important than what will do the most damage to your enemy. That isn't how the league office should be treating a member club.

I'm not outraged by these two guys launching a knuckleheaded scheme to deflate balls anymore than I am by the crowd noise in Atlanta or text messages in Cleveland. Honestly, I think the stickum on the towel is the biggest recent deal.

But if Brady did do it? Did tell these guys to deflate the footballs after the refs checked them? Lied to Bob Kraft about it? Then I can understand the outrage. I will be outraged too if that is ever proven and/or Brady admits to it. Because that is some shady shit.

JimmyV said:

pjhawks said:

The Juggler said:

Halifax2TheMax said:

Not only that but the NFL was notified a week before the game or after the first Indy game and they let them play a whole half of football in an AFC Championship game no less, knowing the Patriots might have altered the balls. I see Irsay's bitter, bitter hands all over this. And why only 4 of Indy's balls get checked at halftime and not all 12? What were they hiding?

nfl caved to pressure from the media. plain and simple.

yes it's the media fault the Patriots are cheaters. jeezus

the Patriots themselves could have ended this the day after it came up after the AFC Championship but their smugness and arrogance wouldn't allow that. they reap what they have sown.

In your mind, how could the Patriots have ended this the day after the AFC Championship? What could they have done?After the supposed "cheating" had occurred, after the investigation had been leaked to Bob Kravitz, and hours before the incorrect but incredibly damaging leak to Mortensen about 11 of 12 balls, what actions could the organization have taken? What would have changed? This is an honest question

when the story broke all they had to do was release a statement saying 'our equipment guy let some air out of the footballs but went over the required levels. we did not realize the footballs were under inflated when the game began and will take steps to ensure it doesn't occur again"

that's all they had to say and no one would have given 2 shits about it a day later. no they had to act all smug 'not us' 'i don't know anything about it' 'we conducted our own tests and we conclude it was atmospheric' and all the other bullshit. their smugness and denials and accusations towards the NFL has caused this to go on. again they reap what they have sown.

the NFL botched the Ray Rice thing. They paid for it... and as far as I know, he ended up with an indefinite suspension that he won an appeal on down the road. Because the NFL botched it, doesn't mean that they need to continue poor decisions based on that.


Also, if you don't think Brady knew about these 2 guys' actions, then I guess there is no common ground here.

JK_Livin said:

I love the ill-informed people that compare this to the Ray Rice case. Unfortunately the NFL had no precident for DV cases when they suspended Rice and have since put a better policy in place.

Just because these guys text "Fuck Tom" doesn't mean they don't like him. I text and say stuff like that all the time to an about my friends.

Fuck JK_Livin

Just kidding!

I wish it would all go away. The NFL is arbitrary and whacky in their punishments. The Pats pushed the envelope (called cheating by many others, understandably) and go caught. Spanking received. Let us please just turn the page.

How about the annoying worship that is going on for Odell Beckham Jr. and his excellent 3/4 of a rookie season. I wont root against the kid just because everyone is fawning over him (not his doing, he is just balling) but I have had a number of conversations in the offseason with people telling me he is the best WR in the NFL right now.
You need to do it for longer for me to pass Megatron, Brown, Bryant, Thomas, Jones, and others.
Does this kid look primed for this type of leap? Yes.
Did he make one of the greatest catches in regular season? Yes.
Does that make him the next Jerry Rice? Pump the breaks there people!

(Maybe I just talk football with idiots.)

JK_Livin said:

haha ODB does look good and is pefect for Eli's chuck it up without looking wile ducking throws.

Nice, now I am going to call him Ol Dirty Bastard!

JK_Livin said:

F Me In The Brain said:

JK_Livin said:

haha ODB does look good and is pefect for Eli's chuck it up without looking wile ducking throws.

Nice, now I am going to call him Ol Dirty Bastard!

I think ODB is better than OBJ.

Plus, I cant post the picture here for OBJ or I will be banned.

F Me In The Brain said:

Does that make him the next Jerry Rice? Pump the breaks there people!

Stick'um would make him the next Jerry Rice.

pjhawks said:

JimmyV said:

The Juggler said:

yeah, maybe. but it's the dumbest rule to begin with. such a minor infraction, yet the media drove the nfl to this ridiculous ruling. the outrage by people is just hilarious to me....

Absolutely a dumb rule and absolutely one that has never been treated as a big deal until now. There's a reason why it hasn't been changed in decades and is supposed to carry a $25,000 fine. The league blew this up into a huge deal in order to go after the Patriots. When the Patriots "didn't fully comply" with the charade, they used that refusal as a justification for extreme punishment.

We see this kind of thing in politics all the time. One side trumps up a charge and pretends to be outraged so that it can go after the other. Investigations and hearings become weapons, not tools to help uncover any kind of "truth". Much like the situation here, what might be true is far less important than what will do the most damage to your enemy. That isn't how the league office should be treating a member club.

I'm not outraged by these two guys launching a knuckleheaded scheme to deflate balls anymore than I am by the crowd noise in Atlanta or text messages in Cleveland. Honestly, I think the stickum on the towel is the biggest recent deal.

But if Brady did do it? Did tell these guys to deflate the footballs after the refs checked them? Lied to Bob Kraft about it? Then I can understand the outrage. I will be outraged too if that is ever proven and/or Brady admits to it. Because that is some shady shit.

really dude? come on do you think Brady gave the guy stuff because he is a nice guy? you can't possibly believe that Brady and Bellichick didn't know this was occurring. Do you really think these 2 schmucks deflated the football themselves for just shits and giggles? sorry but that's absurd

Absurd? Brady giving memorabilia - memorabilia that he creates every time he puts on a jersey or touches a football - to these guys is not abnormal at all. Routine, not abnormal. There are plenty of things to question Brady about in the report, but Wells focusing on this point is a stretch. It isn't absurd at all. It's like reading about a scandal involving Pearl Jam and being shocked that Eddie gave somebody a signed setlist. It makes no sense.

And, again, Belichick was completely exonerated of having any knowledge or involvement in this.

lol.

From the Patriots' long, drawn out, lawyer's report/response

"Further, when they sought their additional interview with Mr. McNally, they never candidly said they had overlooked this text and therefore wanted Mr. McNally back for another interview to ask him about it. They never asked Mr. Jastremski about it in his interview. Had they done so, they would have learned from either gentleman one of the ways they used the deflation/deflator term. Mr. Jastremski would sometimes work out and bulk up — he is a slender guy and his goal was to get to 200 pounds. Mr. McNally is a big fellow and had the opposite goal: to lose weight. “Deflate” was a term they used to refer to losing weight"


Travis Yost @travisyost · 1h 1 hour ago
Most amusing is how the Patriots suspended a guy for trying to lose weight. Tough business over there.