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I'm no Patriots fan but this was a reasonable penalty all things considered. I don't see it warranting more and less would have been equally or even more wrong. I didn't see where Belichick got any suspension or fine, other than the team being penalized. he should sit out a few games, too.
Its a shame that a team with a winning record has been forever tainted and its championships tarnished beyond repair.
I been super busy lately and just finding about the "punishment" tonight. But can somebody explain to me why the Pats needed to cheat against the Colts???
Now don't get me wrong, I like Andrew Luck and think the Colts are a good team (but in an easy division)...but the Pats owned them for the last 5-7 or 8 games I believe. The Colts always got blown out since the Pagano/Luck era began....plus the Colts have some flaws that the Pats (and a couple of other teams) exposed like poor run defense...so why cheat?
I always liked seeing Brady play and the Pats play especially when they firing on all cylinders. Even when they blowing out opponents, I always wish the Boys could do that. Now all their championships and winning records are kinda tarnished. Its like u know the Pats are one of the best if not the best...but u gonna think of the accusations of deflategate...and people still bring up spy gate. Its sad...
Also, if Brady does actually get suspended for 4 games. Its kinda bittersweet cuz I wanted to see my Boys beat the Pats with Brady and Gronk.
Here is a fan base that hates the Patriots. Here's Goodell thinking about who to make his cash cow happy. He calls Vince MacMahon and asks what would you do? Vince says the WWE always creates story lines, and turns wrestlers from good guys to heels to villains. Want attention? Give the fans what they want. And this has been going on much longer than this one issue - the NFL is the new home of the Gates, more story line stuff.
The business of the NFL is like the WWE, and Goodell is probably MacMahon's family.
.....OK, really, I was having some fun equating the NFL to the WWE.
But (there's always a but) - here's an article that can make sense for the reasoning behind the penlties which has nothing to do with the penalty itself.
Goodell waited to gauge public perception, because his own judgement has proven to be quite poor in the last year with regards to "suitable punishment". The Ray Rice incident made him look silly, myopic, and tone deaf. With his posterier still smarting, he wanted to be sure that he didn't **** off the football consuming public again.
So, Brady gets 4 games, which will likely be cut by at least one, if not two, on appeal, but the "public" gets what it wants in a harsh punishment for Brady, and the Pats lose valuable draft picks.
It is sad, this is an extremely talented and well coached team, but in many people's mind, there will always be an asterisk when they think about them. There does seem to be a culture there of doing anything it takes to get even the most minor of advantages. It seems so silly, a team with this much talent doing this, when it probably makes little or no difference in the end.
Here is a fan base that hates the Patriots. Here's Goodell thinking about who to make his cash cow happy. He calls Vince MacMahon and asks what would you do? Vince says the WWE always creates story lines, and turns wrestlers from good guys to heels to villains. Want attention? Give the fans what they want. And this has been going on much longer than this one issue - the NFL is the new home of the Gates, more story line stuff.
The business of the NFL is like the WWE, and Goodell is probably MacMahon's family.
.....OK, really, I was having some fun equating the NFL to the WWE.
But (there's always a but) - here's an article that can make sense for the reasoning behind the penlties which has nothing to do with the penalty itself.
Goodell waited to gauge public perception, because his own judgement has proven to be quite poor in the last year with regards to "suitable punishment". The Ray Rice incident made him look silly, myopic, and tone deaf. With his posterier still smarting, he wanted to be sure that he didn't **** off the football consuming public again.
So, Brady gets 4 games, which will likely be cut by at least one, if not two, on appeal, but the "public" gets what it wants in a harsh punishment for Brady, and the Pats lose valuable draft picks.
It is sad, this is an extremely talented and well coached team, but in many people's mind, there will always be an asterisk when they think about them. There does seem to be a culture there of doing anything it takes to get even the most minor of advantages. It seems so silly, a team with this much talent doing this, when it probably makes little or no difference in the end.
He may not appeal, although I haven't been watching that close. He might have already. Problem is, if he appeals, what he will be appealing is the cover-up or lack of cooperation. If he does appeal, he may have to come forward with that information. Will he want to do that or just accept his fate? It could get worse if the data he has to finally show is more damning.
He may not appeal, although I haven't been watching that close. He might have already. Problem is, if he appeals, what he will be appealing is the cover-up or lack of cooperation. If he does appeal, he may have to come forward with that information. Will he want to do that or just accept his fate? It could get worse if the data he has to finally show is more damning.
Interesting, I hadn't realized that aspect of it. I think that the punishment is really overboard, but I also think that the punishment is partly for the refusal to cooperate, and for making the NFL, again, look like a bunch of bozos.
Watching that interview with him, where ever he was, in front of an audience of fervent Pats fans, he was just so smug and smarmy. No wonder people either adore him or loathe him. And them. Well, I like Gronk, but he's just kind of goofy.
He may not appeal, although I haven't been watching that close. He might have already. Problem is, if he appeals, what he will be appealing is the cover-up or lack of cooperation. If he does appeal, he may have to come forward with that information. Will he want to do that or just accept his fate? It could get worse if the data he has to finally show is more damning.
He'll appeal - I don't doubt that in the least.
But, I think another mistake could be made in the appeal process, that being the basis of the appeal.
On the one hand you have the Wells Report, and many other reports that make the entire investigation full of holes and not strong enough to convict a child peeing in a diaper. The appeal could go after the circumstantial angle, and attempt to equate the penalty to the crime (so to speak).
If Brady has been forthcoming regardless of what the media has spun to date, then he should go through the Players Association and appeal in connection with defamation of character against the NFL. The appeal should focus on what supposedly is as much a basis for the penalties as the PSI's, that he was not being totally cooperative. He would have to explain how he was.
Brady can accept the 4-game suspension. Would that mean he's admitting to not abiding by the rules? Maybe. Or maybe he doesn't care about his reputation enough to go into a hash slinging contest with the employer of his employer. The court of public opinion will not deter Brady from being a first ballot unanimous hall of famer. Any fan who questions his greatness based on PSI's does not know football.
One could question why do the Pats continue to push when they probably don't need to. One will question Brady's honesty, because to date he hasn't made a speech from his heart coming clean or explaining the situation. Fielding questions is controlled - he needs to get up and speak.
In the grand scheme, it does not matter if Brady conspired to cheat using deflated balls. No matter how much planning and preperation were spent doing this. What it comes down to is the FACT that the moment the footballs were in the referees hands and the referee put it on the field as an 100% eligible ball, not once, not twice, not even 10 times, but prior to every snap in the 1st half of the game about 50 times it becomes a moot point that it must be up to the patriots and Tom Brady to make sure the ball placed on the field by a trained NFL referee is regulation.
So in essence, what we have is this:
The official NFL referees were either too stupid and incompetent to notice 11 severely deflated footballs bieng used over and over again during the first half of the game.
OR......
The referees conspired with the Colts or the NFL to intentionally place deflated balls on the field of play to accuse the Patriots of cheating.
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