Goodell mus be livid...a great SB showdown is now going to be TOTALLY drowned out by Deflate-gate. If it leads back to Belicheat, I wouldn't put it past Goodell to hold off on an announcement banning Belichick from the NFL. Or him resigning before Kraft fires him or Goodell bans him. What a disgrace.....Belichick said on a scale of 1-100 the Spygate was a 1 in terms of helping him. Kraft called him a 'schmuck' at the time for doing it if that's all it helped him. Wonder what he would call him now...........
He should be banned right now, before the Super Bowl, for a minimum of a year. This isn't even close to the first offense and they suspended Sean Payton for a year for a first offense of his defensive coordinator (that was something every team in the league has been doing for decades - bounty system). Right now Goodell is standing in front of an incinerator tossing the balls inside; he's in Kraft's back pocket.
It doesn't matter if its Belicheat who was directly involved or not. His team, he has to face the punishment.
He should be banned imo. Hes an embarassment at this point, gives a bad name to real life patriots, and its going to lead to future teams cheating if he is not given a HUGE PUNISHMENT Or at least suspended for the superbowl
I don't know how severe a punishment he can really get that wouldn't be overturned if he sued. The section in the rules on inflation of the ball says penalties for intentionally changing the pressure after the game starts will start at a $25,000 fine. It's pretty tough to convince a judge that you can jump to suspension for something your own rules define as a fine based offense. It is by the NFL rules standards, a pretty minor offense based on minimum penalties for other things being much higher, and it doesn't come under the broad discretionary power the commish has for player safety or legal discipline. If he wanted to make a big hit maybe draft picks could be in play since I doubt Kraft would want to sue the league, but long suspension would get thrown out in a flash if it went to court. TLDR- If Goodell can find good evidence that the Patriots deflated the balls after the refs gave them to the ball attendants he still seems unlikely to be able to make a particularly large penalty in terms of suspension stick.
You have to wonder how long they've been doing this. Also have to wonder what else have they been doing, but just haven't been caught. Sean Peyton got one year for Bounty-gate. The Patriots are repeat offenders. They should suspend Belichick for the Super Bowl and for all of next year, and take away some draft picks. Also give his buddy Kraft a hefty fine. #notgoingtohappenunfortunately
From this article on BountyGate (LINK) ... "In the new NFL CBA, the Commissioner has the power (as he had in previous CBAs) to impose discipline on a player for 'conduct detrimental to the integrity of, or public confidence in, the game of professional football.' While an ordinary suspension could be challenged through arbitration, if the Commissioner invoked the 'integrity' clause he has the final say. "The language of the CBA is broad in this grant of authority -- it would apparently allow the Commissioner to impose 'integrity' sanctions whether the conduct is on or off the field and whether or not the conduct occurred before the CBA became effective or even before the player became a professional.
He won't be banned over it; my guess is that NE could be fined and lose maybe a mid-round pick at most.
Rules state at least $25,000 fine, however two teams this year have been guilty of tampering with ball pressure plus Rodgers admitting to trying to sneak overinflated balls past the refs and not a single punishment has been handed out by the NFL. Banning a coach or costing draft picks would be entirely against the league-set precedent for this situation and would completely remove any respect the league has for its own rules. That said, Goodell is truly pathetic and has failed to follow his own leagues guidelines on COUNTLESS situations. He is the definition of spineless and quite possibly the most easily manipulated man in power in the history of any organization. There has never been an ounce of consistency under Goodell's watch.
He works for the owners, he will always show leniency to them, while being hard on the players, if he were a true neutral party he probably would be a little more fair when it came down to handing out any discipline. I don't beleive anything more than a fine will be given to the Patriots. I hope this also means that he will fine Woodrow in regard to his "tampering" charge made by the Patriots.
I tend to agree although the are completely different. Woody's comment doesn't affect the integrity of the game. NE's continual lil cheating scandals does.
Perhaps its time to amend the rules starting with this mess here. To come out and shoot the sacred cow would go a long way towards making point.
If the Pats win my guess is that Belichik gets some pointed advice to retire before an investigation of Deflate-gate is launched. There is no individual who has had a more detrimental effect on the NFL over the last 15 years than Belichik. Great coach for the Pats but always with a stigma hanging over his head.
@MikeFreeman I'm hearing from numerous players on the Patriots. I have players saying Belichick should be suspended for the Super Bowl.
This isn't a huge issue, the problem is NE has been involved in so many that they can't really give them a slap on the wrist again. all the little things add up.
Even if the punishment is only $25k, the damage to the brand will last a long, long time. This is the Patriots/BB 2nd NFL recorded offense. The league will always view them as cheater now. BB will have a difficult time trying to get into the Hall. This year's Super Bowl is a complete bust, my interest is lost. I will never deny the entertainment that is the NFL, but who wants to watch a corrupt sport? Sports fans deserve better.
