The league rules, from everywhere I have read, says that once the balls are removed from the refs locker room, the ball boy is instructed to go straight to the field. So going into another room would be breaching those rules, would it not?
I just don't see Robert Kraft saying the following if he thought they were guilty. I know people here will disagree and that's your choice, but his words are very strong: "I've spoken with coach Belichick, I've spoken with Tom Brady. I've taken the time to understand to the best of my abilities what goes on in the preparation of game day footballs, and I want to make it clear that I believe unconditionally that the New England Patriots have done nothing inappropriate in this process that were in violation of NFL rules. Tom, Bill and I have been together for 15 years, they are my guys, they are part of my family. And Bill, Tom and I have many difficult discussions over the years, and I have never known them to lie to me. That is why I am confident in saying what I just said, and it bothers me greatly that their reputations and integrity and by association that of our team has been called into question this past week. As I said on Friday in my prepared statement, we welcome the league's investigation and the involvement of attorney Wells. I am confident that this investigation will uncover whatever the facts were that took place last Sunday and the science of how game balls react to changes in the environment. This would be in direct contrast to the public discourse which have been driven by media leaks as opposed to actual data and facts. Because of this, many jump to conclusions and made accusations against our coach, quarterback and staff, questioning the integrity of all involved. If the Wells investigation is not able to definitively determine that our organization tampered with the air pressure in the footballs, I would expect and hope that the league would apologize to our entire team and in particular coach Belichick and Tom Brady for what they have had to endure this past week. I'm disappointed in the way this entire matter has been handled and reported upon. We expect hard facts as opposed to circumstantial leaked evidence to drive the conclusion of this investigation."
I'm looking right now. I've read on numerous sites and was listening to Sirius and they were discussing it. Apparently they are told to grab the balls and go straight to the field. I'm trying to find it. I've read a million articles today lol
Yeah, I understand. I wasn't aware of that, but that would lead more credence to the presumption of being guilty if they weren't following direct instruction.
What did you want him to say? Are you really sitting here questioning if a guilty party would flat out lie to the public? Are you serious? If he stays quiet, everyone thinks he's guilty. So what does he do? He releases a statement saying they did nothing wrong and he has never been lied to and trusts Tom and BB. Now you're gonna sit here and say he wouldn't say he was innocent if he was guilty? Really?
They hired him to look into fact and I believe if the evidence shows that he only goes into a room, he has failed to find the evidence needed for "conviction" unless that was prohibited.
The downside is huge for Kraft. He says something and its found to not be true, he loses credibility. I know people on here will say, "well, he doesn't have any crediblity blah blah blah, cheater blah blah blah" but in the real world, Kraft is very well respected.
That's not true at all. If this proves to be true and they are found guilty, BB and Brady take the fall. What does Kraft do? He publicly says he is shocked and appalled by what they did. Likely the end of the Brady Bellicheat era. I hate Kraft and New England as much as the next Jets fan, but who's to say Kraft knew this was happening? I'm not saying he didn't, but maybe his statement is because he truly believes nothing happened.
Kraft, BB, and Brady went "all in". They are all fucked if even the smallest amount of evidence is remotely proven true.
Why isn't he given the benefit of the doubt? Silly question on a Jets message board, I know, but if we are to assume he isn't just a monster and he's trying to cover this up, wouldn't he know Belichick/Brady more than anyone on this board? Is the assumption then that people don't believe Kraft?
put it all together. the refs verified the psi prior to the game 11 of 12 pats balls under inflated at halftime colts balls properly inflated at halftime bill belichick sucks at science pats ball boy seen breaking protocol and going into room instead of straight to field after getting balls from refs. yea ... we ARE looking for it because we don't believe these balls deflated themselves. that's kind of the point of the investigation.
So why are you here, on a Jets MB, arguing about it? Aren't you being intellectually dishonest with all of your bullshit immaculate deflation theories and blame casting? It cuts both ways. And you know as well as I do that there will be no "proof" that definitively establishes what happened. You and your Patriots slappies will continue to cast blame, deny accountability, and make outrageous claims even when you get smacked by the league (i.e. Spygate). We, in turn, will forever call you cheating scumbags because we have every right to have our own opinions. We are Jets fans. Bugger off if you don't like it.
I'm not saying he's not. What I'm saying is, maybe Kraft had no idea they were doing this. Maybe since Spygate they knew they would never be allowed to do something like this, so they worked independently without his knowledge. Brady and Bellicheck deny it all and play the fool. They make Kraft believe they didn't do it and tell him this is all lies and they have nothing with the ball boy. Kraft believes them and releases a statement. I'm not saying this is the case at all, but what makes you think it can't be? It's like I said though, there is enough evidence in my eyes that paints them as cheaters. But this case will likely end with a fine and nothing more. Everyone knows they cheated, but Kraft knows that even if they are fined, there is no video of the ball boy actually releasing the air.
PDF NFL Rule Book: "The Referee shall be the sole judge as to whether all balls offered for play comply with these specifications. A pump is to be furnished by the home club, and the balls shall remain under the supervision of the Referee until they are delivered to the ball attendant just prior to the start of the game" It ends with that as far as possession of the ball until game time.
