I respectfully disagree. In the scheme of things there are very many variables and a lot of cheatin' going on. There's not a lot of integrity on the field. Guys drop or trap balls and make like they caught them. In the NHL there are even rules for faking penalties and I'm sure guys in the NFL fake it too. There are a lot of cheating variables. But you're right in that deflating balls is one of the most planned out and egregious. There are also situations where home teams cheat in terms of facilities, etc Trying to get an uneven playing field, an NEP specialty.. Look, they have a history of cheating and this was obviously a situation where there has to be punishment. But imo (and as a Jets fan) Brady should not get a year.
Jason Cole just reported that he would be "very surprised" if after appeal Brady's suspension is anything other than 2-3 games. If you follow Bleacher Report, you know that this means that Brady will either not be suspended or he will be suspended for 4 or more games.
This is an interesting note. Was reduced to 2 games on appeal Albert Breer @AlbertBreer · 4h4 hours ago As I go thru the Wells Report again, an important precedent: Saints DL Anthony Hargrove was suspended 8 games for obstruction in Bountygate. My guess is that Brady will get 2 games for deflating/conspiracy to cheat and 4 games for obstruction, reduced to 2+2 on appeal. On ESPN Adam Schefter just said that the league will view this violation the same as a Performance Enhancing Drug case because Brady was breaking the rules to gain an on field edge. For that reason he expects a 3 or 4 game suspension, which is what PED's usually fetch. I trust Schefter's opinion more than anyone's.
if he appeals, then he would probably have to turn over some of the evidence he withheld, right? i mean i dont see how he would have any chance at a successful appeal if he was uncooperative again. not sure what the protocol is on that stuff tho
He might make a good point in terms of legalize: obstruction = obstruction no matter what the severity of the case. IMO again Bountygate does not equal Deflategate, it was much worse. Roger also found out you can't always do what you want because people can take you to court. The days of ultra powerful commissioners are over with. There were rumors that Brady would only litigate it if he gets 6 games or over. I wonder if Roger is trying to work this out behind the scenes even though on the surface negotiating the penalty could be considered improper. I don't know, I'm not into this lawyer stuff. All I know is that Wells made big money by stretching this out. Not Roger money but a lot.
He won't turn over any cell phone evidence, emails or anything else... 1) that info will further implicate Brady and the cheating Pats 2) that info will implicate Belichick 4games is bullshit. It could have been Ravens - Colts in AFC Championship game. This practice of illegally deflating footballs in New England likely went on for longer than the 2015 AFC Championship game. This was unfair advantage for more than the weak grip of a quarterback...running backs, wide receivers also saw advantages. This is 2nd offense by Patriots for compromising integrity of football game(s). All Pats brass should serve time for not complying with investigative requests. 'but it's no big deal, hardly an advantage, and every team is looking for competitive advantages; every team does it'
if you view it like a PED, it would have to be 4 games just for cheating alone. then there is the matter of repeat offenses, orchestrating the entire systematic cheating scheme, lying, bribing, and obstruction. Hargrove was 8 games, Vilma was 16. that's what the range should be. Goddell should just drop a full season suspension, reduced to 4-8 if full cooperation given, and the phone records turned over. If Brady still won't turn over phone, then we know he's downright guilty of quite a lot, and the full year stands.
in terms of the bolded, this is the 2nd offense for tampering footballs alone. in 2004, they snuck unapproved practice balls onto the field against the Jets, and were reprimanded for it. agreed, 4 games would be a joke. full season short of handing over phone records and actually cooperating so the league can get to the bottom of this bottomless pit of cheating.
Why the hell would brady get less than Hargrove?..oh wait, I know..because Kraft bribes everybody in the league..almost forgot.
totally agree that it would probably sink him further as far as evidence goes. i cant see any reason for him to stonewall the initial investigation if he was innocent. they might cut him a deal if he does cooperate, which would probably sink kraft (further proof he was out of line with his comments) as far as billy boy, who knows honestly. not one ball boy text mentioned him, and i wouldnt be surprised if bb was a crazy old school dude who doesnt text about football related things to cover his ass. do i think he was involved? shit, i think he concocted the whole thing like the mad scientist that he is, but without proof theres not too much you can do there. i want kraft punished tho. you cant make statements like he did and not suffer the consequences. demanding apologies. trashing the league at even considering an investigation, trashing the league when the investigation didnt work out in his favor, etc.
Just stop with the "lot of cheatin' going on". Who cheated last year and was not punished for it? Year before that?
It does create an interesting situation. I think if Brady gets 4 games he just takes it because it may not be worth it to appeal it and cooperate but the interesting thing will be if he gets in the 8-16 game range because if he doesn't appeal it to me that indicates his guilt for this and that there may be much worse things going on that he doesn't want the league (or general public) to find out. If he does appeal it then it only stands to reason he would have to turn over all his electronic data and fully cooperate which could unearth some interesting information as well. Of course he could appeal, turn over his information and be exonerated but I think that's a long shot at this point or he would have just cooperated in the first place.
There's tons of cheating and you know it. I gave examples of lesser forms of cheating but cheating none the less. Cheating is as American as apple pie. PS love to see the IRS audit Kraft.
agreed. when another team is caught multiple times for systematic cheating, and then arrogantly obstructs an investigation, then we can talk about how that team should be penalized. The Cheatriots, and Brady, have broke new ground here.
yeah i really cant see him turning over his stuff exonerating him. he would have never withheld it if thats the case. another thing im wondering, is if he appeals, does that mean they will look to try and get to McNally again? the pats wouldnt let him get near the wells team. in the texts to jastremski, he was the one talking about going to espn. putting 2 and 2 together would suggest that this guy would flip in an instant if he wasnt paid to shut up. throughout the texts hes the one routinely looking for compensation for what he does. it leads me to believe that even if they appeal it could really only get worse for them, not better, unless a deal is reached prior to whatever comes out from the evidence that would be needed in the appeal
I gave you a very simple question based on your statement that there is a lot of cheating. Tell me who cheated the last 2 years and did not get punished?
that's why the penalty needs to be in the 8-16 range.. 4 games is exactly what the Patriots want. they'll whine and pretend to be 'outraged', but will gladly except that penalty while maintaining 'innocence'. 8-16 game suspension will actually get to the bottom of things. if they accept that w/o appeal, it means they are without a doubt guilty. If they fully cooperate during an appeal, i'd be ok with a slightly lesser penalty as they will get completely exposed during the process.
