The Patriots deflated footballs Sunday night.

Originally posted by theduke85:

Originally posted by crake49:
I'd like to hear him explain how Aldon, without committing any violence, gets 9 games while a guy who beats up his wife gets his penalty reduced to 4 games.

Because, as has been explained countless times, Aldon had multiple incidents:
- DUI in Florida (reduced during sentencing)
- DUI in Cali
- illegal weapon possession
- airport fiasco

It's understandable that he would come down hard on someone that continued to make boneheaded decisions. It's just common sense.

Why is it that every time Aldon Smith comes up we need to resort to rhetoric in an attempt to paint him as a victim of the Big Bad Wolf that is Goddell? Goddell is terribly inconsistent with his punishments and is a bad commissioner; Aldon is wildly immature and has screwed up so many times that it's almost impossible to give him the benefit of the doubt. These are not mutually exclusive. They're both true.

Explain kenny britt's 15 incidents all with cops..and only received a 1 game suspension ?

Originally posted by theduke85:
Because, as has been explained countless times, Aldon had multiple incidents:
- DUI in Florida (reduced during sentencing)
- DUI in Cali
- illegal weapon possession
- airport fiasco

It's understandable that he would come down hard on someone that continued to make boneheaded decisions. It's just common sense.

Why is it that every time Aldon Smith comes up we need to resort to rhetoric in an attempt to paint him as a victim of the Big Bad Wolf that is Goddell? Goddell is terribly inconsistent with his punishments and is a bad commissioner; Aldon is wildly immature and has screwed up so many times that it's almost impossible to give him the benefit of the doubt. These are not mutually exclusive. They're both true.

Tomfoolery is one thing but a very evil act if violence and a very sleazy and calculated conspiracy to cheat the very game in question are far greater offenses in my book and common sense says that you come down harder on those guys that Aldon for his stupidity and especially after he had already served 5/weeks in rehab for his alcoholism to the tune of five games missed. The suspension was tallied up as four games DUI and 5 games for guns. Should not Aldon have been fined for the DUI since he had already missed games in rehab? Should not Aldon have been suspended 5 games for the guns? Ray Rice knocked his chick out on tape and got 2/games yet you use the words common sense! Why not stop trying to villianize Aldon as some evil guys deserving of more games missed than woman beaters and cheaters?

Originally posted by 49AllTheTime:
Explain kenny britt's 15 incidents all with cops..and only received a 1 game suspension ?

Then why is he bringing up LAX? Nothing came of it. Aldon should not have had to sit nine more games after already sitting five. He could have been fined foir games pay for his DUI and served five for the guns even though it was a honest mistake and not an intentional and deliberate criminal act. Aldon got whipped for basically tomfoolery. Smh

Originally posted by theduke85:

Originally posted by crake49:
I'd like to hear him explain how Aldon, without committing any violence, gets 9 games while a guy who beats up his wife gets his penalty reduced to 4 games.

Because, as has been explained countless times, Aldon had multiple incidents:
- DUI in Florida (reduced during sentencing)
- DUI in Cali
- illegal weapon possession
- airport fiasco

It's understandable that he would come down hard on someone that continued to make boneheaded decisions. It's just common sense.

Why is it that every time Aldon Smith comes up we need to resort to rhetoric in an attempt to paint him as a victim of the Big Bad Wolf that is Goddell? Goddell is terribly inconsistent with his punishments and is a bad commissioner; Aldon is wildly immature and has screwed up so many times that it's almost impossible to give him the benefit of the doubt. These are not mutually exclusive. They're both true.

What you've done is re-state the media-driven narrative of Smith's problems. There was no airport fiasco. No charges were filed. If anything of note had actually happened, charges would have been filed. The "illegal weapon possession" is also a very misleading way to frame it. Smith bought two firearms legally in another state and didn't realize that according to California law, he had to have minor alterations done to them to make them totally legal in this state. It is pure B.S. to deprive someone of their livelihood over something like that.

But even if the media-driven way to frame this is perfectly correct, I'll never understand how someone committing crimes of violence gets a lighter punishment than Aldon Smith. Beating up a woman gets a lighter punishment than a couple DUI's and a minor firearm misdemeanor? Sorry, but that makes no sense to me.

Originally posted by Pillbusta:

Originally posted by 49AllTheTime:
Explain kenny britt's 15 incidents all with cops..and only received a 1 game suspension ?

Then why is he bringing up LAX? Nothing came of it. Aldon should not have had to sit nine more games after already sitting five. He could have been fined foir games pay for his DUI and served five for the guns even though it was a honest mistake and not an intentional and deliberate criminal act. Aldon got whipped for basically tomfoolery. Smh

It def sucks....but It's Aldon and Co. Fault, as they didn't appeal the suspension like everyone else does

Originally posted by Pillbusta:
calculated conspiracy to cheat the very game in question are far greater offenses in my book

I'm honestly speechless that you would suggest that slightly deflating a football is a "far greater offense" than driving a vehicle drunk (with a BAC twice the legal limit; he was so messed up that he crashed a vehicle into an inanimate object). That is patently absurd.

Originally posted by crake49:
The "illegal weapon possession" is also a very misleading way to frame it. Smith bought two firearms legally in another state and didn't realize that according to California law, he had to have minor alterations done to them to make them totally legal in this state. It is pure B.S. to deprive someone of their livelihood over something like that.

Hey, could you remind me how those weapons were discovered in the first place? Oh yeah! Aldon Smith hosted a party and things got so out of control that gunshots were fired (including one by Delaine Walker, who decided he'd fire a gunshot in the air to disperse the crowd).

At some point, when a person repeatedly finds themselves in trouble, they need to be held accountable.
Nobody forced Aldon Smith drive drunk the first time. He chose to.
Nobody forced Aldon Smith drive drunk the second time. He chose to.
Nobody forced Aldon Smith to host a party and invite people of questionable character. He chose to.
Nobody forced Aldon Smith to be belligerent in the airport. He chose to. (Just because they didn't press charges doesn't mean he was a saint. He almost certainly exercised poor judgement with something he said, or else there wouldn't have been an issue to begin with. Note that the airport incident happened after his rehab, which likely made Goodell questioned whether Smith really had turned over an new leaf.)

Let's stop pretending Aldon Smith is a victim of circumstances. The dude is a moron. He has the common sense of a water buffalo. His judgement is awful. I love him as a player and am thrilled he's a member of our team, but he's done absolutely nothing to warrant sympathy. Again, Goodell is awful, but so is Aldon's decision making. They're not mutually exclusive. I don't know why people are so intent on blaming one or the other. They both deserve a ton of criticism.

Cheaters gon' cheat.

Originally posted by 49AllTheTime:

Originally posted by 4ML:
Should have been suspended 4 more games for destroying phone.

probably so much cheating going on, on that phone (NFL and Personal)

My thoughts exactly. As a grown man we all know there is much more behind that. I really wish i didnt like football as much as i did and could stop watching. The NFL is a joke. Its amazing that the NFL poster boy is not accountable AT ALL. The fact that this could go to federal court is disgusting. I just hope that when it is all said and done his image is tarnished forever. If Bonds is kept out of the HOF for using steroids when they weren't banned then brady HOF chances should be in question as well

Originally posted by theduke85:

Originally posted by crake49:
The "illegal weapon possession" is also a very misleading way to frame it. Smith bought two firearms legally in another state and didn't realize that according to California law, he had to have minor alterations done to them to make them totally legal in this state. It is pure B.S. to deprive someone of their livelihood over something like that.

Hey, could you remind me how those weapons were discovered in the first place? Oh yeah! Aldon Smith hosted a party and things got so out of control that gunshots were fired (including one by Delaine Walker, who decided he'd fire a gunshot in the air to disperse the crowd).

At some point, when a person repeatedly finds themselves in trouble, they need to be held accountable.
Nobody forced Aldon Smith drive drunk the first time. He chose to.
Nobody forced Aldon Smith drive drunk the second time. He chose to.
Nobody forced Aldon Smith to host a party and invite people of questionable character. He chose to.
Nobody forced Aldon Smith to be belligerent in the airport. He chose to. (Just because they didn't press charges doesn't mean he was a saint. He almost certainly exercised poor judgement with something he said, or else there wouldn't have been an issue to begin with. Note that the airport incident happened after his rehab, which likely made Goodell questioned whether Smith really had turned over an new leaf.)

Let's stop pretending Aldon Smith is a victim of circumstances. The dude is a moron. He has the common sense of a water buffalo. His judgement is awful. I love him as a player and am thrilled he's a member of our team, but he's done absolutely nothing to warrant sympathy. Again, Goodell is awful, but so is Aldon's decision making. They're not mutually exclusive. I don't know why people are so intent on blaming one or the other. They both deserve a ton of criticism.

I've never even tried to argue that Smith is a victim of circumstances. All I'm saying here is that non-violent offenses should result in less punishment than violent offenses and especially violent offenses on women. In Aldon's case, he acted like an idiot. In Hardy's case, he acted like a violent thug. In my mind, there's a huge difference between being an idiot and being a violent thug. Honestly, I can't imagine anyone looking at Hardy and Smith and deciding that Smith deserves more punishment. That will never make any sense to me.

Ian Rapoport ‏@RapSheet 7m7 minutes ago Interesting. @judybattista says the sides were moving close to a 1-game suspension settlement. But Brady wanted records sealed. NFL wouldn't

Originally posted by crake49:
I've never even tried to argue that Smith is a victim of circumstances. All I'm saying here is that non-violent offenses should result in less punishment than violent offenses and especially violent offenses on women. In Aldon's case, he acted like an idiot. In Hardy's case, he acted like a violent thug. In my mind, there's a huge difference between being an idiot and being a violent thug. Honestly, I can't imagine anyone looking at Hardy and Smith and deciding that Smith deserves more punishment. That will never make any sense to me.

All I'm saying is the incidents happened. We shouldn't make excuses for them or try to minimize them.

"Oh, the weapons incident doesn't matter, he didn't know -- they were legal in his home state." (Ignorance is not an excuse... but I do sympathize a bit. It could happen to anyone. Still, the way they found the weapons in the first place is extremely alarming.)

"Well, there weren't charges filed at the airport. That's a non-issue." (Of course it was an issue, or he wouldn't have been detained in the first place. Just because they didn't press charges doesn't mean that he didn't exercise terrible judgement and make a scene.)

"Well, yeah, he had a DUI, but it was reduced to reckless driving." (So? He still drove drunk. That's terrible.)

"Well, yeah, he got another DUI... but it's not like he killed anyone." (This one is the ultimate eye-roller. I've heard countless people say this one.)

I just feel like it's constant, straw-grasping, apologizing when it comes to Aldon. (Not necessarily you, just a general observation.) There's no way I could see 75% of the people saying those things if Aldon played for the Seahawks, Cardinals or Rams. He'd be roasted. Ordinarily, I'd give most people the benefit of the doubt in these instances (particularly in the first two scenarios), but when this is a recurring theme I don't see how anyone can continue to defend him.

I agree that Hardy got off lightly, and I think the NFL made great strides after the Ray Rice incident (i.e. changing punishment to 6 games for the first offense, lifetime ban for the second). However, what makes Aldon's situation so unique is how quickly he was racking up these incidents. If they were spaced out further apart, I think you would've seen him suspended multiple times (but for shorter periods of time). It wouldn't look so bad then. Instead, there was this big backlog of stuff built up, and he was punished in one fell swoop.

Originally posted by theduke85:
I'm honestly speechless that you would suggest that slightly deflating a football is a "far greater offense" than driving a vehicle drunk (with a BAC twice the legal limit; he was so messed up that he crashed a vehicle into an inanimate object). That is patently absurd.

Not in terms of our society. The legal system punished Aldon and he got help for the problem and missed five games. Fine him for the games since he was paid. He needn't miss games twice for the same offense. Five games for the guns and that's too much but I could have accepted it. Cheating the game should be punishable by revocation of the privilege to play. It is a very serious integrity issue within the game itself

Originally posted by theduke85:

Originally posted by crake49:
I've never even tried to argue that Smith is a victim of circumstances. All I'm saying here is that non-violent offenses should result in less punishment than violent offenses and especially violent offenses on women. In Aldon's case, he acted like an idiot. In Hardy's case, he acted like a violent thug. In my mind, there's a huge difference between being an idiot and being a violent thug. Honestly, I can't imagine anyone looking at Hardy and Smith and deciding that Smith deserves more punishment. That will never make any sense to me.

All I'm saying is the incidents happened. We shouldn't make excuses for them or try to minimize them.

"Oh, the weapons incident doesn't matter, he didn't know -- they were legal in his home state." (Ignorance is not an excuse... but I do sympathize a bit. It could happen to anyone. Still, the way they found the weapons in the first place is extremely alarming.)

"Well, there weren't charges filed at the airport. That's a non-issue." (Of course it was an issue, or he wouldn't have been detained in the first place. Just because they didn't press charges doesn't mean that he didn't exercise terrible judgement and make a scene.)

"Well, yeah, he had a DUI, but it was reduced to reckless driving." (So? He still drove drunk. That's terrible.)

"Well, yeah, he got another DUI... but it's not like he killed anyone." (This one is the ultimate eye-roller. I've heard countless people say this one.)

I just feel like it's constant, straw-grasping, apologizing when it comes to Aldon. (Not necessarily you, just a general observation.) There's no way I could see 75% of the people saying those things if Aldon played for the Seahawks, Cardinals or Rams. He'd be roasted. Ordinarily, I'd give most people the benefit of the doubt in these instances (particularly in the first two scenarios), but when this is a recurring theme I don't see how anyone can continue to defend him.

I agree that Hardy got off lightly, and I think the NFL made great strides after the Ray Rice incident (i.e. changing punishment to 6 games for the first offense, lifetime ban for the second). However, what makes Aldon's situation so unique is how quickly he was racking up these incidents. If they were spaced out further apart, I think you would've seen him suspended multiple times (but for shorter periods of time). It wouldn't look so bad then. Instead, there was this big backlog of stuff built up, and he was punished in one fell swoop.

look at Kenny Britts history, one of those incidents was resisting arrest

Aldon is not even close to what you think he is

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:
Ian Rapoport ‏@RapSheet 7m7 minutes ago Interesting. @judybattista says the sides were moving close to a 1-game suspension settlement. But Brady wanted records sealed. NFL wouldn't

Brady is a little biznatch