The Patriots deflated footballs Sunday night.

Originally posted by theduke85:
Yes, I agree... Kraft's behavior has been bizarre. He's been all over the place. One second it looks like he's on Brady's side, the next second he's throwing him under the bus and waiving a white flag.

What I've said all along is that I think Brady is guilty, I just don't think it's a big deal. (Like Joe Montana said a couple months ago in response to the issue: "Our offensive linemen used to spray silicone on their shirts until they got caught ... Everybody is afraid to say it, but if the guy did it, so what. Just pay up and move on. It's no big deal.") The sanctimonious crap about Brady desecrating the game is so wildly overblown it's laughable. Everyone bends the rules. We shouldn't throw stones from our glass house.

What is a big deal is how Brady has reacted. Instead of just taking his punishment like a man, he's trying to get off on a technicality (it reminds me of Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky and the infamous "it depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is" -- just utter nonsense). It's terrible. I hate when people abuse the legal system like that. Just accept the punishment and move on! Brady's punishment was pretty severe, but -- like Aldon -- I think Goodell came down extra hard because of the Patriots' history (SpyGate, etc).

Agreed, almost all of the damage to Brady here has been self-inflicted by his attempted coverup. We're a very forgiving country, especially over minor stuff like this, but what we really hate is being lied to and played for fools.

And Kraft... once again, all talk, no action. If he really believes his QB who gave him 4 rings he should be fighting for him.

I can not believe how much coverage this stupid issue is getting. The NFL Network is going to put themselves out of business. What trash programing.

Personally, I hope Brady sues the league and wins. The idea that he is required to hand over his personal cell phone is absurd. Would YOU trust the NFL to not leak non-football related content from your personal cell phone? I wouldn't.

Originally posted by TheHYDE49er:
When the Ray Rice incidence surfaced, what did Goodell do? He tried sweeping it under the rug, lied about never seeing the tape, and changed his whole stance once he lost the PR battle. So to show that the NFL is so much about integrity now, he's purposely leaking out private information (Pats are deflating, Brady is destroying his phone), and treating this as if the Pats are hiring the mafia into scaring other teams to lose...

This was over some deflated footballs, that didn't even affect the outcome of that game. Is all of this worth it? Is it worth to go to federal court now and smear the NFLs name and Brady's name over this? Goodell is probably celebrating right now and thinks he did such a great job, when all he's doing is tarnishing his product even more.

Former commish Tagliabue would've personally contacted the Pats at half time, during the AFC championship game, and would've told them, "Knock it off. I'm hearing you're deflating footballs, stop now, don't let this become a distraction in the SB." But not Goodell, he wanted to catch the big, bad, Pats, in that "I GOTCHA moment" so he can show how much of a man he is. Great job Goodell, you once again managed to fail at putting out the twig that caught fire, and now the whole forest is on fire.

Also, it's pretty funny how he has a problem with Brady "destroying" his cell phone, yet he destroyed the videos from Spy Gate.

All hail the mighty dictator Goodell.

Originally posted by captveg:

Originally posted by TheHYDE49er:
When the Ray Rice incidence surfaced, what did Goodell do? He tried sweeping it under the rug, lied about never seeing the tape, and changed his whole stance once he lost the PR battle. So to show that the NFL is so much about integrity now, he's purposely leaking out private information (Pats are deflating, Brady is destroying his phone), and treating this as if the Pats are hiring the mafia into scaring other teams to lose...

This was over some deflated footballs, that didn't even affect the outcome of that game. Is all of this worth it? Is it worth to go to federal court now and smear the NFLs name and Brady's name over this? Goodell is probably celebrating right now and thinks he did such a great job, when all he's doing is tarnishing his product even more.

Former commish Tagliabue would've personally contacted the Pats at half time, during the AFC championship game, and would've told them, "Knock it off. I'm hearing you're deflating footballs, stop now, don't let this become a distraction in the SB." But not Goodell, he wanted to catch the big, bad, Pats, in that "I GOTCHA moment" so he can show how much of a man he is. Great job Goodell, you once again managed to fail at putting out the twig that caught fire, and now the whole forest is on fire.

Also, it's pretty funny how he has a problem with Brady "destroying" his cell phone, yet he destroyed the videos from Spy Gate.

All hail the mighty dictator Goodell.

Spot on.

Cannot watch ESPN. The amount of ball gobbling on this story that's happening is unbearable. Goodell keeping the same suspension time as someone who had literally beat up a woman is laughable but GD it... Does it really need to fill 70% of all time on that channel?

Originally posted by TheHYDE49er:
I agree with that. However, I just think the way he's handled it has been very juvenile. Trying to catch them red handed, leaking information through Chris Mortenson, dragging this out way longer than it should've been, doing it mostly through the media so they can win the PR battle, so Goodell looks like the good guy for once. It's not the same analogy with kids, because you wouldn't publicly humiliate them like this, you would keep it in house. This isn't a good look for the NFL. My main point is that there has been much worse things that have happened in the NFL and handled a 100 times better than this. Goodell could've put an end to this a long time ago.

Well Brady can put an end to this now

Yes, other players like Hardy who've done far far worse than Brady should've been punished a lot more, especially since in Hardy's case he seems to have avoided serious jail time by buying off his victim. But just because Goodell has screwed up other cases doesn't mean he should give Brady a pass. It's sad that he's equally or more bothered by players obstructing NFL investigations than beating up women, but this is the same guy who to this day won't acknowledge that playing football increases the risk of getting brain damage, and has fought tooth and nail to cover up what the NFL knew for decades about the medical risks of playing football. We know he's scum, and it's ludicrous that he even got to rule on the appeal but that's the players' fault for giving him that power, and it shouldn't let anyone off the hook for obstructing an investigation.

Patriots are a disgrace.

Their dynasty has been marred in serious allegations of cheating. God only knows what else they do to get a competitive advantage. I hope Gizel cheats on Brady and when he asked to see her texts she smashes the phone and be like, "Brady defense."

Shame.

No love or hate for Brady or Pats. But, this is what I think:

It is obvious Brady did something that does not match his previously squeaky-clean image. My reasoning is:
1) Why would the NFL attack and tarnish a franchise that they should be propping up? The league wants to support its winners, not taken them down. It would make no sense for them to recklessly act in this manner against the Pats.
2) Why would the NFL attack and tarnish a player that they should be propping up? The league wants to support winners, not taken them down. It would make no sense for them to recklessly act in this manner to destroy Brady's legacy.
3) Why would the NFL recklessly anger Bob Kraft, who has always been known as a great guy, a great owner, a solid leader in the NFL, and a close personal friend of Roger Goodell?

For those who state that there is no smoking gun, the same could be said in the Aaron Hernandez murder case. The overwhelming amount of circumstantial evidence points the finger at Brady having some role.

In the end, in my opinion, the biggest issue in this case to the NFL is Brady's non-compliance and denial through the investigation. If he had owned up to this early, and was apologetic, at most he would get a two gamer. He appears to be the petulant child who is caught red-handed but refuses to admit wrongdoing, which only makes the adult more furious.

The moral of the story to young people should be:
1) Play fair and honest
2) If you take a shortcut and get caught, people will embrace you and move on if you take personal responsibility and ask for forgiveness. Pay the price and be humble.
3) The more you deny your wrongdoing, even when it is obvious you are guilty, people lose respect for you.

In this case, Brady's refusal to admit wrongdoing will pay a heavy toll on him financially. Besides paychecks, the endorsement pool will surely shrink, and the legacy will be tarnished to some degree, especially as people may look to classify him as the GOAT someday.

MD idk where you got that people are upset at the nfl for doing this, but majority here think they should have gotten it worse

Originally posted by MadDog49er:

In this case, Brady's refusal to admit wrongdoing will pay a heavy toll on him financially. Besides paychecks, the endorsement pool will surely shrink, and the legacy will be tarnished to some degree, especially as people may look to classify him as the GOAT someday.

i see it as the other way around .... tarnished to some degree financially ...... but the heavy toll falls on his legacy


with his total family income and holdings, i'm not sure it's possible to damage him financially to any great degree

lol Brady & the Pats. It's true, it's not the deed, it's the cover-up that makes this situation much worse. Had he admitted that he deflated the ball, it would have been a much less penalty. Would have blown over very quickly as something a player did almost impishly. Something stupid that really didn't affect the game to any measurable degree.

But the absolute denial and cover-up, like watching them digging a deeper hole. lol

LOL. anyone shocked? the second they had to mention that Wells is very respected person and is working "independantly" I knew it was all BS.

http://www.barstoolsports.com/boston/the-nfl-edited-the-wells-report-before-the-independent-results-were-released-ho-hum/

Originally posted by Young2Rice:

Patriots are a disgrace.

Their dynasty has been marred in serious allegations of cheating. God only knows what else they do to get a competitive advantage. I hope Gizel cheats on Brady and when he asked to see her texts she smashes the phone and be like, "Brady defense."

Shame.

There will be an Inside the Lines documentary on this in 5-10 years