Belicheat, Brady claim ignorance; NFL Statement Post #434

[dogberry]

If the league goes after NE, who else will they look at for violations?

Will the Supreme Court look askance at any fine greater than 10 times the $25K fine mentioned in the rules?

 

[skinsscalper]

Well, I did say I wouldn't take offense. All I was doing was being honest about how I feel.
Sounds like you actually have an issue with honesty?
No need to be a complete and total awesome person about it.......bro.
Oh wait, I do sound offended.
Lol

Didn't have any intention of coming across as an awesome person. If that's how you read it, my apologies.

I have no issue with honesty, btw. I just don't see how anyone can take the entirety of the situation (history+current events) and imagine that Belicheck was oblivious.

Everyone has their own opinion. You're certainly entitled to yours.

 

[Tusan_Homichi]

I posted something similar in another thread about this, but my goodness, isn't this a bit overblown? We're talking a couple PSI difference in some footballs like it's the difference between winning and losing. If the Patriots equipment guys have been deflating footballs for years now and no one noticed until now, what does that tell you about how much it matters? If they haven't and it was only for the Colts game, the Patriots won 45-7. Do you think it would have made a lick of difference?

My guess is that Tom Brady has a preference for how he likes the football to feel and made a request to his equipment guys. I seriously doubt he said "I require my footballs to be 10.5 PSI". It was probably more like "My grip on these footballs ain't so great. Can we work with them a little bit?".

I just have a real hard time getting worked up about this. If it's a big enough deal to start suspending people over, then the NFL should have an impartial crew to handle equipment at all the games.

 

[Nightman]

I posted something similar in another thread about this, but my goodness, isn't this a bit overblown? We're talking a couple PSI difference in some footballs like it's the difference between winning and losing. If the Patriots equipment guys have been deflating footballs for years now and no one noticed until now, what does that tell you about how much it matters? If they haven't and it was only for the Colts game, the Patriots won 45-7. Do you think it would have made a lick of difference?

My guess is that Tom Brady has a preference for how he likes the football to feel and made a request to his equipment guys. I seriously doubt he said "I require my footballs to be 10.5 PSI". It was probably more like "My grip on these footballs ain't so great. Can we work with them a little bit?".

I just have a real hard time getting worked up about this. If it's a big enough deal to start suspending people over, then the NFL should have an impartial crew to handle equipment at all the games.

It's against the very explicit rules. I for one don't feel the need to give Brady and the Patriots a pass. If it didn't make a difference then why do it.

 

[dthahn]

I don't know what all the hate is on the PAT's Best Org last 10-12 years Best coach best QB. Why hate them? Their system is fantastic in a league built to have parity theres no stopping them. Loss of assistant no worries. Loss of players no Worries, Little Bill just showed that big Bill couldn't do it without him. Not the other way around don't want to hear about Bill having a great QB in Brady and Big Bill not having one.He was picked in the 7th round. Not that I love the Pats but give them their credit.

Hey, let's just forget about Spygate, Deflategate, and all of the other violations they are guilty of since Belicheat took over. They are the greatest team in the history of sports!?

 

[dthahn]

I posted something similar in another thread about this, but my goodness, isn't this a bit overblown? We're talking a couple PSI difference in some footballs like it's the difference between winning and losing. If the Patriots equipment guys have been deflating footballs for years now and no one noticed until now, what does that tell you about how much it matters? If they haven't and it was only for the Colts game, the Patriots won 45-7. Do you think it would have made a lick of difference?

My guess is that Tom Brady has a preference for how he likes the football to feel and made a request to his equipment guys. I seriously doubt he said "I require my footballs to be 10.5 PSI". It was probably more like "My grip on these footballs ain't so great. Can we work with them a little bit?".

I just have a real hard time getting worked up about this. If it's a big enough deal to start suspending people over, then the NFL should have an impartial crew to handle equipment at all the games.

You need to check out the NFL Network segment where Mark Brunell, Jerome Bettis, and another former player explain in detail what a HUGE advantage 2 PSI makes in handling the football. Maybe you should check out all of the facts before you jump to conclusions based on your own uninformed opinions.

 

[CowboyChris]

here's my 2 cents.

1. I think the Patriots are guilty, and probably guilty of some other things that havent been detected.

2. I have lost alot of respect for Brady.

3. The NFL will hand down a very minimal punishment.

4. The only good thing that will come out of this, it will tarnish the Pats even more going forward, they will never be able to keep people from accusing them of cheating! They will go down as Cheaters during this era.

 

[T-RO]

You need to check out the NFL Network segment where Mark Brunell, Jerome Bettis, and another former player explain in detail what a HUGE advantage 2 PSI makes in handling the football. Maybe you should check out all of the facts before you jump to conclusions based on your own uninformed opinions.

Agreed. That was an eye-opener.

 

[Tusan_Homichi]

You need to check out the NFL Network segment where Mark Brunell, Jerome Bettis, and another former player explain in detail what a HUGE advantage 2 PSI makes in handling the football. Maybe you should check out all of the facts before you jump to conclusions based on your own uninformed opinions.

A huge difference, to me, would mean the referees that handle the ball between all the plays would notice. Or defensive players who happen to pick the ball up here and there would notice. From what I understand, none of them did.

 

[T-RO]

I will always believe Barry Bonds doesn't belong in the HOF or in the record books. He cheated and his success is all intermingled in his cheating.

I now have to say the same thing of the Pats--coaches, qb, etc.. They are frauds who don't belong in any discussion of true achievement. They should receive no credits, no awards, no place in the hall. They belong in the land of shame and disgrace. They disrespected the game repeatedly. They are nothing but little liars...little men.

They aren't bold. They aren't even men.

 

[big dog cowboy]

 

[Deep_South]

It would be nice to know if the the people on the Colts sideline who initiated the investigation actually could tell by feeling the ball the pressure was low, or if they tested it with a gauge to find out. It would also be helpful to know if the official actually tested the balls with a gauge or just felt them to see if they had any give. Also, if the officials don't actually test each one with a gauge, is this common knowledge? At what pressure can one actually squeeze the ball and tell it is under-inflated?

 

[Roadtrip635]

I just read Peter King's article about Deflategate and learned a couple of details I did not know about. Here is the timeline before, during and after the game

• The 12 footballs used in the first half for New England, and the 12 footballs used by the Colts, all left the officials’ locker room before the game at the prescribed pressure level of between 12.5 pounds per square inch and 13.5 PSI.

• All 24 footballs were checked by pressure gauge at halftime. I am told either 11 or 12 of New England’s footballs (ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported it was 11, and I hear it could have been all 12) had at least two pounds less pressure in them. All 12 Indianapolis footballs were at the prescribed level.

• All 24 footballs were checked by pressure gauge after the game. All 24 checked at the correct pressure—which is one of the last pieces of the puzzle the league needed to determine with certainty that something fishy happened with the Patriots footballs, because the Colts’ balls stayed correctly inflated for the nearly four hours. There had been reports quoting atmospheric experts that cold weather could deflate footballs. But if the Patriots’ balls were all low, and the Colts’ balls all legit, that quashes that theorem.

Of all the things Belichick said in his meeting with the media Thursday, the most surprising was that he didn’t know—even after the second half was delayed to bring in a new football when the NFL is so anal about times of games and the trains running on time—the footballs from both teams were inspected by the officials for air pressure at halftime.

http://mmqb.si.com/2015/01/23/deflategate-patriots-super-bowl-xlix/


All the balls were fine before kickoff. All the balls were weighed at halftime and 11 of 12, maybe even all 12 Pats balls weighed at least 2 psi less.
This is one of the parts I did not know, but all the balls were weighed again after the game and all the balls weighed within the proper range.

BB said the first he knew of any problem was Monday morning, but he had to know there was an issue at the end of halftime, when the game was delayed momentarily to start the half.


I didn't see this in the article or any where else, but what are the official's responsibility in that situation? Once they found all those under inflated balls did the officials order to have them brought up to league specs? The article states the delay was due to checking the balls and replacing a football (singular). The way it reads is that the officials, even after they found the irregularity allowed the Pats to continue to use those deflated balls in the 2nd half. If that's the case then the league is guilty as well for allowing it to continue. Surely the officials would have taken corrective measures and I am just missing that info, right?

 

[Red Dragon]

There should have been something done at halftime to penalize the pats. They had a 10 point lead through cheating and nothing was done.

Do what, though?

Deduct 7 points?

Unsportsmanlike conduct, 15 yards?

 

[cowboys2233]

It's against the very explicit rules. I for one don't feel the need to give Brady and the Patriots a pass. If it didn't make a difference then why do it.

Because Brady is a perfectionist and can't help himself. It's really that simple. He doesn't want to cheat per se, he wants everything to be "just right" so he can kick your ***. And yeah, there is a difference. Cheaters cheat because they don't think they can win without doing so. I can say with great confidence that doesn't apply to Brady. Brady thinks he can beat anyone at any time, under any circumstances. He just thinks he can beat you by more if the conditions are perfect. LOL.

 

[Fredd]

I cannot stand the interviews with these goose-stepping, follow the party-line freaks...when the two guiltiest people say the EXACT same words in their interviews, the entire thing comes across as staged...they are cheaters, they will always be known to me as cheaters....give them a death penalty like no draft for 3 years....won't happen to one of the league's poster boys and his team, they likely get a "you guys....." with a smirk and a head shake from the league...

can't stand them

 

[Hoofbite]

You need to check out the NFL Network segment where Mark Brunell, Jerome Bettis, and another former player explain in detail what a HUGE advantage 2 PSI makes in handling the football. Maybe you should check out all of the facts before you jump to conclusions based on your own uninformed opinions.

Sean King had a video on yahoo and said it didn't matter one bit.

There's obviously no agreement as to whether it does or doesn't.

I think they should be punished but the quantity of coverage is over the top. The colt defender who intercepted the pass and supposedly noticed the difference has since come out and said that he never noticed anything and took the ball to the sideline to keep as a souvenir of his big play.

 

[cowboys2233]

I cannot stand the interviews with these goose-stepping, follow the party-line freaks...when the two guiltiest people say the EXACT same words in their interviews, the entire thing comes across as staged...they are cheaters, they will always be known to me as cheaters....give them a death penalty like no draft for 3 years....won't happen to one of the league's poster boys and his team, they likely get a "you guys....." with a smirk and a head shake from the league...

can't stand them

The reality is, you wouldn't be recommending anywhere close to this kind of punishment if an average QB or team was doing this. Three years...for soft balls. So their success is influencing you into asking for a nonsensical punishment. So you're jealous.

 

[Fredd]

The reality is, you wouldn't be recommending anywhere close to this kind of punishment if an average QB or team was doing this. Three years...for soft balls. So their success is influencing you into asking for a nonsensical punishment. So you're jealous.

you don't get it, perhaps they have had success because they cheated and have shown a penchant for cheating for years? not jealous, just have always hated when there more than one set of rules...and, yes I would be asking for it...they cheat, they get consequences....

 

[cowboys2233]

you don't get it, perhaps they have had success because they cheated and have shown a penchant for cheating for years? not jealous, just have always hated when there more than one set of rules...and, yes I would be asking for it...they cheat, they get consequences....

Three years...for under-inflated balls.