ok *whew* that was some nice light reading.... Here are my thoughts (since so many people in here seem so interested in what I think): I am right back to where I was 3 1/2 months ago: It's a 5 dollar crime deserving of a 5 dollar fine.
I said all along I would accept the conclusions of the Wells Report and so I shall: Brady knew about it, Belichick and Kraft didn't. (I find it pretty disingenuous how several people are accepting the parts they want to accept but rejecting the parts they want to reject). Brady should probably get a game or two for what he did, but I am basing that statement more on how he lied to investigators than the actual "crime" itself. And those 2 equipment doofuses should probably start looking for new jobs.
I see this as comparable to a pitcher scuffing a baseball or pine tar or something like that, hence the punishment to Brady - but they didn't take draft picks from the Yankees when Pineda got caught with pine tar on his neck. I also see it as very comparable to what the Vikings got caught doing, and they only got a letter or warning..... or, better yet, comparable to Jerry Rice's admitted usage of stick'em during the 80's/90's0
The league will almost certainly implement new procedures for ball handling, which I guarantee upsets a whole buncha other QBs. Oh well. And I bet every other QB in the league has had similar exchanges with the equipment personnel. It's an interesting insight to how things work behind the scenes.
If I was a Colts fan I would probably be pissed that so many questions were raised prior to the AFCCG, the balls actually went missing for a brief time period prior to the AFCCG, but they let the entire 1st half play out anyway. Of course, the fact that they lost by 38 probably would make that more of a non-issue than if, for example, NE jumped to a big 1st half league but Indy came back in the 2nd and lost by a hair.
Interesting that if Brady is suspended, he won't be able to attend the banner ceremony on September 10. Can't imagine NBC is terribly happy but they really can't do much.
The statistical analysis at the end is very interesting.
History will not consider the Patriots dynasty as "tainted" any more than the Broncos 2 Super Bowls (salary cap violations) or the 49ers (aforementioned stick'em usage).
