Schefter: NFL Having a Hard Time Finding Evidence of Tampering

I hope Kraft is having less trouble finding his lawyers than the NFL is in finding evidence of the Pats tampering with the footballs.

Now Roger, if tampering is what you are looking to investigate may I direct your attention to a recently filed charge against the Rats?

Any vids of Shefty saying this up yet?

Hey Fatcesa, go have sex with yourself, you hack, uneducated, agenda bearing, nut sack. I will enjoy hearing spin this one, if true

BradyFTW! said:

If I'm Kraft, at this point I'm openly threatening to launch my own investigation and dig up as much dirt on other teams doing the same as I can. Basically to say "if you want to set the precedent that this is a big deal when we both know that it isn't, then I hope that you're prepared for the fallout when I reveal that 20 other teams do the same thing".

Of course, this is probably one of many, many reasons why I'm not Kraft.

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Agreed and agreed Can't go scorched earth on the guys in the owners box, he'd have a target the size of Mars on his back for the rest of his life. What he can do, imo, is start asking questions like:
1) why wasn't this handled as a quiet, internal league matter, as these potential violations usually are? Why was someone in the media notified and by whom?
2) Who is the source of the leak to Mortenson and why did they provide that information--which may be faulty, we'll find out--when the league has said they would clean up their internal investigative process and Vincent specifically said they wouldn't divulge information until the investigation was through?
3) If the Patriots and Belichick do have a target on their back, if they are seen league-wide as getting preferential treatment and/or breaking the rules more often, then let's get things out in the open (among owners) and clear the air. Start fresh. Because the witch hunt can't keep happening, and IF this is determined to be completely unfounded allegations then this is the time to do it.

I'm not ready to celebrate just yet. None of this means anything the NFL issues some sort of ruling. If they do say that they found no evidence of tampering, which I think is likely, they will most likely delay any final ruling until the off season where they can make a full evaluation of the process including effects of temperature/weather on football pressure. Depending on what that evaluation finds there may be some sort of final ruling. My expectation is that this will be largely defused however for the superbowl at least. Of course, many will still claim cheating and scandal but as they say "haters gonna hate" and I don't really care about them.

The difference with spygate: NFL have to prove the Pats deflated the balls.

PATSNUTme said:

I hope that the NFL is spending as much energy trying to find out who leaked the "info" of the investigation to "Mort", so they can fire them.

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Considering the league's expertise on leaking info, one would think they could determine how air might leak out of a football.

The reality is the media will treat this like Sasquatch.

The complete lack of evidence is a great reason why this needs even more investigation.

Let's get on with important issues in the league, like TAMPERING, not Mark Brunell's " expert" opinion on football PSI.

BSR said:

Of course, many will still claim cheating and scandal but as they say "haters gonna hate" and I don't really care about them.

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Celebration by us now would be as premature as it was by the haters yesterday morning.

I do think Belichick has had a successful day. But the organization, and its star QB, still have a bulls-eye on them. There's really nothing to be all that happy about other than Belichick's believability and credibility today. Which is a small victory when we're getting our asses handed to us in the court of public opinion. Let's just hope that the news continues to be better and it continues to come out.

TheBostonStraggler said:

If true the media as a collective will definitely say 'whoops, we made a mistake. We were wrong and pushed outrage, smeared people incorrectly". Seriously, can't wait for the entire gang at The Globe to do this

Best that we'll get out of the hysterical mass of illogic known as the media is a 'rationalizing, largely ignore, move on to the next 'outrage'' tact. The rare few who stood up to the hysteria (not talking the long list of players who did) can then justifiably toot their horn. (Mike Reiss, congratulations, you went from a solid and reasonable source to just another media dolt).

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Funny thing yesterday.

Mazz was on 92.3 here in Cleveland talking about how BB needs to be executed because he is breaking the rules even though it's not proven.

Next comment is about the Jets tampering charges and how stupid it is because despite the fact it's a rule and was broken......it's Patriots fault for filing because it's a dumb rule.

Naturally, the two host clowns approve right away.

I know I'll get flamed for this, but I'm trying to look at the facts, and they conclude what I suspected from the moment the report was broken about balls being underinflated.

I am guessing the Patriots/Brady found a way to underinflate the balls, not a big deal and probably something that has happened many times, but nevertheless against the rules. And as I suspected from the beginning, the NFL would not be able to find the smoking gun that proves the Patriots were involved. And, yes, there is a chance that they really weren't involved, however slim, in my opinion, which I don't present to be 100% accurate but just based on the information given and my own thoughts based on most likely scenarios. In other words, I think it is more likely that the Patriots were able to alter the balls than it is likely that the officials did not properly check the balls (considering the concern had previously been brought up), or that the weather had such a great effect, or that the Patriots were framed. More likely it was the Patriots, but not with 100% certainty.

The question becomes whether or not the NFL will punish the Patriots regardless of not having evidence and also using a "likelihood" analysis. It's unclear what burden of proof they will be using. I can almost guarantee you that later today, Tom Brady will tell the media that he likes the ball a certain way and submits that ball to the officials; if they choose to inflate the ball, deflate the ball, or fill it with maple syrup, he is, and always has, complied with the rules of the league, and frankly, it's impossible for him to alter the balls (he may even go through his pre-game protocol). So at that point, it comes down to reasonable doubt: was the deflation a result of faulty checking/weather/framing/bad protocols or something done afterwards. It is a dangerous precedent to decide this case based on "I believe the officials and I believe the balls could not deflate naturally, and I don't believe someone on the Patriots, although I don't know exactly who or how they did it." Although some may argue the integrity of the game comes first, I believe the integrity of common law is a higher standard and should be upheld by the NFL.

So, in conclusion, I suspect someone on the Patriots did in fact alter the ball but it cannot be proven, and yes, there is always reasonable doubt in anyone's mind. Certainly, it could have been deflated by some other way which we do not know. The court of public opinion will almost certainly favor the theory that the Patriots were involved, and I'm not sure I can really blame them, for better or worse. Luckily, I am used to having my favorite team be doubted and called cheaters, so it is really nothing new.

Tunescribe said:

Unfortunately, the final authority has spoken:

View attachment 8267

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Well, that explains this then..

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump · 4h4 hours ago
Just watched @Patriots Bill Belichick’s news conference. He did a great job—smart, concise, truthful!

H

BradyManny said:

Celebration by us now would be as premature as it was by the haters yesterday morning.

I do think Belichick has had a successful day. But the organization, and its star QB, still have a bulls-eye on them. There's really nothing to be all that happy about other than Belichick's believability and credibility today. Which is a small victory when we're getting our asses handed to us in the court of public opinion. Let's just hope that the news continues to be better and it continues to come out.

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hey, you make some good points, but Brady could show up this afternoon with angel's wings and levitate and we'd still be screwed in the court of public opinion. That's never gonna change.

If only we could return to the days of eligible/ineligible receiver deception discussion!

Danger Zone said:

Well, that explains this then..

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump · 4h4 hours ago
Just watched @Patriots Bill Belichick’s news conference. He did a great job—smart, concise, truthful!

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"Bill Belichick, you're NOT fired!"

Danger Zone said:

Well, that explains this then..

Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump · 4h4 hours ago
Just watched @Patriots Bill Belichick’s news conference. He did a great job—smart, concise, truthful!

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Now I have to start liking Donald Trump

Brewskies said:

Until I read it in a responsible publication I am not accepting any news re: NFL.

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The Economist? Foreign Affairs?

letekro said:

The Economist? Foreign Affairs?

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JUGGS

hambone1818 said:

1) why wasn't this handled as a quiet, internal league matter, as these potential violations usually are? Why was someone in the media notified and by whom?

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Why?

Because the guy behind all this is THIS guy:

Jackson 2 said:

H

hey, you make some good points, but Brady could show up this afternoon with angel's wings and levitate and we'd still be screwed in the court of public opinion. That's never gonna change.

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Court of public opinion, ha! Is that the supervisor to the NFL kangaroo court?