Deflate-Gate: Here We Go Again

SVN said:

Sure he wouldve liked to handled it better but that question is so out of the blue iam sure some national reporter asked that i was as shocked it was asked .Sure he was stunned by it and those were the first words which came out.

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I am with shmessy on this but not on his overall assessment of TB's interview.

TB knows that the wolves are out there out to get him, especially after BB specifically mentioned his name. So, if he didn't prepare for such a question right at the time when he entered the room, I will slam the PR guys or the guys who prepped him.

He is the face of the team and if he stumbles at such a simple question and responds in a lawyer-coached line, it immediately signals to the crowd that this is weird.

That said, if he had emphatically stated 'NO', it would make little difference IMO for most of the crowd has already made up its mind.

Why I disagree with shmessy's overall assessment: it took TB a few questions to get this rhythmn going. Because, he did address other uncomfortable questions without hesitation.

So, my assessment: not as great as BB, but not a car crash either. More like an average performance.

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Separate note: as one of the reporters tweeted - it is interesting that the league is now calling this a 'review' and not investigation.

I think that the leage is going to fine all teams including us that were spotted improving the balls. That would send the signal that the league is impartial and does not view this minor deflation (under determined causes as of now) to be a big deal.

shmessy said:

No. Tom Brady didn't do himself a disservice with that press conference - - the Pats PR Dept did.

Stacey James should have been preparing him for some of the questions he was likely to face. ESPECIALLY "Are you a cheater?". He should not have been stunned by that if he was adequately prepared. It looked like he had merely come in from practice directly into that room.

Seriously, why throw the poor guy out there to look like a deer in the headlights without giving him SOME preparation?

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To be honest, even I was stunned that question was asked. No one saw that coming or "Can you look at the camera here and apologize?" . The media lynch mob was in full effect. I blame the NFL for this .

Why should they admit they are guilty? Because the media says so?

I dont know how these guys do interviews with espn next week.Those ****ers have really destroyed us through the media

MoreBellhorn said:

He's an absolute idiot. WEEI is ripping him apart. "Using a deflated a ball is a competitive advantage." Literally two minutes later, "I don't think it's that big of a deal, whether it's 1 psi, 2 psi." ****ing moron. Make your mind up, baby boy. He should go back to doing things that he's good at like making ****ty investments and getting snot wiped on him.

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Yeah, sadly what he says on radio here would make the public news.What he says on ESPN however will be quoted by people like peter king.

What will you tell the children!!!!!!!

My God, we are a society of ****ies.

slash83 said:

After his presser yesterday I honestly believe Brady knowingly had the footballs deflated. I also see it as a non issue just like Rodgers inflates his. Unfortunately since it is the Pats and people love to hate them, some form of discipline will be handed down.

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I dont know how. You mean after the refs inspected he had them remove 2 PSI on 12 of them but not 12 backup footballs ? Removed them with a pin during the game ? How do you say "honestly believe"?

It would not shock me if fans from other teams were not trying to get together and get a class action lawsuit going against the pats for all the cheating that has gone on all these years.

You just watch, its coming.

Froob said:

So now the question is, what is the Colts' penalty? Irsay suspended a year? Or maybe not suspending him is a more fitting punishment? This is strike #4 for him. Pumped in crowd noise, turning up heat, dui, lying and who knows maybe they taped the bears walkthrough? Nobody can say they didn't.

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I know for a fact the Colts taped the Bears walk through before their SB. No one asked me what I know.

Clonamery said:

I know for a fact the Colts taped the Bears walk through before their SB. No one asked me what I know.

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Well that settles it. It's true now.

I hope Brady refuses to talk to D&C going forward since they are basically calling him a liar. Their take seems to be, "well, obviously he did it. But it shouldn't be this big of a deal". Since Brady came out and said he didn't do it they are questioning his integrity. I hope he calls them on it.

NYCPatsFan said:

I am with shmessy on this but not on his overall assessment of TB's interview.

TB knows that the wolves are out there out to get him, especially after BB specifically mentioned his name. So, if he didn't prepare for such a question right at the time when he entered the room, I will slam the PR guys or the guys who prepped him.

He is the face of the team and if he stumbles at such a simple question and responds in a lawyer-coached line, it immediately signals to the crowd that this is weird.

That said, if he had emphatically stated 'NO', it would make little difference IMO for most of the crowd has already made up its mind.

Why I disagree with shmessy's overall assessment: it took TB a few questions to get this rhythmn going. Because, he did address other uncomfortable questions without hesitation.

So, my assessment: not as great as BB, but not a car crash either. More like an average performance.

----------------
Separate note: as one of the reporters tweeted - it is interesting that the league is now calling this a 'review' and not investigation.

I think that the leage is going to fine all teams including us that were spotted improving the balls. That would send the signal that the league is impartial and does not view this minor deflation (under determined causes as of now) to be a big deal.

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FWIW no one i heard or read is killing brady for the "Are you a cheater?" answer. Everyone is just dismissing him saying , of course he would lie because if he admits he will be suspended from the SB. Thats what supposedly respected people like peter king are saying. Dont think anyone is reading brady's body language because the mob has already made up its mind that whatever brady said or is going to say is a lie.
Chris mannix says, this goes on and on because pats emphatically deny it. If they just accept it then we can move on.
No amount of PR coaching wouldve helped yesterday.

I know it's been sad a million times, but I want to chime in with repeating how frustrating this is. I'm not being a homer (or I'm trying not to), but this is clearly because it's the Patriots and the rest of the fans want to find reasons for their success. They can't just be a great team, there has to be something sinister.

The reason I know this is because of the word 'cheating' being used by everyone. If a player on another team gets busted for PEDs, they 'broke the rules'. If someone takes out another players knees with a very intentional hit, they 'broke the rules'. If another player is mentioned on national TV that he likes his footballs overinflated, it's brushed off and forgotten. Another can say they go through this crazy ass process with buffing machines and all types of things, and nobody bats an eye.

However, if one player on the Patriots prefers his footballs a tad softer, it's not a quirk. It's not breaking the rules. It's CHEATING! Oh well. I was originally disappointed with the Patriots, but it's become clear this is far more of a witch hunt than anything else. Yes. Brady broke the rules, but this is a situation that 99% of people didn't even know the rule existed before Monday. That's how insignificant it was, and that's why it quickly gets brushed aside when Rogers is mentioned doing it.

I guess that's the life of being a fan of the best running dynasty in the history of the league

SVN said:

Yeah, Was disappointing. Mannix says on dpshow if the patriots just admitted it instead of denying it emphatically , the story would die. ...Hard to believe brady didnt notice the difference.

So after killing BB from monday to wednesday now they are killing brady.

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No it wouldn't the patriots would be getting roasted even more. look at "spygate" the patriots didn't deny anything. And they got absolutely DESTROYED 7 years later they are still getting **** for it.

and now they want teh patriots to admit to doing something which 1.) wasn't illegal(filling the balls to 12.5) and 2.) they didnt do(tamper with the balls) EVEN AFTER THE PANTHERS AND THE VIKINGS ARE CAUGHT ON ****ING VIDEO tampering with the balls mid game.

SteveBsFan said:

I know it's been sad a million times, but I want to chime in with repeating how frustrating this is. I'm not being a homer (or I'm trying not to), but this is clearly because it's the Patriots and the rest of the fans want to find reasons for their success. They can't just be a great team, there has to be something sinister.

The reason I know this is because of the word 'cheating' being used by everyone. If a player on another team gets busted for PEDs, they 'broke the rules'. If someone takes out another players knees with a very intentional hit, they 'broke the rules'. If another player is mentioned on national TV that he likes his footballs overinflated, it's brushed off and forgotten. Another can say they go through this crazy ass process with buffing machines and all types of things, and nobody bats an eye.

However, if one player on the Patriots prefers his footballs a tad softer, it's not a quirk. It's not breaking the rules. It's CHEATING! Oh well. I was originally disappointed with the Patriots, but it's become clear this is far more of a witch hunt than anything else. Yes. Brady broke the rules, but this is a situation that 99% of people didn't even know the rule existed before Monday. That's how insignificant it was, and that's why it quickly gets brushed aside when Rogers is mentioned doing it.

I guess that's the life of being a fan of the best running dynasty in the history of the league

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people around the country compare brady to OJ and Lance Armstrong...think about that.

Its been a witch hunt for a long time. That is how it is when you are on top.

Maybe these so called reporters who want Brady to "'fess up" should do the same to all the unsolved crime in the world, I mean we all know they must have done it, that's why they aren't saying they have!

Anyone for inflategate? Did the Colts purposely put more Air into their balls knowing they would be inspected at halftime? Did they cool balls before giving to refs at start of game? Did they heat them during game? Much easier then deflating, all you need is a heating pad...or heater near players and the balls nearby.

Bruins29 said:

What will you tell the children!!!!!!!

My God, we are a society of ****ies.

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Truth.

I grew up as a child who idolized Brady. I was 11 when he was drafted. I have great memories seeing him play and finally got a chance to do so in person for the Bengals game this year. Will it bother me if its determined he had anything to do with this? Hell no. It's professional sports with millions of dollars on the line, of course people are gonna bend the rules. Do i care that people do it? NOPE! This is only entertainment, nothing about football outside of the foundations it teaches in youth ball are important in REAL LIFE.

shmessy said:

No. Tom Brady didn't do himself a disservice with that press conference - - the Pats PR Dept did.

Stacey James should have been preparing him for some of the questions he was likely to face. ESPECIALLY "Are you a cheater?". He should not have been stunned by that if he was adequately prepared. It looked like he had merely come in from practice directly into that room.

Seriously, why throw the poor guy out there to look like a deer in the headlights without giving him SOME preparation?

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Brady definitely looked prepared. The issue is serious and it's important to uphold the integrity of the game and have high moral standing, Tom did not tamper with the football and he did not know what happened to the balls after he approved them before the refs approved them.

Brady looked passionate, unapologetic, and had a half hour of fight in him -- far longer than I imagine Belichick or the PR department would have wanted Brady out there to get caught up making headline fodder, but defiant and inspiring for all us Pats fans in the Deflategate trenches.

Bruins29 said:

All that is going to come out of this is the pats cheated and either got caught, or got away with it. Can anyone else really see any other way this shakes out? Is the NFL going to come out and say there is proof that the Pats did nothing wrong?

Best case is that the NFL admits they did not check the balls and we are cheaters who got away with cheating again. I hate to be negative but how else could this possibly end?

I guess not having proof of tampering would help but then reporters would be frothing at the mouth trying to find out if indeed the balls were under inflated which, if they were, would set off an even larger **** storm.

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There is the Super Bowl to win. I want at least a week to remind ourselves that the Patriots are in the friggin Super Bowl. There is light outside of this tunnel besides all this controversy.

Froob said:

Well that settles it. It's true now.

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Not only that, the fog during the game did not shrink Peyton's playoff balls for the first time in his history.