Friday's NFL statement

Mike Loyko @NEPD_Loyko · 25m25 minutes ago
If NE is complying fully with investigators and proving video, etc. Have to think they feel pretty confident they'll be exonerated

Dagg said:

How hard is this get the officials, the equip guy, Brady and ball boy in the room for for 2 hours. Ask the needed questions. Release a statement hand down a fine or whatever. That can all be done in about a half day.

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But then they wouldn't have the lead story on the nightly news in every outlet mentioning the Super Bowl. That's what this delay is IMO, no such thing as bad publicity for the NFL and it's sponsors.

In the meantime the greatest coach/QB combo of all time and a VERY supportive owner get dragged through the mud but that doesn't matter to the NFL. Ends justify the means.

rlcarr said:

Disagree. It clearly says that they were:



(my emphasis).

I mean, if you want to say the NFL is lying, go ahead, but their official stance (which is all that matters, whether they are lying or not) is that the balls were tested and found to be within the 12.5-13.5 specification.

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you really think the refs stuck a gage in 48 footballs? 24 for each team..I highly doubt it.

I just ran this by another attorney and they agree that this is written by a lawyer and they have nothing at all. It is very important to see what is not included in this which should be.

At no point do they state the balls were deflated. They state the balls were under-inflated

3 points

1) Statement never state that the reffs physically measured PSI pregame and they do not provide the PSI drop. If the refs had done this it would have been spelled out and they would have used the word deflation or deflated which they do not use.
2) "While the evidence thus far supports the conclusion that footballs that were under-inflated were used by the Patriots in the first half, the footballs were properly inflated for the second half and confirmed at the conclusion of the game to have remained properly inflated." That balls inflated at halftime, probably outdoors world not deflate from temp drop so this is meaningless.
3) "We have not made any judgments on these points and will not do so until we have concluded our investigation and considered all of the relevant evidence."

I agree. The media witch hunt was already claiming they were not investigating this properly when Brady said he had not been interviewed (and reaching back into the old destroying spygate tapes blah blah), so they issue this statement that makes it look like a murder investigation with full CSI. Seriously?

That said, the sad part is that this might drag past the Superbowl so next week will be more of the same

Ugh

sambam94 said:

This is the key statement of the release..and surprised no one is running with this. "specifically".."deliberate action"...Pats balls slightly below the limit before the game, refs miss it..no deliberate action by the Pats found. Case closed

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The potential good news is that the Patriots will seemingly be guilty (with specifics) or innocent of wrong doing. At least that's what I hope the investigation concludes so we can either be guilty as sin or very much innocent. Don't think I can tolerate uncertainty and assumptions.

However, I do note that the statement appears to contradict the "switched to backup balls" reports:

NFL said:

While the evidence thus far supports the conclusion that footballs that were under-inflated were used by the Patriots in the first half, the footballs were properly inflated for the second half and confirmed at the conclusion of the game to have remained properly inflated.

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IMHO, the most natural way of reading that is that the underinflated balls were pumped up, tested, and used for the second half.

Based on this, the weather theory goes out the window. It states the balls in the second half were properly inflated and were tested after the game and remained properly inflated. If the weather were an issue, the second half balls would have experienced a decrease in PSI too.

The NFL has officially become the WWF

They have a law firm and they've interviewed 40 people. NFL is a bunch of clowns.

Mv1029 said:

Because I guarantee they didn't check the balls before the game with a gauge!!!!

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There really is no other reason to write something as convoluted as

Prior to the game, the game officials inspect the footballs to be used by each team and confirm that this standard is satisfied, which was done before last Sunday’s game.

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if they had evidence that the ref's actually did proper measurements with a proper gauge before the game.

Va_Pats_Fan said:

This. It is very interesting in what they did not say vs what they did say. They confirmed they were properly reinflated, and stayed inflated, but no mention of their state at the start of the game.

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I take it you mean at the time of the first Patriot offensive snap from scrimmage, not during the pre-game examination two + hours before. From that time until nearly halftime, the Patriot footballs were handled a lot because it was raining. In between the officials were handling the Colts' footballs, which were supposedly more pressurized. Why couldn't the game officials tell the difference?

PatsDeb said:

Yes, as a matter of fact, he did. The money came from Myra Kraft's family. I cannot believe he is not going crazy demanding that the NFL exonerate his team NOW so they can go and win the Superbowl. Goodell was at his house one week ago. I think that's the problem. Kraft seems to value being a "playa" in the NFL more than the team itself. So frustrating...

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Yes, it was Myra's family's money. Bob did well with it but it was her nest egg that gave him the start.

I agree with the playa impression but hope events soon prove me to be too precipitous in judgement.

Seacoast Fan said:

Once again, the statement does not say that the balls were actually measured before the start of the game.

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Was going to post the same thing. In my opinion, meaning my guess, Refs are likely not going the whole 9 yards on air pressure checking. They squeeze 'em and if it feels right, they're good to go. An interviewed Chi Bears ball boy said the refs usually squeeze them.

IF this is true - and again the NFL did not say measuring of air pressure of the ball took place before the game -- the whole thing is kaput (not that it isn't headed that way, it is, but you get my meaning). If every single solitary ball (or at least some of them) was not bench marked by an NFL official that used a pressure gauge (and logged it on paper IMHO), game over, shut up NFL. The standard has to be: pressue was this per the gauge, pressure was this with a gauge, difference of X.
And I want to see this investigative company bring in every single ref/person in the room who supposedly used a gauge to measure the football air pressure, and I want their statements signed under severe league penalty of providing false information (I won't hold my breath).

IMHO if only the 'squeeze test' by refs is true (albeit that is based on almost hearsay at this point), the NFL should be in hot water. Obviously the refs cannot tell the difference from a squeeze as they were squeezing the footballs after every play. It's almost as if the refs just didn't think it a big deal -- which we know can't be true as this is 'cheating' on a significant scale (just ask Jerome Bettis and Brunel).

TommyBrady12 said:

Based on this, the weather theory goes out the window. It states the balls in the second half were properly inflated and were tested after the game and remained properly inflated. If the weather were an issue, the second half balls would have experienced a decrease in PSI too.

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Well the footballs were probably cold and/or perhaps they re-inflated them outside - so you wouldnt get a drop.

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

True, but I would rather just have them do a complete, comprehensive investigation. If they can come back and conclude, without any doubt whatsoever, that they have reviewed basically every angle, watched every employee, and accounted for the footballs as ALL times, that is really the only way the Patriots will be exonerated by the 5% of sports fans who will care about the truth.

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There will always be doubt.

Just look at the BS of Spygate.

I'll be talking about this with my grandchildren...

TommyBrady12 said:

Based on this, the weather theory goes out the window. It states the balls in the second half were properly inflated and were tested after the game and remained properly inflated. If the weather were an issue, the second half balls would have experienced a decrease in PSI too.

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No, because at that point they had adjusted to the temperature and then an incremental amount of air was added to get them up to spec. That incremental amount of air would not result in much of a change in pressure (especially if it was done on the sideline with ambient air).

dreighver said:

Mike Loyko @NEPD_Loyko · 25m25 minutes ago
If NE is complying fully with investigators and proving video, etc. Have to think they feel pretty confident they'll be exonerated

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Loyko HAS to be kidding.
Were the Pats NOT to cooperate fully it would certainly indicate guilt.
There's no 5th amendment here.

TommyBrady12 said:

Based on this, the weather theory goes out the window. It states the balls in the second half were properly inflated and were tested after the game and remained properly inflated. If the weather were an issue, the second half balls would have experienced a decrease in PSI too.

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Not so. Depends if balls inflated inside or out

Sicilian said:

Like the 3rd party they hired to exonerate themselves in the Ray Rice investigation? NFL has ZERO credibility when it comes to fair and balanced investigations, 3rd party or no.

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Not that I'm disagreeing with you about how they screwed up that Ray Rice incident, but I'm willing to bet the NFL will do it's best to make sure they do this right. I think they are being as thorough as possible and will want to avoid the disaster that was the Ray Rice fiasco.