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Finally! Curran's great article today clearly names Kensil and mocks the NFL


As Dale Arnold pointed out, there is big news in Curran's piece if he is right. He says only 6 balls were under the proper PSI and only a tick under. From his piece:

Probably just via Rap, though, right? As much as I want Rap to be right as his SB day report was hugely in our favor, it would be a first for him to get details like that completely right.
 
Probably just via Rap, though, right? As much as I want Rap to be right as his SB day report was hugely in our favor, it would be a first for him to get details like that completely right.

Rap's report was different. He still had the 11 balls, but all but one was a PSI or less under and 3-4 were a few ticks. Curran is saying only 6 were under and all were just a few ticks.
 
The lawyer can demand access to those background items Wells report to see if there is any evidence showing that his client was deliberately targeted, and so on. It doesn't matter if there is any of that evidence there but just the thought of a Kraft funded lawyer getting access to additional investigation info would be priceless.

It would be wonderful if a lawsuit by McNally against ESPN for defaming him could also suck the NFL and the Wells report and its work products into the gears of discovery. Subpoenas for all!
 
Rap's report was different. He still had the 11 balls, but all but one was a PSI or less under and 3-4 were a few ticks. Curran is saying only 6 were under and all were just a few ticks.

Interesting. Hopefully Curran will clarify.
 
I hadn't seen the number '6' referenced before, not sure where that came from
 
BTW- neuro is right. Welles is far from an "independent" investigator. He's done this before, and he knows that if he doesn't make the league come out in the most positive way possible, he won't do it again.

Well we all know that the league can't possibly come out of this looking positive, but Welles can in the prime position to ease the pain, and the best way to do that is to keep the focus on the Pats instead of the league. And the best way to do that is to leave the question of whether the Pats did or did not purposely alter the football open to question. It's the old, "don't look at me.....look at HIM strategy.

Bob Kraft may one day get his apology, but it may be a very limited one. Something like "sorry we didn't catch you cheating.....THIS time.:"
I disagree with this I think. Ted Wells has his reputation to protect. If he's seen as shilling for the NFL, that doesn't do it any good. We shall see though.
 
Tom E is the man. Solid reporter and seems to be a very good guy.
 
I would love it if Kraft hired the best defamation attorney in the country for McNally!

The fact that the pre-gamer pressure of the balls was never recorded precludes ever finding the Pats guilty of anything. The rest of the NFL ineptness is just icing on the cake. Clearly Kensil needs to be fired. If I was Kraft I would be in Goodell's office right now, demanding Kenisl's firing, the Jets first round pick for tampering, and press conference where the NFL clearly states that the Pats did nothing wrong, and that this was a case of "prosecutorial misconduct" and issue a full and public apology, and grant the Pats the 33rd pick in the draft as compensation for Kensil's unprecedented personal attack on the Patriot's character. And if Goodell balks, Kraft should quickly call his owner buddies and have Goodell removed.

That, and an admission that Goodell overreacted to Spygate, a camera placement issue in which Belichick effectively illustrated a gaping loophole in Goodell's "for game day purposes" rule

Goodell doesn't like it when coaches make him look bad - though Goodell does a pretty good job of that all on his own

But in my opinion Goodell, in claiming to be protecting the integrity of the game, cried wolf over Spygate and that has since opened up the flood gates of scandals, real and imagined and, again, thanks to Goodell's reaction to minor rule breaking

In that sense Goodell himself should admit that, although it was his intent to protect the shield from dishonor, at this point no one has done more to undermine trust in the shield than Goodell - and then he should resign
 
Some comments on the comments:

1. Nice job by Curran to completely dismiss "Kballgate" and get Jim Kensil's name and agenda firmly in the spot light. However it does nothing to dismiss "deflategate" one way or the other. We will still be twisting in the wind on that one for the next couple of months.

2. Given the league's incompetence, it looks at this point that it will be very hard for the league to prove any wrong doing on the Pats. However that isn't the issue. Its not enough for the Pats to be found not guilty, they need to be found INNOCENT. So more work has to be done on that.

3. If over the next month Brady and BB AREN'T interviewed by Welles, then ie will be a good indication that complete vindication has a real chance of happening.

4. This article was a nice start, but JUST a start of what needs to be done.

5. I've said this several times before, and will likely say it many more times in the future, what HAS to be done at a MINIMUM is: 1. Kensil needs to be fired 2. Irsay and the Colts organization needs to punished. 3. Bob Kraft, Brady and BB all need personal apologies from BOTH the league and ESPN.

6. Interesting take on Jim McNally. I'd take a little harsher view. If I were McNally, I'd be trying to figure just how big a piece of ESPN I wanted to own

Some comments on the comments on the comments:

1 - I never felt that I was twisting in the wind. It looks to me that the haters are the ones doing the twisting. I'm actually enjoying it more now that the Pats won.

2 - I think the only way to really do something about the NFL or the media is to somehow get organized and show them that you represent a large % of NFL fans. With the way the NFL and media has looked recently that might include more than Pats fans.

3 - I'm not sure that complete vindication is possible in today's world.

4 - Patience is a virtue. In the end the truth will come out.

5 - I'm right with you on Kensil and Irsay, but I don't think an apology is enough. I wouldn't believe any of them anyway. I want blood.

6 - McNally is a lawyer's dream right now. I hope he makes out ok.
 
PFT: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...sion-puts-kensil-under-more-scrutiny/#respond

Putting the entire thing on Grigson/Kensil!!!!

Kensil really has to go now!

This was clearly a sting operation, either by the NFL or by Kensil acting alone, either way, an apology and Kensil's firing has to happen!

as usual, the comment section is hilarious, the best:

clelek05 says: Feb 20, 2015 10:15 AM
Well then. That just means, “Einhorn is Kensil. Kensil is Einhorn!”
 
Last edited:
They need to wrap this up quick because I want draft picks from the Colts BEFORE this year's draft, not after. :)
 
Florio is starting to get a clue but still wants to hang the Pats anyway.

Grigson needs to be grilled. We keep hearing that "he had concerns", "he reported concerns" about the Pats football. Precisely how did these "concerns" arise in Grigson's curling stone-like brain?

Did he have tangible evidence? What was it?

Did someone (who? cough, cough...Harbaugh) suggest it to him? On what basis?

Was he just struck down on the road to Damascus by the revelation that the Pats footballs were suspicious?

He needs to explain much more fully than "the Colts had suspicions".
 
From Florio's piece:

"....NFL executive V.P. of football operations Troy Vincent has said that Grigson contacted V.P. of game operations Mike Kensil (pictured) during the AFC championship, after a football that had been intercepted by linebacker D’Qwell Jackson allegedly seemed to be underinflated. That makes Kensil, a former Jets employee with a reputation for having an anti-Patriots bias, a prime candidate to have gotten the phone call from Grigson before the game.

What if Kensil decided he was going to handle it on his own, that he was going to catch the Patriots in the act?

That would explain the failure of the game officials to make a written record of the PSI measurements of the Patriots and Colts footballs before the game. If they didn’t know that there were concerns about the Patriots’ footballs, they would have had no reason to generate a paper trail.

It also would explain the NFL’s strong insistence that there was no sting operation. A sting operation entails coordination and planning; if Kensil got the call from Grigson and Kensil didn’t share the information with his colleagues, Kensil’s goal may have been: (1) to prevent the Patriots from getting a warning about the concerns regarding air pressure; and (2) to nab the Patriots red handed......"

If Kensil was called by Grigson and he DIDN'T TELL ANYONE (i.e. Troy Vincent, Goodell or any other NFL official) then went out and did what he did in the AFCCG???????

He's going to walk the plank.
 
Absolutely fantastic read!!

Ah, something to look forward to savoring in a slow moment of what looks to be a fairly busy day! I shall linger over every delicious sentence... :D

5414667439_cf9260c7ca_z.jpg
 
Worth noting here what I noted in another thread. Schefter was the first to report that the Colts reported these concerns to the NFL in November. Throws a wrench in my Harbaugh suspicions. But also doesn't make a whole lot of sense. How does that fit in? How could the Patriots have deflated balls after the refs inspected them at a road game? How on earth did the Colts feel the Patriots balls felt deflated, when by all accounts, 10.5 to 12.5 is close to imperceptible unless you are really crushing the thing.

Just wish the damn report would come out so we could get some answers.
 
From Florio's piece:

"....NFL executive V.P. of football operations Troy Vincent has said that Grigson contacted V.P. of game operations Mike Kensil (pictured) during the AFC championship, after a football that had been intercepted by linebacker D’Qwell Jackson allegedly seemed to be underinflated. That makes Kensil, a former Jets employee with a reputation for having an anti-Patriots bias, a prime candidate to have gotten the phone call from Grigson before the game.

What if Kensil decided he was going to handle it on his own, that he was going to catch the Patriots in the act?

That would explain the failure of the game officials to make a written record of the PSI measurements of the Patriots and Colts footballs before the game. If they didn’t know that there were concerns about the Patriots’ footballs, they would have had no reason to generate a paper trail.

It also would explain the NFL’s strong insistence that there was no sting operation. A sting operation entails coordination and planning; if Kensil got the call from Grigson and Kensil didn’t share the information with his colleagues, Kensil’s goal may have been: (1) to prevent the Patriots from getting a warning about the concerns regarding air pressure; and (2) to nab the Patriots red handed......"

If Kensil was called by Grigson and he DIDN'T TELL ANYONE (i.e. Troy Vincent, Goodell or any other NFL official) then went out and did what he did in the AFCCG???????

He's going to walk the plank.

So Grigson says that he contacted the NFL both before AND during the game?
Worth noting here what I noted in another thread. Schefter was the first to report that the Colts reported these concerns to the NFL in November. Throws a wrench in my Harbaugh suspicions. But also doesn't make a whole lot of sense. How does that fit in? How could the Patriots have deflated balls after the refs inspected them at a road game? How on earth did the Colts feel the Patriots balls felt deflated, when by all accounts, 10.5 to 12.5 is close to imperceptible unless you are really crushing the thing.

Just wish the damn report would come out so we could get some answers.

Well since we'really seeing how haphazard the NFL's handling of the balls was during the AFCCG what with balls being stolen and unauthorized balls being slipped in as replacements, why is it so hard to imagine that something similar didn't occur in Indy, and the butthurt Colts, looking for an excuse, took this and ran with it?
 
It just doesn't make sense that there are two separate issues. He planned on running a sting AND coincidentally an official is busted stealing a ball?

What if the official didn't take the ball, he never leaves the booth? That's not even trying to run a sting.

Kensil got alerted for one reason, he left the booth one time. Why measure Patriot balls after an official is caught stealing balls?

These two things have to be tied together somehow.
 
Well since we'really seeing how haphazard the NFL's handling of the balls was during the AFCCG what with balls being stolen and unauthorized balls being slipped in as replacements, why is it so hard to imagine that something similar didn't occur in Indy, and the butthurt Colts, looking for an excuse, took this and ran with it?

Good point. Would be interesting to see if that Miller kid was in Indy for the game in November. We'll have to see how specific Grigson's claim was in November - was it about deflation or was he just calling general shenanigans.
 


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