Reiss expects Pats to be fined-deflategate? No farking way

rlcarr said:

You mean the speech he's already started walking back by saying what a fine job Goodell is doing and what a hard job he has?

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He could very easily now know that Goodell was not involved in the slanderous setup and that lower ranked people in the league office are going to go down for it. Frankly I've always believed that Goodell had nothing to do with what happened and only acted like an incompetent buffoon in trying to handle the aftermath. Goodell sucks and I despise what he continues to do but I have a hard time believing that the aborted sting operation or whatever the Colts attempted to do was done with his knowledge or consent.

If that's the case Kraft's continued backing of Der Commisioner makes sense even if it's still shortsighted. Goodell gets to wash his hands clean of this mess, Kensil gets fed to the birds, and the Pats are exonerated. Everyone wins.

I think they already have their decision and they are working on the media piece, I would think end of next week by the latest...

Although it's been intimated, let's face the real truth. this isn't about goodell and the patriots. goodell serves at the pleasure of the NFL owners. It's the jealous and the losers that keep him in power and guarantee the anti Patriots agenda.

If the other owners thought goodell was a maroon, and apparently they are sentient, they don't care as long as he tries to hurt teams that are too good and takes the heat for all the beating and raping going on.

He's their guy. who's with Kraft?

RayClay said:

Although it's been intimated, let's face the real truth. this isn't about goodell and the patriots. goodell serves at the pleasure of the NFL owners. It's the jealous and the losers that keep him in power and guarantee the anti Patriots agenda.

If the other owners thought goodell was a maroon, and apparently they are sentient, they don't care as long as he tries to hurt teams that are too good and takes the heat for all the beating and raping going on.

He's their guy. who's with Kraft?

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I think you're awesome Ray, but I'm pretty sure you're hammered.

VectorPrime said:

He could very easily now know that Goodell was not involved in the slanderous setup and that lower ranked people in the league office are going to go down for it. Frankly I've always believed that Goodell had nothing to do with what happened and only acted like an incompetent buffoon in trying to handle the aftermath. Goodell sucks and I despise what he continues to do but I have a hard time believing that the aborted sting operation or whatever the Colts attempted to do was done with his knowledge or consent.

If that's the case Kraft's continued backing of Der Commisioner makes sense even if it's still shortsighted. Goodell gets to wash his hands clean of this mess, Kensil gets fed to the birds, and the Pats are exonerated. Everyone wins.

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Your point would believable if cameragate did not exist. Goodell not his henchmen did every possible to destroy the reputation of the Pats and Kraft for whatever reason rolled over. Goodell is the one that hired Kensil from the Jets and made him his number two man. To think that Goodell has clean hands in this fiasco is somewhat unrealistic given his previous history.

VectorPrime said:

I'd sooner drag this all the way up to the Supreme Court then accept a fine for literally nothing.

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I agree. We haven't done anything wrong to deserve punishment, but at this point, they've already poured millions of dollars into the investigation, and if they come out with no one to blame and nothing to show for it, then the NFL will look pretty stupid. I think they're going to want to punish the Patriots for something... anything....even something minor, like failure to properly maintain equipment.

And if it comes to that, then you have to ask yourself, how much longer do you want to drag this out? As far as I'm concerned, Deflategate rose and then died with SB49... once the Pats prove they can be a championship team without needing to cheat, it becomes irrelevant how the balls became deflated....that's how I see it.

RayClay said:

Although it's been intimated, let's face the real truth. this isn't about goodell and the patriots. goodell serves at the pleasure of the NFL owners. It's the jealous and the losers that keep him in power and guarantee the anti Patriots agenda.

If the other owners thought goodell was a maroon, and apparently they are sentient, they don't care as long as he tries to hurt teams that are too good and takes the heat for all the beating and raping going on.

He's their guy. who's with Kraft?

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Certainly not his good buddy Goodell.

supafly said:

I'm not sure that I see the same connection that you seem to.

For example, there are many owners who would love to see the Patriots punished, especially judging by the way that every single thing they did was either changed via the rules, or still being scrutinized. Kraft and N.England are certainly in the minority here.

Although he's a very powerful owner, his reach hasn't exactly helped us in the past with too much, has it? I could've sworn that we'd been punished before for total ********, along with having our ideas turned down, excuses made up, and rules constantly changed to benefit other teams.

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Don't think you get my point. The other owners control goodell. Kraft's problem is the other jealous/loser owners who want to keep the Patriots from winning on a fair basis.

If Kraft had support from the other owners, he could flip goodell the bird on the 50 yard line, and he'd take it. See Al davis, Shula (not even an owner) and many behind the scenes, because goodell is merely their employee.

I want to continue to emphasize this.

VectorPrime said:

Since teams aren't allowed to pump air into them throughout the game to maintain the regulation PSI that literally means "league rules prohibit the following of the universal laws of thermodynamics."

That would be what we are punished for. Obeying the laws of physics. Amazing

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The only way to keep the footballs within regulation PSI levels would be to outright break the rules regarding tampering with footballs. There would need to be ballboys constantly on the sidelines measuring and refilling all the balls all game. For obvious reasons this is forbidden. Which means if we are punished it would be for NOT breaking any rule. Which sets such a ridiculous precedent that I can't even begin to imagine what it would lead to.

Being fined for "failure to maintain equipment" would be BULL **** plan and simple and cannot be justified in even the most crocked kangaroo court on the planet.

The Patriots didn't deliberately tamper with the psi of the football to deflate them. Under current NFL rules even a token fine is not applicable if it's not deliberate. Once the footballs were approved for game play, the Patriots were free and clear. Unless they find clear evidence of tampering after the officials approved the footballs, I can see no way they get penalized.

I think the hold-up is what happened to the football that Jackson intercepted. He clearly states that he just wanted the ball he intercepted as a souvenir. He never stated that the ball felt different. What happened when that football hit the sidelines is what I think the NFL is trying to discover. I think the NFL and the Colts have more to worry about then the Patriots.

VectorPrime said:

I want to continue to emphasize this.



The only way to keep the footballs within regulation PSI levels would be to outright break the rules for tampering with footballs. There would need to be ballboys constantly on the sidelines measuring and refilling all the balls. For obvious reason this is forbidden. Which means if we are punished it would be punishing us for NOT breaking any rule.

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You are absolutely right but it doesn't matter in Goodell's NFL. He has the authority to interpret the rules and mete out punishments as he sees fit. He has already shown that in the camera placement fiasco,

flasox27 said:

Certainly not his good buddy Goodell.

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Name an owner who would back Kraft up. Maybe Seattle, because they put in the work. The AFC East teams are like trauma victims, all grasping at the quick fix that guarantees to make them losers as far as the eye can see.

Buffalo's trades and free agent grabs are overpays, not bargains, yet they look like geniuses compared to the Jets and Miami. Looks like one cornerback or DL for them and a team ful of vet minimum signings in the future. Of course the want to put the Patriots in jail.

Canuck said:

The Patriots didn't deliberately tamper with the psi of the football to deflate them. Under current NFL rules even a token fine is not applicable if it's not deliberate. Once the footballs were approved for game play, the Patriots were free and clear. Unless they find clear evidence of tampering after the officials approved the footballs, I can see no way they get penalized.

I think the hold-up is what happened to the football that Jackson intercepted. He clearly states that he just wanted the ball he intercepted as a souvenir. He never stated that the ball felt different. What happened when that football hit the sidelines is what I think the NFL is trying to discover. I think the NFL and the Colts have more to worry about then the Patriots.

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A fantastic point. Once the balls are approved by the refs the teams can then safely wash their hands of concern over their condition. Unless it can be proved that a team deliberately improperly tampered the balls past this point, like deflating them, then they cannot be found at any fault.

RayClay said:

Name an owner who would back Kraft up. Maybe Seattle, because they put in the work. The AFC East teams are like trauma victims, all grasping at the quick fix that guarantees to make them losers as far as the eye can see.

Buffalo's trades and free agent grabs are overpays, not bargains, yet they look like geniuses compared to the Jets and Miami. Looks like one cornerback or DL for them and a team ful of vet minimum signings in the future. Of course the want to put the Patriots in jail.

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Kraft is close with Jerry Jones, the Giants owner, and the Roonies. Him and those 3 are really the big four.

RayClay said:

Name an owner who would back Kraft up. Maybe Seattle, because they put in the work. The AFC East teams are like trauma victims, all grasping at the quick fix that guarantees to make them losers as far as the eye can see.

Buffalo's trades and free agent grabs are overpays, not bargains, yet they look like geniuses compared to the Jets and Miami. Looks like one cornerback or DL for them and a team ful of vet minimum signings in the future. Of course the want to put the Patriots in jail.

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You are correct sir. What Kraft has failed to realize even upto today is that the owners of the teams are his partners only financially but cutthroat and jealous competitors on the field. When he stated" This is no way to treat a partner" the other owners were either silent or laughing at him.

OhExaulted1 said:

I think you're awesome Ray, but I'm pretty sure you're hammered.

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Do you think the owners work for goodell? If the owners were tired of him, they could get rid of him tomorrow (and pay him).

Seriously, you don't understand that?

What am I missing?

He was chosen over four finalists for the position, winning a close vote on the fifth ballot before being unanimously approved by acclamation of the owners.

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WIKI

OhExaulted1 said:

I think you're awesome Ray, but I'm pretty sure you're hammered.

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Thanks for the awesome,though.

VectorPrime said:

Kraft is close with Jerry Jones, the Giants owner, and the Roonies. Him and those 3 are really the big four.

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I wonder how many would support him if he [rightly] advocated to can goodell? How many spoke up when his integrity was questioned and his coach and players made to particiate in a show trial? Anyone?

Even without criticizing the commish, who offered support coac, owner qb during the blatant intentional super bowl week distraction?
Maybe someone did, I don't recall.

Canuck said:

The Patriots didn't deliberately tamper with the psi of the football to deflate them. Under current NFL rules even a token fine is not applicable if it's not deliberate. Once the footballs were approved for game play, the Patriots were free and clear. Unless they find clear evidence of tampering after the officials approved the footballs, I can see no way they get penalized.

I think the hold-up is what happened to the football that Jackson intercepted. He clearly states that he just wanted the ball he intercepted as a souvenir. He never stated that the ball felt different. What happened when that football hit the sidelines is what I think the NFL is trying to discover. I think the NFL and the Colts have more to worry about then the Patriots.

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Fair enough, but I don't think the NFL can afford to exonerate the Patriots completely, as much as I would like to see that happen. I just wouldn't count on it. I think no matter what, the NFL wants to come across as being "fair" and "tough", and if the evidence shows that no deliberate tampering occurred, then I can still see a response that involves a fine or a penalty, for not taking the steps necessary to ensure footballs are properly maintained according to regulation. That wouldn't necessarily make us cheaters, just maybe perhaps a little negligent.

But I agree with most of you. I think the charges are bogus. And if deflategate happened while we were supposed to focus on the Super Bowl, and we ended up losing, then I would be much much much more bitter and angry. But the fact is, we won the Super Bowl, and deflategate only proved to be another obstacle we overcame to get to the Lombardi. Now all we have to do is put this thing behind us. The sooner the better. That's just my opinion.

Reiss is hardly a rabble rouser...from his chat- [asked if he thought rules wouldchange if peyton or someone else used the "ineligible play."

Mike
(11:18 AM)

No, I don't, Bill. I very much felt an anti-Patriots slant to these meetings, more from several of the teams themselves. Everyone's pretty much jealous, it's a highly competitive environment, and you see that sort of manifest itself in these settings when everyone is together. It's a dynamic like no other -- technically these 32 teams are partners, but the way they act around each other at times is middle-school level stuff.

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http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/boston/chat/_/id/51688