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

Here's a real winner of an article from the "Jet Press"...

http://thejetpress.com/2015/03/31/r...ishment-sets-up-the-gauntlet-for-deflategate/

Because the Browns got a fine and the GM got a short suspension for being proven to break the rules, this "throws down the gauntlet" for a "severe punishment" for the Patriots

Later he also reasons that because Sean Payton was suspended a year for the bounty situation, Belichick should be suspended a year for this.

Talk about homer reporting. And people call out Reiss?

little does he realize, the gauntlet is for the jets

Armchair Quarterback said:

1. Because Goodell is an imbecile.
2. Because said imbecile has a God complex.
3. Because said imbecile with a God complex makes his decisions based only on what the hysterical media/angry mob think.


“Too often, competitive violations have gone unpunished because conclusive proof of the violation was lacking. I believe we should reconsider the standard of proof to be applied in such cases, and make it easier for a competitive violation to be established." And where a violation is shown, I intend to impose more stringent penalties on both the club and the responsible individual(s). I will also be prepared to make greater use of draft choice forfeiture in appropriate cases. I believe this will have the effect of deterring violations and making people more willing to report violations on a timely basis.”

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It's true that Goodell set that up as his standard but a great deal has changed since he said that and rather than being an all powerful commissioner he has pretty much been neutered by his own ineptitude and the actions of those around him. As for the balls being in each teams possession I believe that there are cameras everywhere and they can actually review what is or is not being done with them, which is why the haters glommed on to the piss stop as the moment of tampering, and why the claim by ESPN that MacNally tried to introduce an illegal game ball was so easily debunked as the sideline cameras showed the league official actually handing him the ball he gave to the alternate name official.

So far that statement from Goodell has probably been the strongest argument that Goodell will be able to fine them for nothing but I think Kraft laid down the gauntlet at his press conference and doubled down on it at the owners meetings because they have gone over all the footage meticulously and know that the Wells Report will show no evidence of tampering, and without that I hpnestly don't see Goodell trying to sanction the Patriots for the weather. We will see when the report comes out but I just don't see it happening.

Ross12 said:

Here's a real winner of an article from the "Jet Press"...

http://thejetpress.com/2015/03/31/r...ishment-sets-up-the-gauntlet-for-deflategate/

Because the Browns got a fine and the GM got a short suspension for being proven to break the rules, this "throws down the gauntlet" for a "severe punishment" for the Patriots

Later he also reasons that because Sean Payton was suspended a year for the bounty situation, Belichick should be suspended a year for this.

Talk about homer reporting. And people call out Reiss?

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I'm not sure that I have a huge issue with what he's saying. He's qualifying his article on if it is proved that the Patriots intentionally deflated footballs.

I'm more angered with the people that are already convinced that the Patriots are guilty of deflating the footballs (Mark Brunnell, Jerry Rice etc). Or that the Patriots should be punished regardless

SacPete1 said:

Does anyone here know why Reiss thinks there will be a fine? I submitted this question in his mailbag but it wasn't selected.

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It's way back near the beginning of this thread. He thinks Goodell will take the "it doesn't matter why" approach and will fine NE if any balls were under pressure because they were out of spec and so violated the rule. In other words (mine) he thinks Goodell will essentially be fining Ne for an equipment violation.

Yeah, if we were guilty of deflating the footballs (like there was video of a ball boy on the sidelines letting air out of the balls) then that would be really bad. That would be outright cheating and I wouldn't be able to rightly defend our team. That's what I was really worried about for the first few days after the game when the Mort report came out. But since then it is beyond clear that nothing of the sort happened. Since that BS report came out and all the rumors were flying around literally all of the evidence, both scientific and circumstantial, point toward us not only being innocent but the victims of an aborted scheme by Mike Kensil to wreck out reputation.

MitchKumstein said:

I'm not sure that I have a huge issue with what he's saying. He's qualifying his article on if it is proved that the Patriots intentionally deflated footballs.

I'm more angered with the people that are already convinced that the Patriots are guilty of deflating the footballs (Mark Brunnell, Jerry Rice etc). Or that the Patriots should be punished regardless

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I do take issue with it because it would be inconsistent. He's saying that since the Browns clearly broke a rule and were punished with a fine, a 4 game suspension for the lone person responsible, and no draft pick forfeiture... then the Patriots should face a "severe punishment" if found guilty??

That's not consistent. Look at the Falcons situation. They pumped crowd noise and admitted to doing it. Repercussions? A fine, 8 game suspension for the guy responsible, 5th round pick forfeiture a year from now. Any sane person would tell you blasting extra crowd noise every game for two years is a worse offense than potentially slightly low PSI for maybe one game. So why, exactly, should the Patriots face "severe" punishment if found guilty of a lesser crime than the Falcons, who didn't face a "severe" penalty themselves? Of course this article makes no mention of the Falcons.

Then when he gets into how BB should be suspended for a year "because he's the coach", that's where I really take issue.

I keep finding myself waiting for the next Friday(usually I don't care because I work weekends), somehow people here have convinced me that Friday will be the day the report comes out. Two more days, yippee!!!

Calhoun44 said:

I keep finding myself waiting for the next Friday(usually I don't care because I work weekends), somehow people here have convinced me that Friday will be the day the report comes out. Two more days, yippee!!!

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The thought that the findings will be released on a Friday may/may not be true. It stems from the thought that the NFL will attempt to slip it under the radar of the media. In this case, that is 100 percent impossible, no matter what the findings are.

The idea of "burying" the story on a slow news day just doesn't apply in this instance--at least that's my opinion.

Well this is Final Four weekend.

rlcarr said:

It's way back near the beginning of this thread. He thinks Goodell will take the "it doesn't matter why" approach and will fine NE if any balls were under pressure because they were out of spec and so violated the rule. In other words (mine) he thinks Goodell will essentially be fining Ne for an equipment violation.

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Thanks. Do you have a quote or link from Reiss?

supafly said:

The thought that the findings will be released on a Friday may/may not be true. It stems from the thought that the NFL will attempt to slip it under the radar of the media. In this case, that is 100 percent impossible, no matter what the findings are.

The idea of "burying" the story on a slow news day just doesn't apply in this instance--at least that's my opinion.

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The media, other NFL teams and fans across the country are eagerly awaiting this while enjoying spasms within their aroused genitalia. The results could be announced in Latin in a Himalayan cave at midnight and still be featured as everyone's lead story in 1.067 seconds.

VectorPrime said:

Yeah, if we were guilty of deflating the footballs (like there was video of a ball boy on the sidelines letting air out of the balls) then that would be really bad. That would be outright cheating and I wouldn't be able to rightly defend our team. That's what I was really worried about for the first few days after the game when the Mort report came out. But since then it is beyond clear that nothing of the sort happened. Since that BS report came out and all the rumors were flying around literally all of the evidence, both scientific and circumstantial, point toward us not only being innocent but the victims of an aborted scheme by Mike Kensil to wreck out reputation.

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Agreed.
Intentionally deflating the footballs is absolutely blatant cheating. That is completely different than just finding out that certain footballs were low. I just don't think it's Bill's M.O. to do or approve something like that. We all know he always looks for the proverbial edge (and he's gotten burned doing that as we all know) but I cannot see him cheat just for the sake of cheating. Unlike with Spygate this time there is no rule he can point to justify sticking a needle in a bunch of footballs after they were inspected so I really can't see him doing anything like that. That isn't his thing and never was. He always has something to back up whatever he does.

If the absolute worst case scenario comes out I would be beyond shocked.... with that said I expect the meat of the Wells report to document what you said at the end of your post.

I don't know about anybody else but I can't wait to see the Wells report. Going to be one of the most fascinating reads about sports in a long time - much more than baseball's Mitchell report I think.

flasox27 said:

Secondly, to the best of my knowledge the rule says that the pressure must be maintained at a certain level, In this scenario which I think Goodell will use "The number two man in the league office, Kensil verified that one or more balls was below the level. Ipso Facto, the rule was violated and punishment is warranted. How the pressure went down does not need to be determined."

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The Patriots responsibility is to submit the balls to the officials before the game within the acceptable range and have extra balls available should either team need them. It is not their responsibility to maintain the air pressure in a football throughout the game, that's the refs job to monitor the balls and replace any that fall below spec

The fact that the balls fell below spec isn't the rule in play here, what is being investigated is whether or not the Patriots Tampered with the balls to get them below spec. If they tampered then the fine would be "up to, but not limited to, a $25,000 fine", but if there is no evidence of them tampering and the balls just went below spec during the course of the game, no rule was violated and therefore no punishment can be levied

I'm not a lawyer, I just play one on the Internet

JarOfMayo51 said:

The Patriots responsibility is to submit the balls to the officials before the game within the acceptable range and have extra balls available should either team need them. It is not their responsibility to maintain the air pressure in a football throughout the game, that's the refs job to monitor the balls and replace any that fall below spec

The fact that the balls fell below spec isn't the rule in play here, what is being investigated is whether or not the Patriots Tampered with the balls to get them below spec. If they tampered then the fine would be "up to, but not limited to, a $25,000 fine", but if there is no evidence of them tampering and the balls just went below spec during the course of the game, no rule was violated and therefore no punishment can be levied

I'm not a lawyer, I just play one on the Internet

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Right on the money. If, as suggested, Goodell fines the Patriots for an " equipment violation" it would be the first time in NFL history that any team or player was sanctioned for a violation they had absolutely no control over as they are not allowed to test or modify and game balls one they have been approved by the game referee. Every other sanction for equipment violations were for violations the team or player had control over.

rochrist said:

Holy crap, 90 million dollars for seven executives??

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Amurica!

JarOfMayo51 said:

The fact that the balls fell below spec isn't the rule in play here

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I disagree. The NFL statement of Jan 23rd (when they announced the appointment of Wells) makes it pretty clear that the NFL considers Rule 2 Section 1 (which defines the specifications of the ball) as applying throughout the game. @BradyManny, while agreeing with that as far as it goes, believes that's a holdover from the (posited) original, Kensil-led investigation and that with weather in play the NFL might back off that interpretation.

We'll see! I hope he's right.

FWIW, Grey Doyel also expects a small fine for the pats, but greg doyel is also an idiot.

http://itiswhatitis.weei.com/sports...-small-penalty-for-patriots-with-deflategate/

Hmm good take by that Indy writer. In other news I have an ex-Pravada writer with an op-ed about Stalin that I'd like people to see.