Interesting Tidbit from Albert Breer about the Wells' Investigation Today (4/10)

From his segment on Toucher and Rich today:

“We all know people in that business and things don’t move fast. I still think the key here is going to be how the Colts got the information in the first place that prompted Colts General Manager Ryan Grigson to go to the league during the week of the game, and how the league handled it during the week of the game,” said Breer. “I’m sure those are a couple of things they’re looking into. I don’t think this thing should take very long. I’m with everybody else, but again, I know the way lawyers work and generally it’s not very swiftly.

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http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/04/10/breer-deflategate-decision-coming-soon/

I am no fan of Breer and he goes overboard not to be a Patriots homer in any way, but he is plugged into the league pretty well. Maybe I am reading into it too much, but I am guessing he is kinda confirming the fact that the Wells' report may have turned away from exclusively the Patriots and onto the NFL and Colts.

Rob0729 said:

From his segment on Toucher and Rich today:



http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/04/10/breer-deflategate-decision-coming-soon/

I am no fan of Breer and he goes overboard not to be a Patriots homer in any way, but he is plugged into the league pretty well. Maybe I am reading into it too much, but I am guessing he is kinda confirming the fact that the Wells' report may have turned away from exclusively the Patriots and onto the NFL and Colts.

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Or more likely he knows no more than we do and is speculating.
I think that Wells is doing the investigation independently and not giving blow by blow updates to the NFL. That is the standard with these types of things.
So whether Breer is 'plugged into' the league or not, there is nothing for him to hear from his sources.

For it to take this long the investigation has to have switched away from the Patriots and toward the league. Nothing else makes sense.

Also hasn't the league publicly denied that Grigson told them about any suspicions before the game? Someone's lying and I bet it's Grigson trying to cover his ass. Or he just told Kensil and defined him as "the league" when in reality he had no authority to do anything on his own and thus kept it from the rest of the NFL.

AndyJohnson said:

Or more likely he knows no more than we do and is speculating.
I think that Wells is doing the investigation independently and not giving blow by blow updates to the NFL. That is the standard with these types of things.
So whether Breer is 'plugged into' the league or not, there is nothing for him to hear from his sources.

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I think the league is getting more from the Wells' investigation than you think. I am guessing that employee who was fired for stealing balls was done so because of the Wells report and Kensil leaked his own spin on the report because of it.

VectorPrime said:

For it to take this long the investigation has to have switched away from the Patriots and toward the league. Nothing else makes sense.

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Yeah, either they have the Pats red handed and are looking for more times they did this or they have turned their attention away from the Patriots and looking at the entire process of what led up to this.

Rob0729 said:

I think the league is getting more from the Wells' investigation than you think. I am guessing that employee who was fired for stealing balls was done so because of the Wells report and Kensil leaked his own spin on the report because of it.

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Well if we can just make things up, we could argue forever.
Why would Breer know what is happening with the investigation and instead of scooping the story, just pretend its an opinion?
He stated his guess at whats going on. If he knew what was going on, he'd say so.

This board commonly inserts things between the lines when all you have to do is listen to what he says and know its just his opinion.

Even if Wells is functioning fully independently, the League can follow the breadcrumbs. Looking at who was interviewed and what questions were asked, and what records were looked at, can give them a sense of what Wells is doing.

Ross12 said:

Even if Wells is functioning fully independently, the League can follow the breadcrumbs. Looking at who was interviewed and what questions were asked, and what records were looked at, can give them a sense of what Wells is doing.

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Breer's guess is a little better than ours for that reason. He probably knows a few scattered tidbits about who was asked which questions at what time.

Ross12 said:

Even if Wells is functioning fully independently, the League can follow the breadcrumbs. Looking at who was interviewed and what questions were asked, and what records were looked at, can give them a sense of what Wells is doing.

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Maybe, but I don't understand how that turns Breer giving his opinion about what happened into to some kind of clue based on secret information.
Doesn't really matter, just a pet peeve of mine, how people try to make something into more than it is to further their point. I just think if Albert Breer was hearing this from a source in the league, he would say so, rather than secretively disguise it as an opinion.

AndyJohnson said:

Well if we can just make things up, we could argue forever.
Why would Breer know what is happening with the investigation and instead of scooping the story, just pretend its an opinion?
He stated his guess at whats going on. If he knew what was going on, he'd say so.

This board commonly inserts things between the lines when all you have to do is listen to what he says and know its just his opinion.

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You really think Wells is working 100% in a vacuum with nothing being reported to the league?

If he has determined that there are issues with the process with how the league and Colts handled this process and spent the last month or two interviewing a bunch league and Colt personnel about what they knew before, who told them things, what they did about the information and how they used this information; you think no one would catch on that the investigation is moving towards the League and the Colts.

If the Wells' investigation has turned to how the league and Colts handled themselves leading up to and during the game, there are a lot of people in the NFL and the media who know this. How could they not?

OK. I just looked at the article, and it has a really stupid point in it. The draft isn't a deadline for anything, because any penalty can be in terms of 2016 picks. Indeed, the league seems to have already made the decision that penalties handed down this offseason won't be for 2015 picks.

(By the way, that means a tampering penalty on the Jets is very unlikely to involve a pick swap with the Pats. If you think the league would basically like to award a pick swap, then you should think they'll order a pick transfer instead.)

AndyJohnson said:

Maybe, but I don't understand how that turns Breer giving his opinion about what happened into to some kind of clue based on secret information.
Doesn't really matter, just a pet peeve of mine, how people try to make something into more than it is to further their point. I just think if Albert Breer was hearing this from a source in the league, he would say so, rather than secretively disguise it as an opinion.

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I frequently state things as opinions that my readers know have to be supported by some kind of sourcing. It can be a perfectly reasonable way to phrase things.

Rob0729 said:

You really think Wells is working 100% in a vacuum with nothing being reported to the league?

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That is what is supposed to happen. Why would it be shocking that he is actually doing an independent investigation independently?

If he has determined that there are issues with the process with how the league and Colts handled this process and spent the last month or two interviewing a bunch league and Colt personnel about what they knew before, who told them things, what they did about the information and how they used this information; you think no one would catch on that the investigation is moving towards the League and the Colts.

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So you think the first you would hear of that is Albert Breer giving it as his opinion of why it is taking so long?
You think Breer would take that inside scoop and just mention it in passing in a radio interview?

If the Wells' investigation has turned to how the league and Colts handled themselves leading up to and during the game, there are a lot of people in the NFL and the media who know this. How could they not?

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Then why would we not?

Ross12 said:

Even if Wells is functioning fully independently, the League can follow the breadcrumbs. Looking at who was interviewed and what questions were asked, and what records were looked at, can give them a sense of what Wells is doing.

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Yeah, I mean if they (hypothetically) interview guys like Kensil, Grigson, Pagano, etc. extensively and haven't talked to a person from the Patriots in weeks; I guarantee you many people in the media know where the investigation is heading. They just can't report it because they have no source to make these claims.

Fencer said:

I frequently state things as opinions that my readers know have to be supported by some kind of sourcing. It can be a perfectly reasonable way to phrase things.

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Huh? That makes no sense to me.
Sources in the NFL tell Breer that there is going to be a big shocker when the Wells report comes out, because they found nothing on the Patriots and are focussing on what the Colts, and maybe Ravens did, and if the Patriots were done wrong.
Breer holds that back until he does an interview on the radio and gets asked why it is taking so long, and says I think they are checking into how the Colts suspected something?
Seems like a weird way for a professional attention-getter to handle his scoop.

Didn't the league just clean house with the officials......There are the Deflategate fall guys....

AndyJohnson said:

That is what is supposed to happen. Why would it be shocking that he is actually doing an independent investigation independently?


So you think the first you would hear of that is Albert Breer giving it as his opinion of why it is taking so long?
You think Breer would take that inside scoop and just mention it in passing in a radio interview?



Then why would we not?

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Breer cannot report this as a story. Who is the source? He can make an educated guess based on the information he has, but he needs a source to make firm statement that the investigation has turned unless he pulls a Tomase and makes up a source.

And Goodell has said he has spoken to Wells about the report. Wells still gives him updates. Just not details.

And when the investigation is into the NFL, you cannot do an investigation in a vacuum unless you choose to not interview anyone from the Patriots, the NFL, or the Colts. Once you start interviewing people, you tip your hand of where your investigation is going unless you are on a fishing expedition and throwing everything against the wall.

Breer also said this:

If you have to worry about the idea of this and the tampering issue between the Jets and Patriots, then you have to worry about losing a draft pick,” said Breer.

Do we take that to mean he has inside info the Jets are going to win their tampering charge against the Patriots and the Patriots are going to lose a pick?

No from the deflategate I'm sure

Rob0729 said:

Breer cannot report this as a story. Who is the source?

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Exactly. Thats why its silly for you to say he has inside information because he is 'plugged in'.

He can make an educated guess based on the information he has, but he needs a source to make firm statement that the investigation has turned unless he pulls a Tomase and makes up a source.

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No he doesn't. He can say "According to league sources the delay may be based upon Wells looking at how the Colts and the league handled the week leading up to the game". That is perfectly acceptable if he really had that info.
Instead, he said I know lawyers take forever, and I guess they are looking at that too.

And Goodell has said he has spoken to Wells about the report. Wells still gives him updates. Just not details.

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I don't think that is true.

And when the investigation is into the NFL, you cannot do an investigation in a vacuum unless you choose to not interview anyone from the Patriots, the NFL, or the Colts. Once you start interviewing people, you tip your hand of where your investigation is going unless you are on a fishing expedition and throwing everything against the wall.

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What does any of that have to do with Albert Breers opinion being touted as inside information? Again, what does he gain by saying "I think" instead of actually reporting it a story, you know, like doing his job.