Giardi: Sources near Pats fear 6-8 game suspension

Chiuba E. Obele said:

What a sad sad day to see a good man dragged through the mud...Tom Brady does not deserve this at all!

Click to expand...

Especially if it's simply due to him not wanting to rat on the other 2 = ball attendant/equip mngr.

supafly said:

How long did that take, JMC? I'm not being a smartass, but when you take into consideration the fact that they have to get through both an independent appeals process first, then arbitration....THEN the long process (recently 4+ months for Peterson) to even get the court date + 2nd arbitration date, how does this prove to be beneficial?

Maybe the Saints scandal didn't take as long? Do you know the timeframe, by chance?

Click to expand...

Agreed the wheels of justice move slow. However, doesn't Brady only need the much more easily attained TRO (otr whatever the term) of the punishment?
If a judge looks at the case and feels there is a tangible chance at Brady's team being victorious, aren't most judges disposed to issuing TRO's of punishment pending the outcome of the official proceeding?

If TFB sits for any length of time, especially 6-8 games, I'm done with the NFL.

It's not an idle threat. Due to being in the Army (and surprisingly busy as hell), I'm going to have to make an effort to watch the NFL, so I'll just not put in the effort. If the NFL is just going to **** with the Patriots and our legendary QB, then **** those guys...

I hope I'm not alone...

Nikolai said:

If TFB sits for any length of time, especially 6-8 games, I'm done with the NFL.

It's not an idle threat. Due to being in the Army (and surprisingly busy as hell), I'm going to have to make an effort to watch the NFL, so I'll just not put in the effort. If the NFL is just going to **** with the Patriots and our legendary QB, then **** those guys...

I hope I'm not alone...

Click to expand...

Right now goodell is in such bad shape with his other dealings he wont mind pats fans leaving. A lot of people outside of NE want at least 8 games. The hate for the team and brady is amazing. I just read some comments on PFT , people are really nasty.
Unfortunately even if brady wins the court battle, the damage to the reputation and brand is done

Nikolai said:

I hope I'm not alone...

Click to expand...

You aren't alone there!

Already unsubscribed to NFL Gamepass (as have a few more Patriots fans).

In regards to the text message back in May 2014 where JM refers to himself as the "deflator".

What's the deal with that? Context? It does look kinda bad on the Pats'/Brady's part.

TBR said:

In regards to the text message back in May 2014 where JM refers to himself as the "deflator".

What's the deal with that? Context? It does look kinda bad on the Pats'/Brady's part.

Click to expand...

it does, but that could mean several things. for example, mcnally might have the job of deflating overly pumped footballs but it could be he does it in practice or prior to the game before handing them over to the officials. it doesn't neccesarily mean he does it after the refs inspect them.

TBR said:

In regards to the text message back in May 2014 where JM refers to himself as the "deflator".

What's the deal with that? Context? It does look kinda bad on the
Pats'/Brady's part.

Click to expand...

Given the subsequent texts in October 2014 after a home game against the Jets where the balls were measured at 16, and that fact was never challenged in the Wells report, it's easy to see that the idea of a longstanding conspiracy prior to that date is hogwash, and thus that text is completely irrelevant and can be explained in a logical sense as in the prior response.

TBR said:

In regards to the text message back in May 2014 where JM refers to himself as the "deflator".

What's the deal with that? Context? It does look kinda bad on the Pats'/Brady's part.

Click to expand...

I'm taking it to mean that one of the jobs of JM was to get the balls as low as possible--due to 95% of the NFL QBs (aside from Rodgers) preferring them that way. In other words, this term could actually be fairly innocent and simply taken out of context.

TheBostonStraggler said:

Agreed the wheels of justice move slow. However, doesn't Brady only need the much more easily attained TRO (otr whatever the term) of the punishment?
If a judge looks at the case and feels there is a tangible chance at Brady's team being victorious, aren't most judges disposed to issuing TRO's of punishment pending the outcome of the official proceeding?

Click to expand...

You're referring to a Temporary Restraining Order, I believe.

With the union agreeing to the CBA, I'm thinking that the first 2 steps of the NFL's process need to be met first, but I may be wrong in that assumption. I actually started a thread about it and haven't seen any responses from tagged posters such as Miguel, Deus Irae, or ctpatsfan77. I'm wondering if the thread was moved, or merged? I haven't had the opportunity to check in today, so I'll have to try and track it down.

I believe that the appeals process and arbitration need to be met prior to any federal intervention, aside from a defamation lawsuit like Jonathan Vilma initiated. Although it didn't get very far, it did help to reduce his suspension. Again....I'm unsure of the timeframe, though.

EDIT: (here is the timeframe for Vilma, for what it's worth):

May 2012--suspended for entire 2012 season, goes through the CBA/NFL process and finally has his case heard in federal court during training camp/late summer

Sept. 2012--case is overturned by the 2nd arbitration process, forced through federal court

Oct. 2012--Goodell is disappointed in the arbitrator's ruling, and RE-SUSPENDS him http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8...ita-anthony-hargrove-overturned-appeals-panel

Dec. 2012--Tagliabue reviews the re-suspension and overturns it on 12/11/12

Jan. 2013--Vilma's defamation of character suit vs. Roger Goodell is dismissed

----------------

Long story short, Vilma somehow plays in 11 games, and Goodell is quite pissed.

Having a text referring to a guy as the "Deflator" seems almost unreal. Most likely, though, when Brady does what he does to the balls they are somewhat higher than 12.5 and "the Deflator" is simply getting the balls down to 12.5. It's clearly a name that is unfortunate given the circumstance.

To me, that is mitigated by two texts, one of Brady texting "You didn‟t do anything wrong bud." to Jastremski and also with the over inflated balls around 16, Jastremski texting "I just measured some of the balls. They supposed to be 13 lbs... They were like 16. Felt like bricks".

The bolded is really difficult for the witchhunt to explain, mid way through this season the Patriots equipment guy saying the balls were supposed to be 13 while the witch hunt claims this is a long running thing.

BelichickFan said:

Having a text referring to a guy as the "Deflator" seems almost unreal. Most likely, though, when Brady does what he does to the balls they are somewhat higher than 12.5 and "the Deflator" is simply getting the balls down to 12.5. It's clearly a name that is unfortunate given the circumstance.

To me, that is mitigated by two texts, one of Brady texting "You didn‟t do anything wrong bud." to Jastremski and also with the over inflated balls around 16, Jastremski texting "I just measured some of the balls. They supposed to be 13 lbs... They were like 16. Felt like bricks".

The bolded is really difficult for the witchhunt to explain, mid way through this season the Patriots equipment guy saying the balls were supposed to be 13 while the witch hunt claims this is a long running thing.

Click to expand...

Two very good points, Belichick Fan.

The fact that Brady assures him that the equipment guy/ball boy doesn't do anything wrong, somehow goes unnoticed by the majority of fans out there.

The whole exchange showing that they are supposed to be '13' is also another head scratcher.

supafly said:

You're referring to a Temporary Restraining Order, I believe.

With the union agreeing to the CBA, I'm thinking that the first 2 steps of the NFL's process need to be met first, but I may be wrong in that assumption. I actually started a thread about it and haven't seen any responses from tagged posters such as Miguel, Deus Irae, or ctpatsfan77. I'm wondering if the thread was moved, or merged? I haven't had the opportunity to check in today, so I'll have to try and track it down.

I believe that the appeals process and arbitration need to be met prior to any federal intervention, aside from a defamation lawsuit like Jonathan Vilma initiated. Although it didn't get very far, it did help to reduce his suspension. Again....I'm unsure of the timeframe, though.

EDIT: (here is the timeframe for Vilma, for what it's worth):

May 2012--suspended for entire 2012 season, goes through the CBA/NFL process and finally has his case heard in federal court during training camp/late summer

Sept. 2012--case is overturned by the 2nd arbitration process, forced through federal court

Oct. 2012--Goodell is disappointed in the arbitrator's ruling, and RE-SUSPENDS him http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8...ita-anthony-hargrove-overturned-appeals-panel

Dec. 2012--Tagliabue reviews the re-suspension and overturns it on 12/11/12

Jan. 2013--Vilma's defamation of character suit vs. Roger Goodell is dismissed

----------------

Long story short, Vilma somehow plays in 11 games, and Goodell is quite pissed.

Click to expand...

Excellent post Sup. That really drives home the potential difficulty in fighting the NFL exec office decisions in a 'timely' way.

Since the NFL has decided Brady is "guilty" what punishment they hand out I assume will then be battled very very similar to the way the Vilma case was in procedure and chronology.
But, IMHO, there's another fight that Vilma didn't fight, one that is more important IMHO, one that may supersede the other fight (supersedes it because of how the NFL exec office functions). Is Brady guilty of anything up to and including simple bad form? Provide a simplistic but difficult to refute report of their own that makes enough of the media and masses say 'wtf with the Wells' report'. Get the media/masses eye to turn negatively to the NFL exec office and it will significantly raise the possibility of them 'reexamining the evidence and found there to be a need for further consideration on the matter'.

supafly said:

The fact that Brady assures him that the equipment guy/ball boy doesn't do anything wrong, somehow goes unnoticed by the majority of fans out there.

Click to expand...

I'm no lawyer but given that there's no evidence - zero - against Brady and the accusation if frame of mind - if it happened the star QB had to know - then Brady texting "You didn't do anything wrong" has to be a huge mitigating factor that would be tough to overcome.

ESPN's Mike Reiss suggests the Patriots could add a quarterback if Tom Brady faces a lengthy suspension.

Behind Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo, practice squad player Garrett Gilbert is the only other quarterback on New England's roster. Former Packers backup Matt Flynn is available and the Eagles have a surplus of signal callers behind starter Sam Bradford. Brady is likely looking at a multi-game suspension for his involvement in the DeflateGate scandal.