Brady has hired Jeffrey Kessler as per Schefter

supafly said:

We can use the term "scorched earth" as much as possible over the next 4+ months, but Ted Wells (and other NFL execs) managed to paint the outline of a fairly serious rules infraction involving Brady and the team---even if they are wrong and didn't perform a fair investigation. Those questions aren't going away, they'll only add to an unfortunate situation that makes more people look badly. Unless McNally comes forward as the main fall guy, which is something I've actually wondered about, Brady will always have this controversy surrounding him. It's horrible. He may find some comfort in damage control, but never full exoneration.

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I'm going to respectfully disagree and say the dark cloud will dissipate if the Wells report is deemed inconclusive and Brady's suspension removed, if that's the case what sense would a 25k fine make?

The people who call Tom/Patriots cheaters today were the same people who called them cheaters months before the super bowl. The opinion of ignorant people can never be changed and it shouldn't be valued. You will hear some media/analysts say they think Brady did it and got away with it, but they will only be hurting their own reputation and credibility. Brady can still come out squeaky clean in my opinion. Brady being a cheater is an argument from incredulity, someone cannot imagine Brady being so good, so it must not be true. ie. I cannot imagine the big bang, so that must not be true. It's a logic fallacy and your average NFL fan is not very logical.

Where the hell is McNally in all of this? His poor choice in wording is basically the root of all of this, aside from the decision of the Colts to whine.

One would think that McNally would clarify to someone what really happened, particularly with a nice shove from the organization since their star player is now under fire.

ChoWZa said:

Brady can still come out squeaky clean in my opinion. Brady being a cheater is an argument from incredulity, someone cannot imagine Brady being so good, so it must not be true.

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I hope you're correct. For what it's worth, I believe that your statement holds water and should be the general consensus. Then again, I never underestimate the ignorance of the American public.

supafly said:

You may be right about that, but unless someone else like McNally steps up and takes full responsibility without any knowledge of Brady, he can never really be truly exonerated.

The NFL and Wells outlined a sinister attempt at tarnishing his image, and no matter what happens with his penalty, they've succeeded on some level. A reduction in his suspension will help, but the media and opposition will continue to focus on the lost draft picks, and the controversy, just the same way they did with N.Orleans--even though Vilma had his stuff overturned.

It's ********.

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I sort of disagree with you, supafly.
I really can't see people making a big deal out of this stupidity in twenty years when it's set against 4 Superbowl championships and all of Brady's numerous other accomplishments.

All this really did, penalties aside, is give low IQ idiots something to troll with in youtube comments.

In the grand scheme of things, I don't think it really matters. If anything, I can see people telling stories a generation from now about how Tom was so good, that he became so hated, that people made **** up about him and ex-rival GM's etc tried to go after him off the field.

This is in-the-moment hysterics and a feeding frenzy for degenerate low lives that won't last that long.

Everyone said Crygate would tarnish his legacy and a few years later it was little more than troll fodder on internet message boards for fan bases to bring up after the Pats put 45 on them.

TheBostonStraggler said:

I see the logic but I think that time is past. Any backtrack by the NFL exec office would probably cause marked backlash for them. They stood up on their righteous pedestal and said this is about integrity! It is all about integrity of the game! No star, no team is above the integrity of the game!
Wouldn't the integrity be up for sale if they backtrack on punishment for the sake of making everything easy?

The NFL had the opportunity to make this relatively simple (even after making it more than it needed to be in the first place). I bet Kraft would have accepted it, I bet even Brady relatively quietly accepts it: Maybe a 500,000 dollar fine to the team, 500,000 fine on Brady, a mid round draft pick, maybe one game suspension (down the road Brady gets it overturned thru a non PR based arbitration claim). I think that is small enough that the Patriots and Brady swallow it for the sake of easiness. And
I don't believe that kind of punishment would have been viewed as taking it easy on the Patriots -- which is why it is baffling the NFL execs went this road that would result in them becoming involved heavily in the legal process.

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I have doubts Brady would have accepted a $50 fine, let alone $500,000.

supafly said:

I hope you're correct. For what it's worth, I believe that your statement holds water and should be the general consensus. Then again, I never underestimate the ignorance of the American public.

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Also keep in mind, some high % (I'd confidently say most) of the "public opinion" would be the first people to buy Brady jerseys if Brady were starting for their team next year.

ChoWZa said:

I'm going to respectfully disagree and say the dark cloud will dissipate if the Wells report is deemed inconclusive and Brady's suspension removed, if that's the case what sense would a 25k fine make?

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A 25k fine would have been much better than losing two high/mid round draft picks and being fined 1,000,000 dollars as repeat offenders.

No one would have given a damn about a 25k fine, just like we saw in Cleveland (or even the NYJ) with their small fine. This is something much different.

ctpatsfan77 said:

I have doubts Brady would have accepted a $50 fine, let alone $500,000.

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I think as an organization, they'd have happily accepted a small fine, much like the Jets or Browns did. I don't believe that would've changed the public's perception, particularly when everything came out and then seemed to calm when they won the SB.

It was the manner in which the NFL handed this case from the beginning, which eventually ended in their choice to single Brady out AND go after the organization yet again. Ultimately, I agree with you though. If it were a personal fine on Brady, he may not have been alright with anything.

supafly said:

Where the hell is McNally in all of this? His poor choice in wording is basically the root of all of this, aside from the decision of the Colts to whine.

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McNally?...oh..you won't being seeing him no more....leave the pins...take the footballs........

Joker said:

McNally?...oh..you won't being seeing him no more....leave the pins...take the footballs........

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I agree with you Joker, unless---he can actually help the cause. Rather than shoot him in the head (metaphorically speaking, of course), why not give him a few bucks to stand up and tell the truth?

After all, he very well may have may the decision on his own based on his previous assumption that Brady wanted the balls as low as possible. If anything, he could possibly clear up some misconception that Brady "ordered" or knew about illegal activity. He may even help to clarify the situation where the balls reached 16+ PSI at home vs. the Jets. It's hard to believe that if we were cheating, we'd have suddenly decided not to vs. the biggest rival on national TV.

McNally could clear a lot of things up.

I never met a phor I liked anyway, Supa...yup, they call me Mr. Tact...or is that tack? A. T. Tack...Cranium Deflater specialist...U Flush 'Em,We Crush 'Em....call me now at Apache Wells, ask for Ted....

Not going to bother quoting any specific posts but as usual, I find myself agreeing 100% with my buddy Supafly, I don't even need to read who is posting to guess it's him. He's on point.

I am so goddamned pissed of at McNally. If it weren't for his idiotic inside jokes in his txt messages the league would have nothing on Brady. Yes you could argue that they would just use something else against him and you're probably right. But it wouldn't be as damning in the eyes of the general public as McNally calling himself the mother fu**ing deflater. Seriously, could that have looked any worse? The Deflater. Wells must have orgasmed in his pants the moment he read that text message because he knew that all his work was done. F**k you McNally for being such an unprofessional prick. Yes they were ****ing around. I don't care. You single handily destroyed the reputation of the most beloved sports figure in New England history. Congrats.

I like how haters excuse for the Pats over punishing is the Pats are repeat cheaters so the NFL needs to come down hard on us.

The Jets have tampered before and have been warned to stop doing it. The Jets tamper with Revis. Does the NFL come down hard on them because they are repeat cheaters? Nope. Slap on the wrist with a $100,000 fine.

VectorPrime said:

I am so goddamned pissed of at McNally. If it weren't for his idiotic inside jokes in his txt messages the league would have nothing on Brady. Yes you could argue that they would just use something else against him and you're probably right. But it wouldn't be as damning in the eyes of the general public as McNally calling himself the mother fu**ing deflater. Seriously, could that have looked any worse? The Deflater. Wells must have orgasmed in his pants the moment he read that text message because he knew that all his work was done. F**k you McNally for being such an unprofessional prick. Yes they were ****ing around. I don't care. You single handily destroyed the reputation of the most beloved sports figure in New England history. Congrats.

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How can you be pissed off at McNally? Like he could have known the NFL KGB would have arrived to confiscate his telephone and make mountains out of workplace banter?

Anyone guy who has worked a blue collar job with other guys has heard far worse than anything that was in those text messages.

FrodoBagginz said:

I like how haters excuse for the Pats over punishing is the Pats are repeat cheaters so the NFL needs to come down hard on us.

The Jets have tampered before and have been warned not to stop doing it. The Jets tamper with Revis. Does the NFL come down hard on them because they are repeat cheaters? Nope. Slap on the wrist with a $100,000 fine.

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This is why you just laugh at this point and tell them why they're a great example of a **** society.

supafly said:

There seem to be some people continuing to cling to so much blind hope that they somehow feel that this is going to implicate Roger Goodell in some fashion. The truth of the matter is that he was much more involved in some of the other examples, and the rest of the owners were completely fine with it. There may be a stronger push to include more power to the union during the next CBA bargaining session, but it's very unlikely that there's suddenly a mutiny with the other 31 owners, most of them who couldn't care less about the Patriots or their 2nd serious punishment, when they don't even have a first.

Nothing "good" is going to come out of this for anyone, aside from the possibility of seeing Brady's suspension reduced, and a strong argument against the validity (or more appropriately, the lack thereof) in the Wells report. If you're the kind of person who enjoys seeing others drown right along side you even if that means we all die, then you may find some comfort when holes are punched in the story, making everyone look bad in the process. I don't see many scenarios where everyone stands up and admits that we were right, while jumping out of their executive windows. If anything, the suspension/penalty may be reduced, and it may help to implement a 3rd party arbitration system for other cases down the line.

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While I am a bit more optimistic on what the Patriots can gain (greater doubt about Goodell/Wells among the public has its own reward to me) and the chance at Brady's suspension on paper being nearly erased, I largely agree with you. A magic bullet that makes this all better is almost completely unrealistic. The emperor will still be here and the Patriots will always be guilty in the eyes of the putrid but most important jury, goodell and the rest of the NFL Stasi. And making enemies with the NFL exec office is likely to have some, though probably only smallish, level of ripple effect on the team (just is what it is -- they control many things the Patriots have to interact within).

The other benefit not listed regards the NFL going nuclear on the Spygate thing. The Patriots took it without so much as a peep. IMHO it was that acquiescence that helped embolden the NFL exec office to go nuclear again. Gotta set the tone that you better be prepared for outright war if you are going to go nuclear a third time. When people think there will be a war to fought they almost always think twice about going nuclear (what's the old saying? Never strike a man in anger unless you are absolutely sure you can get away with it?).

Getting Brady's suspension all but erased and Goodell/Wells fairness and integrity being impugned by an a third party (an arbitrator, a judge, our own expert reports, any of them) for me will be very satisfying if it can happen (will it? at best maybe). I realize it will be an ugly process and I am not happy about it, however, what the NFL execs did from day 1 of this is appalling up to and including going nuclear on the Patriots and Patriot Nation. I say F 'em! It never ever had to be this but they wanted this way -- so let's give them the nuclear war they started. We are already as dirty as we can get! more dirt means nothing for us but every bit on them will have an effect (just desserts in my book!).

eom said:

who said kill all the lawyers???

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....then you probably are not a Shakespeare fan.

I think that Kessler is an excellent choice to assist in the defense of Brady.. but no matter what the outcome of this litigation, Brady has already been found guilty in the court of public opinion.. if you take of the Pats Myopic Glasses across the country there are a lot of people who want this team to fail.

IMO the damage has been done, and not sure it can be made much difference.. that is why Brady needs to sue Goodell/Wells for defamation..