Thanks. So they have until May 21st. That's the date I was looking for.
Just MY opinion but based on the Well's Report and Vincent's letter handing down punishment I feel the Patriots have a case to
overturn the penalties levied based on
abuse of discretion. There are two things that stand out to me: 1. Troy Vincent specifically uses Spygate as a basis for the heavy punishment. 2. The Wells report concluded that the Patriots coaches, management, and staff had no knowledge of any wrongdoing whatsoever.
1. For example Vincent specifically refers to Spygate as the reason the NFL punishes the Pats franchise heavily in this instance. In this country you cannot punish a person or entity, in this case the Patriots franchise, for past wrong-doings only current wrong-doings. As a matter of fact the Pats already paid a heavy price that included a 1st round pick for Spygate.
"Here, there are several factors that merit strong consideration in assessing discipline. The first is the club's prior record. In 2007 the club and several individuals were sanctioned for videotaping signals of opposing defensive coaches in violation of the Constitution and Bylaws. Under the Integrity of the Game Policy, this prior violation of competitive rules was properly considered in determining the discipline in this case." -
Troy Vincent, Letter to Patriots
To punish the Pats twice, or to use Spygate as consideration for the current punishment, when the team is innocent of wrong-doing or knowledge of wrong-doing would be an abuse of discretion of the power of the NFL commissioner's office. Not to mention it is already weird that Goodell delegated the actual handing down of punishment to Vincent instead of doing the dirty work directly himself.
2. The NFL punishes the Patriots even though the Wells reports concluded that the Patriots management and BB were unaware of ANY wrong-doing related to the deflation of footballs. It makes very little sense to punish the franchise for behavior that was not directed by them and for which they had no knowledge.
"We do not believe that the evidence establishes that any other Patriots personnel participated in or had knowledge of the violation of the Playing Rules or the deliberate effort to circumvent the rules described in this Report. In particular, we do not believe there was any wrongdoing or knowledge of wrongdoing by Patriots ownership, Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick or any other Patriots coach in the matters investigated. We also do not believe there was any wrongdoing or knowledge of wrongdoing by Patriots Head Equipment Manager Dave Schoenfeld." - Ted Wells,
Wells Report
In other words, the punishment flies in the face of known facts and conclusions. And if Brady's suspension is overturned. What basis is there for a punishment of the Patriots when they were cleared of any "knowledge of wrongdoing" by the very report the NFL spent millions of dollars to have printed? Welcome to
Hypocrisy, aka the NFL commissioner's office. I do not expect this punishment to hold up if reviewed by a competent independent party.
The punishment does not fit the conclusion.
Did the Detroit Lions get fined and lose draft picks when Suh hits an offensive lineman in the nuts? Yet the Patriots get fined and lose draft picks because according to Wells, 'more probably than not', Tom Brady "had general awareness" of ball deflation. The NFL has gone MAD with power.
