There's so much "bootstrapping" in the way this turned into 1M, 1st/4th/, 4-game suspension that it's sickening even by normal NFL standards, and they don't have any.
The NFL:
1) Admitted they had no proof, the Pats organization (BB, Kraft, all the other players) had no part in this, and that the 2 equipment staffers can't be proven to have done it. In terms of TFB they "ruled" that he "more probably than not was generally aware"... if it happened at all.
2) Proceeded to say that if the team didn't know about it they should have... (er, if it happened at all.)
3) cited another case full of holes (and now missing evidence) to make the "punishment phase" apply to both cases... despite the steep price paid in the previous case, relative to similar documented cases that were never even pursued;
4) Over-punished, and cited (3) the previous case as a basis for the over-punishment.
And by the way in the process of making its "case," the NFL acknowledged that (1) they didn't believe their own ref, and (2) the texts they rest so much of their case on, point to at least one NFL official as having inflated a ball to 16 PSI, for whatever reason.
They have previously admitted that their refs have gotten calls wrong that gave away whole games - outcomes much more toxic to the competitive balance than the supposed infraction -- which, once again, they failed to prove after more than 100 days and $5 million.
To sum up, you have a league that has much more evidence against its own officials than against the Pats' equipment guys, claiming that the equipment guys are guilty even though they can't prove it. Without evidence, they make Tom Brady "at least generally aware" of the equipment guys' actions. With explicit statements that the team was not aware, they generalize guilt to the team itself, and they punish the team based not on the facts - because they have none - but on a general feeling that since something happened in 2007, the Pats are all big fat cheaters.
Now then: What would prevent the nefarious act of making a ball too squishy? Simple measures that could have been put into place wayyyyyy before this farce.
You can have the league control the balls and gauges, if PSI truly is so damned important. Alternately, you could make the PSI of the ball up to the given QB - if Rodgers plays better with the 16.0 balls the refs gave Brady, fine, that's what they use in GB. If Brady plays better with 12.0 balls, fine, give him those.
When we were playing as kids (see above) we might have a flat ball and if someone had a bike pump, we pumped them back up, and if we didn't, we'd deal. Just as long as we could play football. If someone had an NFL-reg ball we'd use it. If someone had some kind of smaller ball we'd use that. Fugg it, if all we had around was a nerf ball we'd use that. It would suck but we'd use it.
We'd still say someone won or lost every game.
So the stakes are higher, groesse gedillah. If the stakes are so freaking high, NFL, do your due diligence. If we absolutely must have balls within a 1.0 range, you better have standard gauges distributed every week, and they better be right, and the refs better use them when re-inflating a ball they don't think is right... not pump it up to 16.0.
Just a bunch of crap I've said before. Summing up:
- No evidence against Pats
- Tons of evidence against refs
- No investigation of refs
- Investigation of Pats
- Outcome: Pats lose a first rounder, a fourth rounder, a million bucks (40 times the penalty named in the rules,) and a 4 game suspension.
The very fact that the rules name $25,000 as a fine amount suggests the level of infraction the league treats this as... if it's not the Pats.
Angry angry angry. Okay, done.
