Fencer
Pro Bowl Player
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
- Messages
- 14,293
- Reaction score
- 3,986
There's no plausible way Brady et al. are guilty of what the NFL and media are implying, by which I mean a well-organized and repeated scheme to lower ball pressure illegally with the assistance of Jastremski and/or McNally between the time the referees measured the football and the time they were put into play. Some key reasons are:
But even if they were all true, none of them would come close to justifying the severity of the punishments. And of course nothing at all could excuse the NFL's egregiously dishonest behavior throughout this mess.
- By the NFL's own evidence -- as recently as last October, Brady was yelling to have the PSI rules followed, not circumvented.
- The supposedly soft football at a regular season Colts game was at a ROAD GAME.
- McNally's bathroom trip at the AFCC was, according to the Wells Report, unprecedented.
- The measurements at the AFCC show that if there was any PSI-related attempt to cheat that night, it didn't work.
- McNally could have tried some stuff, with or without Jastremski's help or direction, in response to whatever he thinks Brady did or didn't say or do.
- Brady could have learned about whatever happened from Jastremski right after the AFCC, and covered it up.
- At home games only, McNally could have stuck in a needle when he was alone in the referee's locker room shortly before the game, with the AFCC bathroom trip being an attempt to do the same thing in a different venue.
- BB said that the Pats' ball prep inflated the pressure of balls before the game. One could say that this led to low pressure when the balls were actually used and that, although this didn't violate the letter of the rules, it violated the spirit. One could further hypothesize that Brady anticipated this consequence.
But even if they were all true, none of them would come close to justifying the severity of the punishments. And of course nothing at all could excuse the NFL's egregiously dishonest behavior throughout this mess.