I agree Mort isn't the "evil" in this controversy. but, he's not innocent either (by not publicly coming forward and saying in light of the Wells report he can't stand by his sources and the tweet).
As for the rest. I was listening to local sports radio and they were talking to people and the "Brady is a cheater" mantra is still in full swing and probably will continue until the end of time. Unless, we can get access to internal NFL office documents or someone breaks rank.
I have yet to find someone, friends, who believe Brady to be guilty that done any research on their own. They just believe whatever is being repeatedly told by the media and are comfortable believing the information. Even my wife questions my judgment, and I agree that I have been far to invested in ths and I have a bias. But, I've done enough research, while attempting have a neutral perspective that I just don't see how people can see the NFL as right.
I don't doubt your observations, relo, but here's what I have found. It is true that too many people have relied solely on the mass media for their information, so I'm not surprised many still hold to the NLF line.
BUT there are 2 positive notes I can state. First is that if you take most through a step by step process, they WILL come around when they are made aware of the FACTS. Secondly, as we have seen here, every day the "mass media" is being exposed to those facts and they are spreading them to the public. More and more, voices like Stephen A and Felger are sounding increasingly discordant.
I would suggest you start this way in taking someone through the process of changing his mind. I do this by asking questions.
A. Do you believe Brady tampered with the balls and had them deflated?
They are going to say, yes. Then I ask, WHY? Then most of the time they refer to the Exponent report, or Mort's report, or cell phone destruction, etc. At THAT point I take them through the facts step by step. I point out that the Exponent report concludes they have NO conclusive evidence that the balls purposely were deflated. That even with the experiments they used. Experiments that have be found unscientific by many legitimate labs, Exponent found that the MOST deflated ball they tested was only ONE QUARTER of a pound under what would be expected. THAT was the best they could do for a Lab that historically been known to give their clients the results they want, and true science be damned.
At this point every person I've taken down that road will, at worst begin to question whether anything happened in the first place. Then I ask, IF nothing took place, why then should Brady be suspended. The best answer I get back (and I don't hear it often) is "then why did Kraft accept the penalty.
I quickly change the subject, and ask this question. Do you know the penalty for tampering with game balls? They always say no (of course they do, what fan would know something like that. ) Then I tell them that that the last time the league caught someone tampering with a ball was the Jets. The team was fined less than $10K and that was that. The player who ordered the tampering wasn't fined OR suspended, nor was the team. It's in the league policies that dictates that THAT is the punishment for ball tampering.
Then I ask, why then was Brady suspended 4 games, costing him millions and the Team fined and lost key draft picks. Doesn't that sound arbitrary and vindictive, even if you thought Brady was guilty???
By this time I have opened their mind and they will listen and absorb ALL the rest of any argument I can make. At any rate this is what I have used when I get into an argument with a fan of another team. But I warn you, one of the problems with defending Brady is that the amount of evidence in his favor is SO mountainous that you can get lost in trying to get it all out and overwhelm the person and get them defensive and they will close their minds. If you concentrate on just one issue and get them to agree with THAT point, then the rest is easier.
