Showtime 60 Minutes Sports: Criminal Law Professor Robert Blecker Attacks NFL on Deflategate

If what that professor said is true..."It wasn't done" "Nothing happened", Man I would sue. I am absolutely disgusted. They took $1 million dollars, a first round pick and a fourth round pick. They almost got away with suspending Brady for 4 games. They did all this and it all might have been for NOTHING. It all might have been done to perpetrate a lie.
Think about that for a second. They MORE LIKELY THAN NOT punished the team for NOTHING.
d%#*!@t these bastards should be sued.

The most compelling thing about this to me is that the guy is an expert and isn't a Pats fan. Everything he said has at some point been said in this forum, but when it is said here it is dismissed as homerism. Hopefully this will go national and be taken seriously.

Joker said:

nothing any of us didn't know almost from the start.

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I'd put it that I suspected it from the start, but only felt that I could "know" it when the Wells report came out and was shown to be the piece of biased trash that it was.

I suspect that the reason the NFL couldn't put Pash on the stand under oath is that it is highly likely that the original report did not contain the conclusions as stated in the released version; for example, I would bet more than a beer (usually my largest wager) that the whole "generally aware" conceit was added by Pash. Wells agreed to go along with that and other Pash "edits" because $5MM buys you a lot of "edits."

I also think that Wells is down on his knees praying that the Second Circuit doesn't overturn Judge Berman's ruling and send it back to the SDNY. As Florio pointed out, Berman put several "poison pills" on pages 39 and 40 of his (41 page) ruling by not "reaching" three of Brady's arguments, which are headlined by Brady's challenging the fundamental fairness of Goodell and the entire process. That would enable Kessler to seek discovery that would almost certainly include requiring Pash's testimony and the disclosure of all versions of the report (Goodell & Co. must have really pissed Judge Berman off for the Judge to do that, BTW!).

If Wells allowed Pash to alter his conclusions in a material way, he could end up in a lot of trouble, ranging from major PR trouble to possible disbarment, since, in the end, Wells presented his work and conclusions as "independent."

PlainOldEd said:

The most compelling thing about this to me is that the guy is an expert and isn't a Pats fan. Everything he said has at some point been said in this forum, but when it is said here it is dismissed as homerism. Hopefully this will go national and be taken seriously.

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He even said he hoped it was true initially.

The difference between him and the haters is that he is willing to change his mind as the evidence, or lack thereof, is brought into clear focus, for most of the haters, NOTHING will change their opinion.

PatsWickedPissah said:

Uh, OK.
So, what do you think the odds are that Bob Kraft does something, anything like this?

Bob is always there to bask in the team limelight and occasionally talks big, but he has yet to act in any substantive way whatsoever.

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Yes, he has much more pressing issues..Like promoting his new, overpriced sneaker line.

The Gr8est said:

He even said he hoped it was true initially.

The difference between him and the haters is that he is willing to change his mind as the evidence, or lack thereof, is brought into clear focus, for most of the haters, NOTHING will change their opinion.

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At this point I don't care about their opinions. All I care about is the TRUTH.

Why did Jonathan say they wouldn't ask for their picks back? After a report like this it should be a slam dunk that they would get them back. Actually the NFL should hand them back but there is zero chance of that, so the Kraft's should demand them back. What's wrong with our stupid ownership ?????

Fox Pregame guys are great right now. All bashing the NFL and its owners about this. A lot better than the NBC ********.

Foxypats said:

Why did Jonathan say they wouldn't ask for their picks back? After a report like this it should be a slam dunk that they would get them back. Actually the NFL should hand them back but there is zero chance of that, so the Kraft's should demand them back. What's wrong with our stupid ownership ?????

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They do not wish to offend their 31 buddies like the Eagles' Luria who run around publicly trashing the NEP, it's head coach and players by making wild, unsubstantiated claims of cheating.

So... what episode was this? Because I just searched this program on my xfinity box and episodes 1-7 and 9 are available, but not 8. And episode 7 was from 7/1/15 and 9 from 9/8/15. Wasn't this originally aired on 8/31? Holy conspiracy Batman!

**** correction, it is in episode 9. Spread the word!

PatsWickedPissah said:

Uh, OK.
So, what do you think the odds are that Bob Kraft does something, anything like this?

Bob is always there to bask in the team limelight and occasionally talks big, but he has yet to act in any substantive way whatsoever.

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Unfortunately, I think there is little chance he will do anything like this, but I would if I were in his place. He needs to sack up, but he's a wimp.

Wish this would actually air on 60 Minutes rather than being buried on Showtime.

Great piece though, reasonably articulates everything we already knew, but from a source that people might find more credible than "some Patriots fan".

PlainOldEd said:

So... what episode was this? Because I just searched this program on my xfinity box and episodes 1-7 and 9 are available, but not 8. And episode 7 was from 7/1/15 and 9 from 9/8/15. Wasn't this originally aired on 8/31? Holy conspiracy Batman!

**** correction, it is in episode 9. Spread the word!

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Good to hear this is on an actual episode, the shaking- moving camera at the beginning (is this home video of a TV ?) made me think this was a joke or something like a barstool production.

If Bob really has his cojones back, he should sit down privately with Goodell, show him this video, and simply tell him afterwards, "give us our picks back......... or I'm coming after you..........your choice Roger".

Link has been pulled per copywrite

Anyone got another link?

Has anyone forwarded this to Florio yet? Or his buddy Curran?

Oswlek said:

Has anyone forwarded this to Florio yet? Or his buddy Curran?

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Thanks for the new link.

I deleted the old link and edited the original post with your link, Oswlek. For some reason it wont embed this time around.

I watched this for a second time, and it was maddening. Not only does the Ted Wells report solely rely on vague text messages, but it has to clear the hurdle of contrary evidence that contradicts their conclusion. After a sting operation in a critical game, they NFL discovered no manipulation by the NEP. How do they get there on text messages with such a high hurdle to clear?

Oswlek said:

Has anyone forwarded this to Florio yet? Or his buddy Curran?

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Everyone here should forward this to Florio and other local beat writers. While Florio isn't always on our side, he does relish controversy, and would love to take the mantle if it means clicks on his website. He's also got a national audience.

The problem is that Goodell has neutralized his enemies in this matter. ESPN--they have a financial interest in supporting the NFL. Kraft--Goodell's managed to neutralize him. Others in the NFL--they dislike the NEP and don't care.

At this point, there needs to be a movement that throws this case back in the face of Goodell--much like the Ray Rice debacle when the video leaked. When he was forced to account for his bad decisions, it induced change. The League office responds to bad PR.

It starts with everyone forwarding to Florio. It starts with people forwarding to other local beat writers--something's better than nothing.

It's frustrating that Florio in May basically said a lot of this, but doesn't continue to pursue it. He could really make a much bigger deal.