Bill Belichick will meet with the media today at 9:30 a.m

[TheBostonStraggler]

I didn't see the video, but, as I commented in another post above, I thought his words as I read them were "un-Belichickian." I think this got to him. If we take him at his word, game balls are inviolable. Whatever logic allowed him to tape the Jets signals from the sidelines after the League memo forbidding it, that logic does not seem to extend to tampering with game balls.

He read a prepared statement that said, in a verbose way, 'I don't know about football inflation, what the refs do with the balls, how the balls come to the field' etc etc. The statement is crystal F'n clear. And it means this isn't a real scandal (as I have said all along) and BB does not have the foggiest idea of this.
It was dry and to the point. Not really too un-BB (a little but not much).

After the prepared statement it was all classic BB 'we're on to Seattle' (in other words).

 

[IllegalContact]

It's almost impossible to believe that he did not discuss this with Brady, which is why his words are so carefully chosen. No one can ever know because none of us were "in the room," but Brady is smart enough to have spoken to BB in such a way as to give him deniability if indeed TB had an arrangement with the equipment guys.

I doubt particulars were necessarily discussed.......the preference is so individual and BB has so many other things to think about, the particulars of the ball would logically not be his concern

 

[upstater1]

This is all about 4 things:

1. Tampering charges against Jets
2. BB not apologizing adequately for Spygate
3. Good dells revenge
4. The perception that Kraft is a pushover

So Goodell ****ed this up to make BB relive Spygate

 

[Patters]

I just read the transcript of the BB press conference. He is a wise man. I think it's clear he was being honest, because he did not equivocate. He did not leave room for saying later on, "you misunderstood me." He was explicit in his remarks about not knowing anything about what happened. He is also smart enough not to conduct his own investigation, not to ask Brady or anyone else too many questions, since that would only compromise his position and his role. He is doing his job, staying focused on preparing the team for the Superbowl, and is letting the NFL do its job unencumbered. He certainly is not making it easier for the NFL, and I think there's a good chance that their findings will be inconclusive. After all, if the team asked for the balls to be inflated to the minimum, it's quite possible that air temperature and moisture caused some deflation, and that is perfectly legal.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

He read a prepared statement that said, in a verbose way, 'I don't know about football inflation, what the refs do with the balls, how the balls come to the field' etc etc. The statement is crystal F'n clear. And it means this isn't a real scandal (as I have said all along) and BB does not have the foggiest idea of this.
It was dry and to the point. Not really too un-BB (a little but not much).

...

His statement said a lot more than that. He said that he had no sympathy with players' complaints about the condition of the ball and that he made the condition worse if they did complain during practice. He was explaining himself. That is "un-Belichickian." This got to him.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I thought it was interesting that Bill talked about his history of how he deals with footballs during practice, to talk to any current or former player about discussions or lack there of regarding air pressure.

For me at least it takes the emphasis off him being some mythical evil wizard as the media likes to portray and onto something more tangible and really more reflective of his own dealings with footballs. He didn't emphasize his team's practices with footballs but rather isolated his involvement, knowledge and motive which is very unusual given how he preaches about team. At the same time, this was smart since so many out there want to believe he himself is responsible. Hey, if you want it to be about me, let's talk about me.

His statement now places a much greater interest in Tom Brady's press conference and the degree to which he speaks on the topic. Tom generally provides a fair bit of description in his answers but he's also very thoughtful in his responses.

I do think like Bill's presser, a prepared statement anticipating the obvious questions would be a good idea (his personal preferences for the quality of the ball, his involvement with the selection and preparation of the balls, his involvement or inspection of the balls after the refs have inspected and delivered them back to the sideline).

Also the fact that it is being moved up to 4:00 from tomorrow leads me to guess that the NFL will announce something this evening.

Exactly. Brady will say he is coached by BB to expect the unexpected. It'll dovetail perfectly into TB's explination.

"I like the ball easier to handle. Its cold. The ball is hard. Coach has us practice with all kinds of balls. In our prep, the receivers need to catch it. 12.5 makes sense. Its within the rules so I did it."

 

[SHOWTIME15]

This is all about 4 things:

1. Tampering charges against Jets
2. BB not apologizing adequately for Spygate
3. Good dells revenge
4. The perception that Kraft is a pushover

So Goodell ****ed this up to make BB relive Spygate

Goodell has nothing to do with it. It's a smear campaign by the colts.

 

[Ring 6]

Sounds like to me someone from the NFL's NY office gave mort bogus information to make the pats look bad.

Or to give the impression they are extremely suspicious and looking deeply into it, so that when they find nothing it can look like a win for them. Tried hard to find something, conducted exhaustive investigation and while public sentiment was against the Patriots, when the facts came out it was a non-issue.

 

[turkeyneck]

He said that he had no sympathy with players' complaints about the condition of the ball and that he made the condition worse if they did complain during practice. He was explaining himself.

This was Bill's way of expressing infinite disdain for certain teams who may whine about the condition of footballs. I'm waiting for the press to decamp to Indianapolis to badger Pagano about why he doesn't prepare his players like Bill does to just deal with it as regards football condition.

 

[Ring 6]

BB was stating what should have been obvious to everyone........on game day, he's got 90 players plus an opposing coaching staff to think about .......... balls would never be on his mind.......

sports media is out to burn BB ...... watch how fast this story dries up when the focus is on Brady.....

what's Brady gonna say? "uhhhhh.....yeah......my bad......I guess I went a little too far.......my mistake"

maybe pay a fine......end of story

Why do you keep implying something was done inappropriately.
I think BB laid it out there. The balls were inflated to 12.5psi before the game, and the pressure dropped during the game. He has no explanation for why, because nothing was done by his people. I'm sure he could have taken the scientific approach, but he is leaving that to the league.

I have a feeling when Brady is asked about how he likes the football prepared (as BB suggested) he will probably say he can't really notice a difference between 12.5 and 13.5 but it seemed like the underinflated ball did some things he didn't expect, like the Int and his 11-21 first half. He will imply or come right out and say he doesn't want an under inflated ball, and just look at what happened when he threw one.

 

[IllegalContact]

Or to give the impression they are extremely suspicious and looking deeply into it, so that when they find nothing it can look like a win for them. Tried hard to find something, conducted exhaustive investigation and while public sentiment was against the Patriots, when the facts came out it was a non-issue.

the league silence is because they have nothing definitive........all they have is some underinflated balls with no clue how they got that way......they have media making up bullsh*t with an agenda to hang BB......except it wasn't BB and is easily explainable that it wasn't BB.......so they get to a point where Brady is the next possibility......it's going to boil down to the balls being out of spec unintentionally and Brady will explain that while he likes to address the balls to his liking, it was not his intent to make them that low......'ooopsies' ..... there will possibly be a fine, and then it will be over. The league will consider the matter closed and will address the process at the next owners meeting. After that point, both the NFL and the Pats will likely no longer answer any questions about the issue and will only talk super bowl.

there will be plenty of writers who will continue to write about it, but this team has been there before and it won't matter to them.....those writers will then be wasting their time

 

[Bobsyouruncle]

Maybe the Colts will move on to saying the end zone was two inches too big. Apparently the Colts need a football field where the equipment is produced to laboratory accuracy, and the field measured with GPS and lasers.

 

[Wrath Mania]

Okay, clearly BB was being pretty sincere and is in the clear. That was probably the best thing he could possibly have done.

What's amazing is that you can see how desperate fans and the less savory folks of the media (BERT BREER) want the Patriots to get nailed anyways. Spouting off Goodellian logic about how "IGNORANCE IS NO EXCUSE." Really stupendous.

I'm sure Brady will just give some detail he likes the ball closer to 12.5, and that's pretty much it. Honestly guys I'm done wasting time with this. Onto Seattle.

 

[IllegalContact]

Why do you keep implying something was done inappropriately.
I think BB laid it out there. The balls were inflated to 12.5psi before the game, and the pressure dropped during the game. He has no explanation for why, because nothing was done by his people. I'm sure he could have taken the scientific approach, but he is leaving that to the league.

I have a feeling when Brady is asked about how he likes the football prepared (as BB suggested) he will probably say he can't really notice a difference between 12.5 and 13.5 but it seemed like the underinflated ball did some things he didn't expect, like the Int and his 11-21 first half. He will imply or come right out and say he doesn't want an under inflated ball, and just look at what happened when he threw one.

a 2 psi drop is not realistic given the outside temperatures sunday......based on that theory, if the same thing was done to the balls the previous week, the balls would have been unplayable.

something was done inappropriately..........easy to see.......intent is another story that will likely be impossible to prove. which is fine.

I don't care either way...........breaking rules has never bothered me in the slightest, so whether or not they did so intentionally is also something I don't care about. I'm looking at this without bias

 

[Ring 6]

the league silence is because they have nothing definitive........all they have is some underinflated balls with no clue how they got that way......they have media making up bullsh*t with an agenda to hang BB......except it wasn't BB and is easily explainable that it wasn't BB.......so they get to a point where Brady is the next possibility......it's going to boil down to the balls being out of spec unintentionally and Brady will explain that while he likes to address the balls to his liking, it was not his intent to make them that low......'ooopsies' ..... there will possibly be a fine, and then it will be over. The league will consider the matter closed and will address the process at the next owners meeting. After that point, both the NFL and the Pats will likely no longer answer any questions about the issue and will only talk super bowl.

there will be plenty of writers who will continue to write about it, but this team has been there before and it won't matter to them.....those writers will then be wasting their time

Brady is not taking blame (because he isn't culpable) or being fined. He will not give an Aw shucks answers to take blame to make it go away and tarnish his legacy. If he let air out of the ball and says oops, my bad, he will be labelled a cheater. He didn't and he won't.

 

[RxJock1120]

It seems like BB is putting the ball in Tom's court.

Yes, but I also don't see this as "throwing Tom under the bus". I am not suggesting this is what you meant, but many others have. He is just saying that you would have to ask Tom how he prefers the ball to be since he is the one who handles it. I do think that this statement may be misconstrued as throwing Brady under the bus and it would have been better if BB refered to Tom, Ghost, RB, or any receiver each by name as opposed to just mentioning Tom's name, which kind of making it seem like he is being singled out...which again I don't believe was BB'S intention.

 

[Joker]

Not hard to see where all the commotion about NOTHING is coming from.

 

[IllegalContact]

Maybe the Colts will move on to saying the end zone was two inches too big. Apparently the Colts need a football field where the equipment is produced to laboratory accuracy, and the field measured with GPS and lasers.

The colts have already moved on.......they had their asses handed to them .... they opened their mouths and almost immediately started backpedaling....because they had bob kravitz carrying the torch for them.

the colts realized pretty early that they just made themselves look like rats.......and honestly, in most people eyes, being a rat is worse than being a cheater

 

[Ring 6]

a 2 psi drop is not realistic given the outside temperatures sunday......based on that theory, if the same thing was done to the balls the previous week, the balls would have been unplayable.

Who said there was a 2 psi drop? Well Mort said it, but it is no more than a rumor that so far is unfounded.

something was done inappropriately..........easy to see.......intent is another story that will likely be impossible to prove. which is fine.

How is that easy to see? Anyone with a brain knows that if the balls measure 12.5 indoors at 4:25, they would measure less than that after being outdoors in 40 degree temps until 8:30. You are counting Morts version of what some source in the league told him as a fact and its not.

I don't care either way...........breaking rules has never bothered me in the slightest, so whether or not they did so intentionally is also something I don't care about. I'm looking at this without bias

I am looking at it without bias too. Bias doesn't change fact.

 

[zoostation]

Geez, is he throwing Tom under the bus? Can't be .,..

Not really. I read that as he doesn't use the condition of a ball as an excuse for a bad performance. Bill is not going to speak for Tom (blaming ball condition or not) as that would be speculation.

Make sense?