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http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeoza...l-conclude-belichick-and-brady-did-not-cheat/
I believe that the NFL will conclude its investigationinto the deflated footballs used by the New England Patriots during their AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts that neither head coach Bill Belichick nor quarterback Tom Brady deliberately did anything to deflate the footballs below the league limit of 12.5 pounds per square inch.
In other words, that when it comes to cheating, whatBelichick and Brady have said during their press conferences is the truth.
It is not unusual for quarterbacks to have footballs worked over before games to get them they way they like. In an interview with the Tampa Bay Times in 2012, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Brad Johnson said that before Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003, he paid some unidentified people $7,500 to doctor the 100 footballs allocated for use in that game. Johnson didn’t say that he had the air pressure altered; he said that he had the balls scuffed, which wasn’t legal at the time but is now. And during aCBS broadcast of this season’s matchup between the Green Bay Packers and New England on Nov. 30, announcer Phil Simms said Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers preferred footballs that were inflated slightly beyond the specified limit. “Every team tampers with the footballs,” Matt Leinart said on Twitter. “Ask any Qb In the league, this is ridiculous!!”
What I think happened is the Patriots equipment manager, or whomever deals with getting the footballs the way Brady prefers them, deflated the balls below the 12.5 pounds per square inch, or, had the footballs right at the legal minimum and the weather caused the weight of the footballs to fall below the minimum PPSI.
The media has been quick to jump on Spygate–when the Patriots videotaped the defensive signals of the New York Jets during a game–as evidence that Belichick is a serial cheater. But the media seems to have forgotten that, Jack Del Rio, then the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, said at the time it was commonplace to study actions on the opposing sideline. ”I think all teams do that,” he said. That’s been going on forever.” And former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson said at the time: This is exactly how I was told to do it 18 years ago by a Kansas City Chiefs scout. I tried it, but I didn’t think it helped us. Bill Belichick was wrong because he videotaped signals after a memo was sent out to all teams saying not to do it. But what irritates me is hearing some reactions from players and coaches. These players don’t know what their coaches are doing, and some of the coaches have selective amnesia because I know for a fact there were various teams doing this. That’s why the memo was sent to everybody. That doesn’t make Belichick right, but a lot of teams are doing this.”
This doesn’t make Belichick innocent in 2007, but it doesn’t exactly make him some sort of serial cheater, either. I suspect the NFL will fine the Patriots (think something along the lines of the Pac-12 fining USC for using deflated footballs against Oregon in 2012) after the Super Bowl for the deflated footballs, and put in place some sort of rule changes to ensure footballs that are used during games to meet the league requirements. But I doubt the NFL will find any evidence Brady or Belichick knowingly had the footballs deflated.
I believe that the NFL will conclude its investigationinto the deflated footballs used by the New England Patriots during their AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts that neither head coach Bill Belichick nor quarterback Tom Brady deliberately did anything to deflate the footballs below the league limit of 12.5 pounds per square inch.
In other words, that when it comes to cheating, whatBelichick and Brady have said during their press conferences is the truth.
It is not unusual for quarterbacks to have footballs worked over before games to get them they way they like. In an interview with the Tampa Bay Times in 2012, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Brad Johnson said that before Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003, he paid some unidentified people $7,500 to doctor the 100 footballs allocated for use in that game. Johnson didn’t say that he had the air pressure altered; he said that he had the balls scuffed, which wasn’t legal at the time but is now. And during aCBS broadcast of this season’s matchup between the Green Bay Packers and New England on Nov. 30, announcer Phil Simms said Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers preferred footballs that were inflated slightly beyond the specified limit. “Every team tampers with the footballs,” Matt Leinart said on Twitter. “Ask any Qb In the league, this is ridiculous!!”
What I think happened is the Patriots equipment manager, or whomever deals with getting the footballs the way Brady prefers them, deflated the balls below the 12.5 pounds per square inch, or, had the footballs right at the legal minimum and the weather caused the weight of the footballs to fall below the minimum PPSI.
The media has been quick to jump on Spygate–when the Patriots videotaped the defensive signals of the New York Jets during a game–as evidence that Belichick is a serial cheater. But the media seems to have forgotten that, Jack Del Rio, then the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, said at the time it was commonplace to study actions on the opposing sideline. ”I think all teams do that,” he said. That’s been going on forever.” And former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson said at the time: This is exactly how I was told to do it 18 years ago by a Kansas City Chiefs scout. I tried it, but I didn’t think it helped us. Bill Belichick was wrong because he videotaped signals after a memo was sent out to all teams saying not to do it. But what irritates me is hearing some reactions from players and coaches. These players don’t know what their coaches are doing, and some of the coaches have selective amnesia because I know for a fact there were various teams doing this. That’s why the memo was sent to everybody. That doesn’t make Belichick right, but a lot of teams are doing this.”
This doesn’t make Belichick innocent in 2007, but it doesn’t exactly make him some sort of serial cheater, either. I suspect the NFL will fine the Patriots (think something along the lines of the Pac-12 fining USC for using deflated footballs against Oregon in 2012) after the Super Bowl for the deflated footballs, and put in place some sort of rule changes to ensure footballs that are used during games to meet the league requirements. But I doubt the NFL will find any evidence Brady or Belichick knowingly had the footballs deflated.
