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- Apr 3, 2006
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We know Kensil was behind this, but he reports to Goodell. The fact that Pash stonewalled the Patriots for all of that time, which we now know through the email exchange, is very telling. Who do you think his orders came from? Definitely not from Kensil; it must have been Goodell who refused to acknowledge the actual numbers.
Here is the gist of what I think happened.
I think the league truly, 100% believed the Patriots deflated the footballs, which was confirmed by Adam Schefter early on, and during the first few days of the investigation, they realized the Patriots were not just going to "come clean." I think this infuriated Goodell and his henchmen, who are extremely arrogant and power hungry, that the Patriots were "lying" to them. I believe Goodell/Kensil likely thought if they leaked false information about the balls, it would build such a huge public outcry against the Patriots and also cause Brady and the ball boys to take their only option and acknowledge guilt. In fact, mostly this plan worked, except that the Patriots did not deflate the balls, now proven by the ideal gas law, and therefore there was no confession. The league also thought they would find a "smoking gun" somehow, somewhere, and at that point, whatever misinformation and lies were spread, would all become a moot point lost in the scandal. They didn't think they would ever even have to release the ball pressure numbers since the Patriots would be found guilty anyway. When they realized this wasn't happening either, I think the league panicked, because now if the Patriots are innocent, they have some major explaining to do about the Mortensen report. At this point, I think Goodell realized that his only option was to fry the Patriots no matter what, whatever it took, including cooking the case against them, media leaks, misinformation, and Ted Wells. By frying the Patriots, Kraft, and Brady with a strong, irrefutable case, he believed he Patriots would be powerless in the court of law and public opinion.
I'm quite sure Goodell loses sleep at night thinking about what would happen should an independent investigator look into the inner workings during this investigation and how far the league "played chicken" with the Patriots, making a mockery of ethics in their certainty the Patriots did something wrong and they would prove it. At the very least, there must certainly be text messages and/or emails that show clear bias, likely 4-letter words about the Patriots, and an irrefutable agenda. There is little question that Pash reports to Goodell and there was a reason Pash refused to correct the ball deflation report. Goodell decided a scorched earth campaign against Kraft was his best option because there was no going back. He wanted the public to stay in his corner and feared what would happen should the public realize the NFL went all-in and fell on its face again. Perhaps he thought that would be the nail in his coffin.
Now is a critical time. I think Brady and/or the Patriots absolutely need to file a lawsuit against the NFL for defamation. While I don't know if they'd win, the embarasssment and shadiness or the league will become apparent during discovery, and the league would do anything to avoid this, including making a deal to eliminate all penalties. It would ironic to see the Patriots beat Goodell at his own game, embarrassing his opponent in the court of public opinion and forcing him to turn over HIS personal cell phone and emails. I also think a lawsuit may cause other owners to work out a deal with Kraft that should he drop the suit, they would allow an investigator to look into why his brand was damaged, which would be the end of Goodell and all of his cronies. The Patriots or Brady needs to act now while they still have leverage because, if the ruling comes against them, they are going to have much less of it.
Here is the gist of what I think happened.
I think the league truly, 100% believed the Patriots deflated the footballs, which was confirmed by Adam Schefter early on, and during the first few days of the investigation, they realized the Patriots were not just going to "come clean." I think this infuriated Goodell and his henchmen, who are extremely arrogant and power hungry, that the Patriots were "lying" to them. I believe Goodell/Kensil likely thought if they leaked false information about the balls, it would build such a huge public outcry against the Patriots and also cause Brady and the ball boys to take their only option and acknowledge guilt. In fact, mostly this plan worked, except that the Patriots did not deflate the balls, now proven by the ideal gas law, and therefore there was no confession. The league also thought they would find a "smoking gun" somehow, somewhere, and at that point, whatever misinformation and lies were spread, would all become a moot point lost in the scandal. They didn't think they would ever even have to release the ball pressure numbers since the Patriots would be found guilty anyway. When they realized this wasn't happening either, I think the league panicked, because now if the Patriots are innocent, they have some major explaining to do about the Mortensen report. At this point, I think Goodell realized that his only option was to fry the Patriots no matter what, whatever it took, including cooking the case against them, media leaks, misinformation, and Ted Wells. By frying the Patriots, Kraft, and Brady with a strong, irrefutable case, he believed he Patriots would be powerless in the court of law and public opinion.
I'm quite sure Goodell loses sleep at night thinking about what would happen should an independent investigator look into the inner workings during this investigation and how far the league "played chicken" with the Patriots, making a mockery of ethics in their certainty the Patriots did something wrong and they would prove it. At the very least, there must certainly be text messages and/or emails that show clear bias, likely 4-letter words about the Patriots, and an irrefutable agenda. There is little question that Pash reports to Goodell and there was a reason Pash refused to correct the ball deflation report. Goodell decided a scorched earth campaign against Kraft was his best option because there was no going back. He wanted the public to stay in his corner and feared what would happen should the public realize the NFL went all-in and fell on its face again. Perhaps he thought that would be the nail in his coffin.
Now is a critical time. I think Brady and/or the Patriots absolutely need to file a lawsuit against the NFL for defamation. While I don't know if they'd win, the embarasssment and shadiness or the league will become apparent during discovery, and the league would do anything to avoid this, including making a deal to eliminate all penalties. It would ironic to see the Patriots beat Goodell at his own game, embarrassing his opponent in the court of public opinion and forcing him to turn over HIS personal cell phone and emails. I also think a lawsuit may cause other owners to work out a deal with Kraft that should he drop the suit, they would allow an investigator to look into why his brand was damaged, which would be the end of Goodell and all of his cronies. The Patriots or Brady needs to act now while they still have leverage because, if the ruling comes against them, they are going to have much less of it.
