Jastremski and McNally

[Gumby]

OK, is not it easier to prove something is false than to prove they knew it was false?

Yes exactly.

That was his point, famous people have a higher hurdle to clear then joe-bob does.

 

[IllegalContact]

If there is any impropriety, I bet it was the fact that the 2 goofballs didn't have their way with the ball before the refs got their hands on them, then said 'oh ****, we gotta do something'

you can get any ball down to the level you want quickly with one of these just by pressing the button

they got them down to 12.5 and that was that

And Brady refuses to rat.....either that, or he has actually has no clue since he would have expected them to do it beforehand and they didn't say anything.

 

[JoeSixPat]

While many in the media are intrigued by the lack of new pronouncements on Framegate from Brady, I'm more intrigued by the total silence from Jastremski and McNally the other central characters in this farce. If this is the frame job we think it is to disparage the Patriots and Brady while propping up Roger Goodell, why aren't these two men proclaiming their innocence from the mountain top? The Patriots lost draft picks and a measly million (to them), Brady lost a few games and a good deal of his reputation, but these guys lost their livelihoods.

To me, their silence means they have representation and good representation at that. My guess is the NFL's lawyers know that the league is most vulnerable legally from these two rather than Brady and the NFLPA. Unlike Brady, they are not public figures so there is no need to prove malice in a defamation action.

There's all the reasons you mentioned and more to remain silent

And while I'd love to see someone in the media go team by team and document the full time employees and the football prep that all teams engage in on behalf of their QBs (This should be required reading for all NFL fans and the media who cover football - http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/sports/football/eli-mannings-footballs-are-months-in-making.html) the reality is those reporters won't have the cooperation of the NFL

As with Spygate where Goodell wanted to act as if signal filming itself were somehow against the rules, in this case the last thing Goodell wants is for NFL teams to cooperate with the media in revealing the extensive football preparation engaged in by other teams

All of the Jastermski and McNally quotes gain context with that NY Times article - and one would hope their attorney is planning on making that point in a public way

There's a lot of moving parts to this mess and it seems to me it's unlikely to be resolved in a legal sense before the start of the season - so Brady may miss some games if Goodell doesn't back down in this game of chicken - but the important thing is to have Brady clear his name

 

[QuantumMechanic]

OK, is not it easier to prove something is false than to prove they knew it was false?

Correct. It is easier to prove something is false than to prove the publisher knew it was false. That's the whole point -- in the New York Times v. Sullivan case SCOTUS decided to strike the balance between the First Amendment and defamation more towards the First Amendment when it comes to public figures.

 

[metrowest]

One thing is for sure about this entire deflate-gate situation -- nothing seems to add up. TMZ would have offered these guys more than enough money to break any loyalty they had, and if they are just homers or honest, they would be screaming for their innocence.

Kraft caves in all of a sudden, his weird quotes lately, Brady saying nothing, Roger insisting on handling this himself.

There just seems to be a big piece of this that hasn't come out yet and hopefully it is good for the Pats, but at this point nothing would shock me.

 

[VectorPrime]

Im done with hoping that some big new piece of information will miraculously come out that will help the Patriots. It didn't happen for 3 months and it sure as hell won't happen now. Especially with Kraft in the league's pocket and more than willing to let some ill practice by the league stay hushed up.

 

[TruthSeeker]

Im done with hoping that some big new piece of information will miraculously come out that will help the Patriots.

Who needs more evidence? Best evidence already proves there was no deflation; no need to hold your breath for anything else.

 

[Tunescribe]

Those two immature knuckleheads would screw up anything, even if they were right. They just need to keep quiet.

 

[supafly]

Those two immature knuckleheads would screw up anything, even if they were right. They just need to keep quiet.

Agreed.

 

[BingoBrown]

Does anyone think they have been contacted by Brady"s lawyers?

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

One thing is for sure about this entire deflate-gate situation -- nothing seems to add up. TMZ would have offered these guys more than enough money to break any loyalty they had, and if they are just homers or honest, they would be screaming for their innocence.

I don't agree so much about the "big piece about to come out" part of your post, but I certainly think that this part has merit. If they actually were "told" to deflate balls by Brady, and they have already lost their jobs over it, there would be nothing stopping either one from going to TMZ and "selling" their story about the "big, bad Brady". Seems to be that there would be a handsome payout for it. They haven't yet.......... so my inclination is that they must be quietly gearing up for a defamation lawsuit as well and have been told by their lawyers to not say anything (as Brady has). If they were guilty, they would likely not go that route (defamation lawsuit) as it would be bound to come out eventually.

Their silence is very curious to me..

 

[BradyFTW!]

I feel like this is wishful thinking and they won't actually sue. Hope I'm wrong.

Agreed. I would be ecstatic if they did sue, but I'm not going to hold my breath waiting.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

If there is any impropriety, I bet it was the fact that the 2 goofballs didn't have their way with the ball before the refs got their hands on them, then said 'oh ****, we gotta do something'

you can get any ball down to the level you want quickly with one of these just by pressing the button

they got them down to 12.5 and that was that

And Brady refuses to rat.....either that, or he has actually has no clue since he would have expected them to do it beforehand and they didn't say anything.

Physically possible to do by a human, however the AFCCG balls showed NO evidence of manual deflation as they were simply following the laws of physics.

I believe the league set up a sting & convicted the Pats because in their ignorance of science they believed from PAST games that the Pats were "deflating" balls. They did not let lack of physical evidence that the Pats tampered with the AFCG balls deter them from their pre-determined beliefs.

 

[IllegalContact]

Physically possible to do by a human, however the AFCCG balls showed NO evidence of manual deflation as they were simply following the laws of physics.

what does this even mean? the laws of physics can't possibly prove whether the balls were in any way changed after the refs inspected them.......it is just as possible that nobody altered them afterwards.

The purpose was to put out the possibility that the balls were altered after the refs checked AND Brady knew nothing of it

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

The balls were at the psi they should be at after being set at std psi

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Who needs more evidence? Best evidence already proves there was no deflation; no need to hold your breath for anything else.

Well, no. My heart's with you. But the best evidence says "It is very plausible that no deflation happened."

That's different from proving the negative, a notoriously difficult exercise to begin with, and the standard of proof all but demanded of the Patriots.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Physically possible to do by a human, however the AFCCG balls showed NO evidence of manual deflation as they were simply following the laws of physics.

I believe the league set up a sting & convicted the Pats because in their ignorance of science they believed from PAST games that the Pats were "deflating" balls. They did not let lack of physical evidence that the Pats tampered with the AFCG balls deter them from their pre-determined beliefs.

Or, believed that the sports media would believe it, which is all they need. As to their ignorance of science, typically a sports league doesn't have a bunch of lab-coat guys in the front office. The difference with the NFL* is that they went and got a hired gun that once "proved" the harmlessness of second-hand smoke for the highest bidder. But hey, if you're in a lab-coat, spritzing a football with room-temperature water and wiping it off again simulates heavy rain on a 50-degree day... and even if that fails, "the official must have used the other gauge even though he says he used this one..."

It's all bullsh1t, in terms of what the NFL* pulled to even meet the lowest possible bar.

Who says "... but the official must have misremembered..." and then doesn't give any reason why -- or better yet, if you're trying to fix a process you never gave a damn about before... who doesn't look deeper into at least that aspect of the officials' duties?

But fans are happy to call this a "smoking gun." Never mind that the NFL* will fix outcomes for their teams, if they ever achieve the success of the Pats... because they know that'll never happen. ("Nice problem to have.")

 

[juny]

I don't agree so much about the "big piece about to come out" part of your post, but I certainly think that this part has merit. If they actually were "told" to deflate balls by Brady, and they have already lost their jobs over it, there would be nothing stopping either one from going to TMZ and "selling" their story about the "big, bad Brady". Seems to be that there would be a handsome payout for it. They haven't yet.......... so my inclination is that they must be quietly gearing up for a defamation lawsuit as well and have been told by their lawyers to not say anything (as Brady has). If they were guilty, they would likely not go that route (defamation lawsuit) as it would be bound to come out eventually.

Their silence is very curious to me..

Very curious. If they are guilty of tampering, they should sell out to TMZ, unless Pats made them sign a NDA w/ harsh consequences. If they are innocent, no point in going public, because no one outside NE is going to believe them anyway.