Mike Florio NAILS it!! Great analysis

[TomPatriot]

He ain't buyin' the dopey bathroom tale either. More convinced than ever Goodell will turn this over to someone else.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/05/17/nfl-should-improve-its-in-house-system-of-justic/#comment-4259099

I don't agree that Wells went rogue. I think he did his client's bidding, whether it came from Goodell, Pash, Vincent or Kensil.

 

[patsderoer]

Here's the reality of Deflategate and Florio's piece.

Yes, there was definitely some tampering with the football, if you read the Wells report. It is without question, 100% certain, as stated:


In other words, the only team for which Wells was able to achieve certainty as to the question of whether they messed with the footballs was the Colts. Could someone remind me what their penalties were, again?

Yes, Florio, the evidence suggests that something unusual was happening, but it was the Colts who were clearly guilty of doing something 'unusual'.

Whoaaaa !!

So the Colts "measured" the pressure? They didn't let air out of the ball before "measuring" it, did they? It's not like the Colts wanted the Patriots to be found guilty or something like that. Or maybe they wanted the Pats to look bad, and they did let air out of the ball.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

The timing of this is fortuitous as I'm sure Florio's piece will be read, or an executive summary of it will be in the hands of the other 31 owners. It they are like the masses flapping in the wind, it will be interesting to see how they lean this week....

 

[Bobsyouruncle]

It seems like a higher percentage of lawyers find the investigation and results flawed.

To laymen, interviewing a witness several times, even after it was agreed only once may not seem unusual. But as I've learned from many lawyers around here, and elsewhere it is not normal. Some think Brady turning over texts or emails is reasonable, many lawyers seem to think it's unreasonable without a subpoena, and a stretch to call it a lack of cooperation.

That's why I think the Patriots have a good shot in court. Public perception of what an investigation should look like will not sell as well to people who know what an investigation should look like. I suspect the court will not be as impressed with the investigation or evidence as the media and others.

 

[Mack Herron]

The timing of this is fortuitous as I'm sure Florio's piece will be read, or an executive summary of it will be in the hands of the other 31 owners. It they are like the masses flapping in the wind, it will be interesting to see how they lean this week....

Quite right. This hits the owners where it hurts.

 

[JJC]

It just blows my mind that of all the main stream media, it's Florio that is the one defending us.

Not surprised. The guy is a master opportunist. What better time to get out ahead of the conventional wisdom as the contrarian and be seen as the leading light bringing this all back to sanity? The facts are on his side, the law is on his side, and soon prevailing wisdom will be on his side. This will make him look like a real opinion maker and boost his personal brand significantly. The guy is very shrewd and is playing this perfectly. Starts out with the masses, but methodically moves toward the truth and drags other with him.

 

[Mack Herron]

Whoaaaa !!

So the Colts "measured" the pressure? They didn't let air out of the ball before "measuring" it, did they? It's not like the Colts wanted the Patriots to be found guilty or something like that. Or maybe they wanted the Pats to look bad, and they did let air out of the ball.

The Colts are not allowed to measure the balls after they are approved by the officials.

a member of the Colts organization measured the pressure level inside the football

This was a violation of NFL rules. Integrity of the game and all that. Must have been an oversight by Wells, Kensil, Goodell, Gardi, Vincent...

 

[Fencer]

A lot hangs on the confusion between Wells as adversary and Wells as impartial judge. For example, the emails recently released about refusing the meeting with McNally that Wells wanted obviously see the investigation as an adversarial process. Yet the penalties for non-cooperation make zero sense even in Goodell's mind unless the process was impartial.

The report shows that those who took the adversarial view were correct.

 

[Tony Cahncuhd]

Whoaaaa !!

So the Colts "measured" the pressure? They didn't let air out of the ball before "measuring" it, did they? It's not like the Colts wanted the Patriots to be found guilty or something like that. Or maybe they wanted the Pats to look bad, and they did let air out of the ball.

They didn't need to and there was no sign that they did
. The pressure in that ball was exactly where nature says it should have been if it was filled at room temp.

 

[NashuaPats]

They didn't need to and there was no sign that they did
. The pressure in that ball was exactly where nature says it should have been if it was filled at room temp.

Exactly, it was 11.45. And all the balls averaged 11.49. At that time there was no reason to believe Anderson was mistaken about which gauge he used. Anderson's recollection was only questioned by Exponent well after the investigation began. I wish a national reporter or even a local one would highlight this and question why the investigation ever began in the first place. I get the initial surprise by the refs at half time, but they should have been satisfied by the ideal gas law explanation Monday morning. When conducting a thorough investigation, it's easy to find some circumstantial evidence against an innocent person.

 

[borg]

Really good attorney's weigh the significance of the evidence, consider the argument from all angles, and look for discrepancies ....with the goal of finding holes that can benefit their position. With so many legal minds offering public opinions on this one topic, it is no surprise that the underlying facts of this case are finally being debated. The media had their 15 minutes to exploit the public's emotions with headlines and soundbites....but that time has passed.

While it is becoming clearer each day that this "case" would never hold up in an actual court of law, these same legal experts understand the reluctance of the legal system to overturn collectively bargained organizational justice. And given the positions presented in the NFLPA's responses to the league, it is apparent the NFLPA understands the only way to advance their argument is to discredit the process.

I correctly predicted days ago that Goodell would name himself arbitrator for several reasons. He has to reestablish his authority. He has to regain control of the process. He has to prove he can control the NFLPA. He has to reclaim the confidence of ownership. This is Goodell's Waterloo. And as the appeal process moves forward, I believe the real battles will be behind closed doors with the NFL office leaning on Kraft to no end. Whether Kraft submits to the pressure to preserve the system in place....I can't say. I do believe the NFLPA is salivating for the opportunity to break the NFL's justice process once and for all and the stars may never line up so perfectly. Given Brady's silence and accumulation of powerhouse counsel, I believe TB is preparing for a long drawn out battle vs. the NFL.
Goodell and the "system" are vulnerable...and trenches are being dug. I expect Goodell to reduce Brady's sentence by half after the appeal and I also expect Brady to reject reduced sentence. You fight for your innocence.....and you take the NFL to real court. I wonder which party is more fearful of disclosure? I want to find out.

 

[farn]

Borg : I like it as well. I want Brady's team to get a chance to dig into the league office and find out what was known and written. And let's get everything out into the open and see if the NFL regrets the Wells report.

BS from the start. Let's everyone "call" and show our cards.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Interesting thought from literally the last place I would expect to find one: the comments of a PFT article:



I noticed the NE response go back to the failure-to-correct point several times, but I wasn't sure what kind of legal options it opened up. This sounds a lot more likely to work than a suit against the league itself.

The problem is that the Court (California 9th Circuit) rejected any fiduciary duty on the part of the NFL to its owners. Would a Massachusetts or NY court see it differently? Maybe, the 9th circuit is often overturned by the US Supreme Court (almost reflexively) but it is a difficult, nearly insurmountably argument to make.. Read the court case in Al Davis' lawsuit...

 

[RunAmok]

A follow up to my earlier post:

Take all the evidence that Wells has, but also take the position that the air in the footballs was absolutely within the range it should have been.

Now, if you look at the non-PSI evidence with that being the case, how is the remaining evidence in any way suggestive that "something unusual was happening"?

The unusual thing happening is that the NFL joined with another team (in the middle of a game) to conduct a sting operation. I am sure that they were hoping to, at worse, disrupt both the coaches and the players in what was at the time a close game.

That would mean that both the Colt's front office and the NFL were conspiring to change the outcome of a game, which would be the highest form of tampering possible. An NFL VP even told a Pats sideline employee that they were nailed before there was any type of investigation. It was after their little charade blew up in their faces and the Colts were crushed in the 2nd half did the owner, in frustration, leak inside information to the press.

I wonder, other than Kensil crowing to the equipment guy, was there any official communication to the Pats? Were they even informed of the Colts concerns and what was going on at halftime?

 

[Bobsyouruncle]

The problem is that the Court (California 9th Circuit) rejected any fiduciary duty on the part of the NFL to its owners. Would a Massachusetts or NY court see it differently? Maybe, the 9th circuit is often overturned by the US Supreme Court (almost reflexively) but it is a difficult, nearly insurmountably argument to make.. Read the court case in Al Davis' lawsuit...

What about the fact that the NFL runs its own network. I can see the argument they shouldn't correct other people's reports, but what about correcting their own. Could that argument be made?

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

And uncharacteristically polite lately too, a new special someone perhaps?

Let me be the first to announce our new relationship

 

[aluminum seats]

It is, mostly, a good piece, although as others have noted clinging to the idea that "something unusual" happened is the lowest sort of CYA doublespeak.

But on balance, a good sign. Maybe those tides are turning after all.

 

[Ivan]

I've been saying that for a long, long time. The league needs to stick to only league issues, not criminal matters, so-called bullying womens'/mens'/space aliens' rights, or anything else, and it needs to set up a better system for getting those league issues right without running roughshod over freedoms and rights..

Much as I tend to disagree with deus about roster construction this is absolutely true. He has been complement consistent on these issues regardless of who was involved. He has repeatedly argued that the NFL routinely oversteps it's authority.

 

[kjw]

The Colts are not allowed to measure the balls after they are approved by the officials. This was a violation of NFL rules. Integrity of the game and all that. Must have been an oversight by Wells, Kensil, Goodell, Gardi, Vincent...

It also begs the question: Why did a member of the Colts staff have a pressure gauge in his possession?

 

[RobertWeathers]

It also begs the question: Why did a member of the Colts staff have a pressure gauge in his possession?

I assume its commonplace but it is curious to understand why.