I’m amazed the leaky league office didn’t get this out there weeks ago. Through all the saber-rattling the NFLPA did threatening the league with court, the league sat on this bombshell. Only on the day the decision was to be released did one of its nut-twisters blab. And it seemed so absurd as to be easily dismissed.
Honestly, if the NFL put out a release saying to check the eastern sky for tomorrow’s sunrise, I wouldn’t believe it until I saw it.
But the denials from Brady’s agent Don Yee and the NFLPA aren’t real persuasive. A lot of strong rhetoric. A lot of redirecting on what WAS provided. But not even an attempt to explain why Brady would destroy his phone.
This, of course, is the result the NFL wanted. Drop the cell phone bomb when the appeal is upheld and all anyone will be able to talk about is the destroyed cell phone. Like “getting it out there” that 11 of 12 footballs are severely underinflated in an effort to kickstart the hysteria.
We’re all focused now on a broken cell phone. Not the Ideal Gas Law, non-logo gauges, logo gauges, the Colts equipment man sticking a needle in the ball during the game or the NFL’s media leaks throughout the process. Nobody’s talking about the fact these nitwits aren’t even entirely sure if balls were deflated, which is why the new ball protocols which will try to examine after the fact whether the league actually had evidence of ball deflation. In other words, still no body.