The "skated on technicalities talking point"

[Fencer]

Mod help, please: The second quotation mark in the title is in the wrong place. Thanks!

I've already seen the claim that Brady just skated on technicalities. In response, I would and did say:

• By law, the judge could only rule on legalities, not facts.
• He found that the NFL violated the law in at least three ways.
• He found that the NFL lied about its investigation.
• Nobody has convicted Brady of anything, except for the folks who were determined to have engaged in lying and lawbreaking in the course of doing so.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Nothing really changes with the ruling if you believe that Brady did something in the first place.

 

[Brady2Moss]

when facts matter the NFL*** gets deflated. Anyone who brings up that point can kiss the rings

 

[upstater1]

Berman in questioning said the McNally texts weren't even about the Colts game, and he saw no evidence the balls had been manually deflated.

 

[RunAmok]

Mod help, please: The second quotation mark in the title is in the wrong place. Thanks!

I've already seen the claim that Brady just skated on technicalities. In response, I would and did say:

• By law, the judge could only rule on legalities, not facts.
• He found that the NFL violated the law in at least three ways.
• He found that the NFL lied about its investigation.
• Nobody has convicted Brady of anything, except for the folks who were determined to have engaged in lying and lawbreaking in the course of doing so.

What I say is "The first truly informed and unbiased person in this fiasco that got to make a decision found that the NFL lied, deprived a player of any rights/due process and could not answer basic questions."

 

[captain stone]

You know that the Technicality Excuse is coming.
The Sewer York-based press & those from our Enemies List will continue to imply that there was post-inspection needle-using going on...they just haven't been able to prove it yet...damn Brady for destroying his cell phone…
That's their story-line and they're sticking to it.

 

[aluminum seats]

OK, I made the mistake of visiting a couple of other fan boards...Jets, Ravens. Thought it might be fun, and on some level it is...sort of like confused puppies biting each others' tails. But mostly just sad. What's particularly funny is how someone will say something wrong, but that will serve as the basis for other posters to use as a fact, and add to, etc. etc. All of that leads to gems like this on the Ravens' site:

"Does the league have the power to strip the Patriots of the AFC Title and or Super Bowl due to the fact that the judge acknowledged Brady knowingly cheating? "

...after another poster said that Berman "acknowledged Brady cheated." And on it goes.

Look, this board has its share of knuckleheads too I'm sure, but I honestly see a higher level of IQ here than I do on other boards. (Really. And to show I THINK I'm impartial, from what I've seen, the Saints' fans are actually pretty sharp, and the Chargers are about the worst. Well, the Jets and the Ravens are pretty awful too).

 

[Kdo5]

Don't really care about the haters who keep chirping about "getting off on technicalities" and "he's still guilty". Today was a major victory and I'm enjoying every last second of it. Haters gonna hate.

 

[TB_Helmet]

The haters aren't going to believe anything and will absolutely say that Brady went free because of the process, but will also say that he still cheated.

The only thing that has a chance of shutting them up will be when they announce halftime PSI measurements in cold weather games this season, and all the footballs look like the Patriots footballs in the AFC title game.

I don't have full confidence that the NFL will be truthful about those measurements, but they can't keep those under wraps forever. Hopefully when it is shown that every football loses pressure naturally in cold weather, the media will pick it up, and the 'technicality' argument goes out the window.

 

[FourierSeries]

They all ignore Berman constantly telling the NFL that they had no evidence.

They're all just bitter and still in denial. It's to be expected, given how right they all thought they were.

 

[BradyFTW!]

The response:

Due process is never a technicality. The ruling was an indictment of the entire process, a process which includes the Wells Report and all of the "evidence" that you think demonstrates Brady's guilt. It's all thrown out now.

If the investigation was garbage, then its conclusions were garbage. Therefore there's no credible evidence to suggest that the balls were ever deflated. The haters are back to square one now, they no longer have an "objective, independent report" claiming that Brady's a cheater.

The conclusion to all of this is that the Wells/Pash Report was nothing more than an accusation, and an accusation that fell apart the moment it was subjected to any objective scrutiny. So as far as I'm concerned, it's no longer 'on us' to argue Brady's innocence. The burden of proof is on the people trying to argue his guilt, and all the flimsy nonsense that they have has been thoroughly discredited. Starting with the fact that the Patriots balls were at exactly the inflation level that the IGL says they should've been

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

OK, I made the mistake of visiting a couple of other fan boards...Jets, Ravens. Thought it might be fun, and on some level it is...sort of like confused puppies biting each others' tails. But mostly just sad. What's particularly funny is how someone will say something wrong, but that will serve as the basis for other posters to use as a fact, and add to, etc. etc. All of that leads to gems like this on the Ravens' site:

"Does the league have the power to strip the Patriots of the AFC Title and or Super Bowl due to the fact that the judge acknowledged Brady knowingly cheating? "

...after another poster said that Berman "acknowledged Brady cheated." And on it goes.

Look, this board has its share of knuckleheads too I'm sure, but I honestly see a higher level of IQ here than I do on other boards. (Really. And to show I THINK I'm impartial, from what I've seen, the Saints' fans are actually pretty sharp, and the Chargers are about the worst. Well, the Jets and the Ravens are pretty awful too).

We used to appreciate these guys, in college, when they brought down the curve.

 

[IllegalContact]

to that crowd, I repeat.....

 

[fourhour]

Thanks Fencer. I hope you don't mind that I just lifted your four points up above and shared them with a diehard Packer fan and Brady hater.

On another note, a good friend with a New Jersey adress and Jets pajamas posted on a hateful FB post about his dislike of TFB but that he stands behind him on this.

 

[PATS16N0]

Why bother with all those responses?

Just say "Your tears taste delicious" and move on.

 

[Zeus]

The response:

Due process is never a technicality. The ruling was an indictment of the entire process, a process which includes the Wells Report and all of the "evidence" that you think demonstrates Brady's guilt. It's all thrown out now.

If the investigation was garbage, then its conclusions were garbage. Therefore there's no credible evidence to suggest that the balls were ever deflated. The haters are back to square one now, they no longer have an "objective, independent report" claiming that Brady's a cheater.

The conclusion to all of this is that the Wells/Pash Report was nothing more than an accusation, and an accusation that fell apart the moment it was subjected to any objective scrutiny. So as far as I'm concerned, it's no longer 'on us' to argue Brady's innocence. The burden of proof is on the people trying to argue his guilt, and all the flimsy nonsense that they have has been thoroughly discredited. Starting with the fact that the Patriots balls were at exactly the inflation level that the IGL says they should've been

Very well said. Flawed process proves nothing; the NFL has not proved a thing.

Judge Berman's decision refers to Brady's "alleged" actions, a clear indication that he found the evidence (such as it was) lacking. These references fall outside of the scope of his decision so it's interesting that he felt strongly enough to bring it up.

 

[Sciz]

In part, Berman ruled that the NFL deprived Brady of his chance to show his innocence when they gave him an unfair appeal. That sure doesn't seem like a technicality to me.

 

[IcyPatriot]

When the media starts analyzing balls this winter during rainy cold games I think the Brady did nothing wrong crowd will grow some ... others will continue spewing hate because their team sucks and it makes them feel better to hate. No amount of analysis will change their minds.

 

[TomPatriot]

Excuse me, the law of the shop is not a technicality. It is one of the time-honored traditions of labor law that protects people from being abused in the workplace at the whim of a petulant employer.

 

[letekro]

I can't wait until the NFL starts "randomly" testing PSI at halftime. If they don't just outright fabricate the results, they will wait until the 14 min. mark of halftime to measure PSI, so the pressure will have the maximum time to equalize.