WTH..Vikings-Panthers Goodell statement

[Marko]

This is no different than during the spy gate fiasco, when he said all teams "scout" signals which is legal but taping isn't. No one asked wth is the real difference.

 

[Zeus]

Not to be too pedantic, but I think the actual motive is that a cold football is harder to grip.... which is ultimately a meaningless distinction since that is the exact same reason why Tom would have deflated a ball. Grip is the same reason why the Chargers manipulated the balls as well.

Only Roger Goodell could take actions that have identical motives and effects and conclude that two are harmless and one is worth the harshest penalty in league history.

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I was only trying to point out that under the current rules, a ball deflated by the cold would be considered illegal and that the act of trying to warm it up to bring it into compliance would also be illegal. This inconsistency is hard evidence that the NFL hadn't thought very much at all about ball inflation until Commissioner Scheisskopf figured out he could use it to screw Brady and the Patriots.

 

[PatsFan_Belarus]

How long it will take to heat a ball by 20 degree? 1 minute? By this time pressure in a ball will change by (approximately) 1 PSI. Not .3, but 1! So, infraction is worse that Patriots blamed for. Does this NFL employee get instructed to do this? By whom? I'd like to see 20+ page report...

 

[The Brandon Five]

With the idiot Volin jumping on this issue, I had to address this.

Goodell's statement:
"The conduct at issue here is also very different from the ball-warming incident in Minnesota last year, in which a Carolina Panthers ball attendant was observed warming a ball on the Vikings' sideline; there was no evidence of any intentional attempt to violate or circumvent the rules, no player involvement, and no effort to conceal the ball attendant's conduct. As (NFL executive VP of football operations) Mr. (Troy) Vincent testified, the ball never got into the game and the matter "was addressed immediately."

In Goodell's bizarro world, video evidence = no evidence and a text message with the world deflator = direct, hard evidence. What other reason would the attendant be heating the ball than the circumvent the rule?

How did the NFL know that there was no player or staff involvement? Was there an 'independent' investigation into the Panthers' organization? If not, why?

I have been thinking about this issue a lot the past couple of days. How do they know that there was no player involvement without a $5 million three-month investigation and taking possession of the cellphones of the equipment manager, the coach, and the QB?

 

[Tunescribe]

This is so outrageous. Goodell makes me sick. It has gone far beyond fans having reason to dislike their sport's commissioner. He's on constant public display as an habitually lying pompous piece of crap who believes he can get away with anything just because it's him saying it.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

Defamegate is only an important issue for 3 reasons:

1. Patriots (any other team would have been warned)
2. Popularity with NFL fans at an all time low and he needed to pump up his approval ratings
3. Because he can do whatever he wants, it's in the legally binding CBA

optionally, he still thinks it's a player violation and not a team violation.

 

[Wax Frog]

How long it will take to heat a ball by 20 degree? 1 minute? By this time pressure in a ball will change by (approximately) 1 PSI. Not .3, but 1! So, infraction is worse that Patriots blamed for. Does this NFL employee get instructed to do this? By whom? I'd like to see 20+ page report...

RG - way to go on that pissing-off-Belarus thing

 

[Hoodie]

With the idiot Volin jumping on this issue, I had to address this.

Goodell's statement:
"The conduct at issue here is also very different from the ball-warming incident in Minnesota last year, in which a Carolina Panthers ball attendant was observed warming a ball on the Vikings' sideline; there was no evidence of any intentional attempt to violate or circumvent the rules, no player involvement, and no effort to conceal the ball attendant's conduct. As (NFL executive VP of football operations) Mr. (Troy) Vincent testified, the ball never got into the game and the matter "was addressed immediately."

In Goodell's bizarro world, video evidence = no evidence and a text message with the world deflator = direct, hard evidence. What other reason would the attendant be heating the ball than the circumvent the rule?

How did the NFL know that there was no player or staff involvement? Was there an 'independent' investigation into the Panthers' organization? If not, why?

Excellent post!

 

[skinnydog]

Wait, so they accidentally stuck the balls under the heater?

Also, I guess somehow no player was "generally aware" that a ball attendant standing right next to multiple players was shoving game balls under the heaters!!!

 

[MitchKumstein]

I have to stop reading these messages.....they piss me off too much

To recap, the Chargers are caught red-handed applying stickem to towels, they get a $20K fine. The Panthers are caught red-handed messing with the psi of footballs, they get no punishment at all. The Patriots are accused of messing with the psi of footballs, and with no evidence at all they are fined $1 million, the team is stripped of first and fourth round draft picks, and their star quarterback is suspended for 1/4 of the season

How aggravating is that??

 

[letekro]

Apart from the bald-faced lies, this was the weakest part of the appeals decision. I thought Kessler could have made a bigger deal of it in the NFLPA briefs.

 

[mihap]

With the idiot Volin jumping on this issue, I had to address this.

Goodell's statement:
"The conduct at issue here is also very different from the ball-warming incident in Minnesota last year, in which a Carolina Panthers ball attendant was observed warming a ball on the Vikings' sideline; there was no evidence of any intentional attempt to violate or circumvent the rules, no player involvement, and no effort to conceal the ball attendant's conduct. As (NFL executive VP of football operations) Mr. (Troy) Vincent testified, the ball never got into the game and the matter "was addressed immediately."

In Goodell's bizarro world, video evidence = no evidence and a text message with the world deflator = direct, hard evidence. What other reason would the attendant be heating the ball than the circumvent the rule?

How did the NFL know that there was no player or staff involvement? Was there an 'independent' investigation into the Panthers' organization? If not, why?

eh, u cant argue with devil.
They want to screw BB&co before SB, luckily BB&co won and that is all that matters.
I wish that Brady will win cause of him and his reputation but again as in spygate his owner Bob bend over Kraft screw our poor Tommy, and make a deal with the devil. And in hell devil has a last word. Hope that Berman is somekind of an archangel who will punish godell

 

[mihap]

There are two rules that Godell has:

1. Godell has always right
2.Even if Godell isnt right, check the first rule

 

[dales804]

Apart from the bald-faced lies

 

[Canuck]

What about the "Chargers sticky towels". (sounds like a porn film title) http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap10...diego-chargers-fined-20k-by-nfl-in-towel-case

"NFL game officials are charged with protecting the integrity and competitive fairness of the games and club staff members, like players and coaches, have a clear obligation to cooperate in this effort and comply with the direction of game officials. As a result of the failure of club staff to follow the directive of a game official to immediately surrender the towels when directed to do so, and to attempt to conceal the towels, the Chargers have been fined $20,000."

Imagine what would have happened if the above message tweaked a bit was issued for Deflategate.

"NFL is charged with protecting the integrity and competitive fairness of the games and club staff members, players and coaches, have a clear obligation to cooperate in this effort and comply with the direction of the NFL. As a result of the failure of Tom Brady to follow the directive of Ted Wells to immediately surrender his cell phone when directed to do so, and to attempt to conceal it's contents, the Patriots have been fined $20,000."

 

[Raymond]

This is so outrageous. Goodell makes me sick. It has gone far beyond fans having reason to dislike their sport's commissioner. He's on constant public display as an habitually lying pompous piece of crap who believes he can get away with anything just because it's him saying it.

Ha Ha, I recall that event a couple years ago, where you and some Pats fans saw Goodell speak at a "Gillette?" function for Season tix holders only. There was a question and answer session with the Fuhrer himself. Lucky you.

How'd you like to run down that road again today!

 

[Canuck]

I stated another thread that the last line looks like evidence of a sting. If when the balls disappeared and they decided to use the back up balls or retest the balls, then the case against the Pats would be less because they didn't use them in the game and the issue was addressed immediately. Now that they didn't, it is the reasoning for the harsh punishment.

(What if scenario) What if the NFL has been lying and actually knew of the Ideal Gas Law. With the note from the Colts, they had the perfect opportunity to conduct a sting operation. They waited until halftime to measure the footballs because they wanted them to have time to deflate. Maybe they lied under oath that they didn't know about the IGL because that would be clear evidence of a sting operation.

 

[BingoBrown]

Defamegate is only an important issue for 3 reasons:

1. Patriots (any other team would have been warned)
2. Popularity with NFL fans at an all time low and he needed to pump up his approval ratings
3. Because he can do whatever he wants, it's in the legally binding CBA

optionally, he still thinks it's a player violation and not a team violation.

Don't forget this guy

you don't want to see him cry again

 

[Tunescribe]

Ha Ha, I recall that event a couple years ago, where you and some Pats fans saw Goodell speak at a "Gillette?" function for Season tix holders only. There was a question and answer session with the Fuhrer himself. Lucky you.

How'd you like to run down that road again today!

I sometimes think about that as a missed opportunity to really lay into him. But the climate was much different back then. Still, I challenged him on the 18-game regular season schedule he was pushing and he responded with typical evasion/doublespeak. Instead of directly addressing the reservations I expressed about 18 regular-season games, he emphasized that fans are tired of four preseason games and in general "want more football."

I'm sure he knows better than to organize a similar event in Foxboro now. He wouldn't do well.

 

[Raymond]

I sometimes think about that as a missed opportunity to really lay into him. But the climate was much different back then. Still, I challenged him on the 18-game regular season schedule he was pushing and he responded with typical evasion/doublespeak. Instead of directly addressing the reservations I expressed about 18 regular-season games, he emphasized that fans are tired of four preseason games and in general "want more football."

I'm sure he knows better than to organize a similar event in Foxboro now. He wouldn't do well.

He'd be taking his life in his hands.