Speculation that punishment being handed down today

[ctpatsfan77]

I think Goodell is probably trying to decide between imposing a harsh penalty that will sate the media beast and some of the more jealous owners but that will lead to a protracted and ugly fight with Brady (that Brady might actually win) or imposing a more or less reasonable penalty that will enrage the media but that Brady, while still calling it "unfair," would not feel compelled to fight.

Two things:

(1) Goodell passed the discipline off to Troy Vincent.
(2) I believe Brady will fight any suspension, even if it's only one game.

 

[Kdo5]

I hope it's a 4 game suspension. Jimmy G plays lights out during those 4 games and we end up trading him for a 1st and a 2nd and then Brady comes back to set the single game passing yardage and TD records against the Colts in game 5 with balls inflated by 200 psi by the refs.

His last throw of the game is directly into the hands of D'Qwell Jackson and Brady says "More probably than not you can go **** yourself."

Although normally it would be more practical to simply allow Blount/Gray to embarrass the Colts again, I think circumstances call for Brady to toss the ball at least 40 times and absolutely slaughter them.

 

[Deus Irae]

Two things:

(1) Goodell passed the discipline off to Troy Vincent.
(2) I believe Brady will fight any suspension, even if it's only one game.

The smart move for the league would be to just hand down a small fine for the 'tampering' and a larger fine for the failure to provide the cell phone upon request. It could mention the Panthers, and how they got off with a warning, thus establishing an escalating approach to any such tampering moving forward. It should also admit that the current system is flawed, and needs to be overhauled, and acknowledge that the information regarding tampering is weak.

That would piss off people on all sides, which means it would be just about right.

 

[upstater1]

The smart move for the league would be to just hand down a small fine for the 'tampering' and a larger fine for the failure to provide the cell phone upon request. It could mention the Panthers, and how they got off with a warning, thus establishing an escalating approach to any such tampering moving forward. It should also admit that the current system is flawed, and needs to be overhauled, and acknowledge that the information regarding tampering is weak.

That would piss off people on all sides, which means it would be just about right.

The cell phone fine might be accepted by Brady but fought by the union

 

[Deus Irae]

The cell phone fine might be accepted by Brady but fought by the union

Favre's refusal cost him $50k. We're dealing with a lot of stupidity here but, as I warned during the CBA discussions, when so many here were telling me I was crazy to be looking at this stuff, this is what happens when you give in on this stuff in a CBA.

The league is now the investigator, the prosecutor, the finder of fact and the 'executioner', and those on 'trial' have almost no ability to run a countering defense.

 

[Wheelman]

I think they'll take draft picks away knowing Brady will fight this and win. They want to punish the Patriots and the only way they know they can is with draft picks. I'm sure they would love to suspend Brady instead but they know they'll lose.

 

[Mack Herron]

MarkMaske ?@MarkMaske 10m10 minutes ago

Looks for now like DeflateGate disciplinary rulings more likely next week than today. Always subject to possible change, though.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Two things:

(1) Goodell passed the discipline off to Troy Vincent.
(2) I believe Brady will fight any suspension, even if it's only one game.

Agreed. My definition of a "reasonable" penalty does not include any suspension. A reasonable penalty is a fine for Brady and probably the recommendation that the fall guys lose their jobs. He would, I think, and should fight any suspension, even of one series of ****ing downs.

 

[Ring 6]

The smart move for the league would be to just hand down a small fine for the 'tampering' and a larger fine for the failure to provide the cell phone upon request. It could mention the Panthers, and how they got off with a warning, thus establishing an escalating approach to any such tampering moving forward. It should also admit that the current system is flawed, and needs to be overhauled, and acknowledge that the information regarding tampering is weak.

That would piss off people on all sides, which means it would be just about right.

Lets not forget that the league is not bound to accept Wells conclusions.
So they could announce that while the Wells report found suspicion that Brady may have been aware but the league found that the evidence was highly circumstantial and required numerous assumptions including that everyone involved was not telling the truth without any contradictory evidence. While we take fair competition seriously we also take the rights of our players seriously and cannot find Tom Brady guilty by that level of conjecture.

 

[DefenseRules]

They will sneak the punishment in over the weekend. That is how the NFL does things.

 

[Ring 6]

Agreed. My definition of a "reasonable" penalty does not include any suspension. A reasonable penalty is a fine for Brady and probably the recommendation that the fall guys lose their jobs. He would, I think, and should fight any suspension, even of one series of ****ing downs.

I don't think a fine is reasonable. I think there is zero credible evidence that links Brady to any wrongdoing (and there isn't even evidence that there was wrongdoing).
The only way to consider Brady guilty is to say the Ted Wells is all-knowing and his interpretation of the text messages is correct and everyone else involved was absolutely lying.
What else is there?

 

[varjao]

I don't think a fine is reasonable. I think there is zero credible evidence that links Brady to any wrongdoing (and there isn't even evidence that there was wrongdoing).
The only way to consider Brady guilty is to say the Ted Wells is all-knowing and his interpretation of the text messages is correct and everyone else involved was absolutely lying.
What else is there?

He was also not accepting the law of ideal and real gases, I think we have a new discovery on the scientific field and should refuse what clayperon and some other folks did in the past. It's now the Wells Law of Gases.

 

[vyrago]

They will sneak the punishment in over the weekend. That is how the NFL does things.

Like early Sunday morning, when all these hypocrites are in church.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I don't think a fine is reasonable. I think there is zero credible evidence that links Brady to any wrongdoing (and there isn't even evidence that there was wrongdoing).
The only way to consider Brady guilty is to say the Ted Wells is all-knowing and his interpretation of the text messages is correct and everyone else involved was absolutely lying.
What else is there?

It's reasonable in the "Through the Looking Glass" context in which we are forced to operate. In a rational universe, this would never have been even a minor issue.

 

[DaBruinz]

Favre's refusal cost him $50k. We're dealing with a lot of stupidity here but, as I warned during the CBA discussions, when so many here were telling me I was crazy to be looking at this stuff, this is what happens when you give in on this stuff in a CBA.

The league is now the investigator, the prosecutor, the finder of fact and the 'executioner', and those on 'trial' have almost no ability to run a countering defense.

That is because Favre's cell had pictures of him that the sent..

Different situation.. Also, Favre was not as well connected in the NFLPA as Brady. As Yee has stated, Brady made the phone available when he was being questioned and complied with them in everything but allowing them to TAKE the phone..

 

[DaBruinz]

I think they'll take draft picks away knowing Brady will fight this and win. They want to punish the Patriots and the only way they know they can is with draft picks. I'm sure they would love to suspend Brady instead but they know they'll lose.

How can they punish the Patriots when they have already ruled that the Patriots Coaches, Ownership and staff outside of McNally/Jastremski knew nothing of the situation. Furthermore, it's already been shown by Well's own science findings that the Pats did nothing wrong.. Wells contradicts the findings of his science people in his report..

 

[Wheelman]

How can they punish the Patriots when they have already ruled that the Patriots Coaches, Ownership and staff outside of McNally/Jastremski knew nothing of the situation. Furthermore, it's already been shown by Well's own science findings that the Pats did nothing wrong.. Wells contradicts the findings of his science people in his report..

How can they conclude that Brady was "generally aware" without any solid proof? They just do it! That's just how disgusting the NFL is. I know it's hard to believe, but it's true.