Bob Kravitz writes about Deflategate [Four Games in Fall Documentary]

[Captain Cliche]

1. Two games before the Colts game (at the Jets game) ball pressure was 16 psi. An official complaint was filed by the Pats.
The NFL and refs didn't give a rats ass about ball pressure and was using mickey mouse pumps and gauges to randomly inflate/deflate balls.

2. I believe, as others here, that the Pats system was tighter than the NFL's random BS ball inflation/deflation crap and balls were being adjusted to within the low end of acceptable. At least 2 of the Colts balls were below the minimum. Subsequent study findings by the NFL were never released for obvious reasons...it would have exonerated Brady and the Pats.

3. Wells investigation reviewed Brady's phone and said they needed no further information. The phone was then discarded. This was later used as propaganda.

4. Exponent is absolutely a "Science for Hire" company that has been hired by large tobacco and automotive companies. Their MO is to hire very bright scientific minds to discredit their opponent's science/information. The 31 billionaires know nothing about science and probably hired tutors to get them through that one science course requirement on their way to a finance degree (Kraft has an engineering degree, I believe ).

None of this makes any difference. The NFL effed up then had to double down on stupidity. Ultimately, it didn't make any difference. The final ruling is they can do anything they want due to a weak contract with the NFLPA.

As someone with a science degree, this disgraceful episode still gets me pissed off and I am obviously not over it.

Fortunately, deflategate has not aged well and is still getting scrutiny as the poster child for BS railroad jobs.

 

[Ring 6]

He was acquitted by Judge Berman for that.

The NFL’s appeal was only successful because 2 out of 3 judges said they have to defer to the arbitator’s ruling as crooked as the arbitrator and the process might be.

When a judges ruling is appealed and overturned it is no longer valid. In fact he had to expunge it.

Brady was suspended 4 games for cheating and lost his appeal. That makes him a convicted cheater. That’s the ignominy in this.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Nah it was the madman who wouldn’t allow inspectors in to verify he hadn’t violated the restriction against building WMDs. Imagine ignoring that and being wrong

Limitless imagination to justify a totally wrong war. Zero imagination or a casual glance at incriminating facts to stop a small group of Saudis from hijacking and crashing commercial planes.

 

[sb1]

When a judges ruling is appealed and overturned it is no longer valid. In fact he had to expunge it.

Brady was suspended 4 games for cheating and lost his appeal. That makes him a convicted cheater. That’s the ignominy in this.

The Second Circuit said in their ruling it was not their place to rule on what happened or what didn't happen with footballs but they had to enforce the CBA as it was which gave unlimited power to the arbitrator even if the arbitrator and process were crooked. Goodell himself even said they were appealing to enforce their rights and it wasn't about deflated footballs.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

they had to enforce the CBA as it was which gave unlimited power to the arbitrator even if the arbitrator and process were crooked

and biased

 

[Simpelton]

Kravitz is a total moron. PV=nRT is science.

Why did the nfl study footballs the next year and not publish any results? Because they realized (and buried) that in cold weather, footballs just like tires lose a little pressure. The whole thing is so stupid. And for Kraft to make Brady give in while fighting his own prostitution case is the height of hypocrisy.

.

Do you honestly think anyone, even Kraft, could MAKE Brady give in, or hell, make him do ANYTHING, if he didn't see the sense in doing so?

The Kraft-backstab narrative is old and tired and not all that accurate. Besides, they won back everything they lost on the field and made the Colts organization look like morons into the bargain.

 

[Ring 6]

Limitless imagination to justify a totally wrong war. Zero imagination or a casual glance at incriminating facts to stop a small group of Saudis from hijacking and crashing commercial planes.

Just saying when the rules are you need to allow inspectors to look for WMD and you refuse to let them in, it’s not a time for trust.

 

[Ring 6]

Do you honestly think anyone, even Kraft, could MAKE Brady give in, or hell, make him do ANYTHING, if he didn't see the sense in doing so?

The Kraft-backstab narrative is old and tired and not all that accurate. Besides, they won back everything they lost on the field and made the Colts organization look like morons into the bargain.

The Kraft backstab narrative is 100% accurate Kraft himself said so.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Brady shouldn't have to justify or explain why he didn't want to turn over - or give for examination - his phone or need to explain the circumstances of getting rid of it.

Requesting someone's personal property with no actual proabable cause for wanting it is contrary to any good faith investigative practice. It isn't the way an investigation works. You don't in good faith ask for someone's phone, computer, etc. as a catch-all wide net. It's no different than asking Brady "Would you volunteer to have your parents and some other relatives come talk to us?" Why on earth would he do that? It's no different than saying, "Hey, would you voluntarily let us come into your house for a few days while we comb it? We figure you'd want to prove your innocence."

You simply do not ask someone to voluntarily turn over a massive trove of information so that you can pick and poke away at it with the intent of searching for incriminating evidence. See the critcism by John Dowd, who investigated Pete Rose, about the unprofessional tactics used by Wells in reqeuesting the phone. The other aspect Dowd brings up is that in asking Brady to volunteer his phone, Wells did not present any consequences. That is, failing to volunatarily give one's personal property was not the scope of the investigation. It was presented to Brady as a choice if he wanted to use it to further prove his innocence, not as a demand which, if denied, would lead to a presumption of guilt or even more ridiculous, an obstruction of the investigation, which Goodell later argued in arbitration against..himself...and found his argument to be persausive to...himself.

No, this wasn't a legal proceeding and this wasn't law enforcement, but it brings up the very reason why search warrants require probable cause granted by an objective third-party, and why search warrants are often very limited in their scope, and why someone who opts not to voluntarily hand over their private propery, should not be seen as guilty by any extent of the law. It puts them in a crappy, no-win position, like we have here.

Sure, Brady doesn't have to turn over his phone or give a reason why he doesn't want to do so. But the NFL has the power to view this as an act of guilt. This isn't a criminal proceeding with the same standards. And you are assuming that Wells would have spent hours rummaging through his phone without any criteria. Wells said he would allow a third party forensics team to use particular search terms and only look at relevant texts and emails that come up. In fact, he allowed Don Yee to decide which documents that came up were relevant and should be turned over to the league. This is standard practice in litigation. In other words, Don Yee and Brady would control the production of those documents. Don Yee and Brady refused.

From the Wells Report, p25:

Similarly, although Tom Brady appeared for a requested interview and answered questions voluntarily, he declined to make available any documents or electronic information (including text messages and emails) that we requested, even though those requests were limited to the subject matter of our investigation (such as messages concerning the preparation of game balls, air pressure of balls, inflation of balls or deflation of balls) and we offered to allow Brady‟s counsel to screen and control the production so that it would be limited strictly to responsive materials and would not involve our taking possession of Brady‟s telephone or other electronic devices. Our inability to review contemporaneous communications and other documents in Brady‟s possession and control related to the matters under review potentially limited the discovery of relevant evidence and was not helpful to the investigation.

And do you realize that the entire 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals hearing focused on the destroyed cell phone? So tell me again, why is not cooperating with the above request from Wells a good/smart idea?

 

[JarOfMayo51]

this guy is pathetic

Rode the Brady/Patriot hype train leading up to Superbowl to make a name for himself, along with all the Mark Brunells and the other pieces of human fecal matter that used Brady's publicity and the platform of the Superbowl just to get stories out there with their name attached to them

Now he's trying to go back and milk it a little more, leading up to the NFC Championship Game so he can get his name out there and get people on talk radio, etc talking about it...

These guys are so disgusting... not sure how you can wake up every day living with yourself being such a parasite

 

[Ring 6]

The Second Circuit said in their ruling it was not their place to rule on what happened or what didn't happen with footballs but they had to enforce the CBA as it was which gave unlimited power to the arbitrator even if the arbitrator and process were crooked. Goodell himself even said they were appealing to enforce their rights and it wasn't about deflated footballs.

Yes, all of the legal cases said it was goodells authority to judge the facts. Goodell judged Brady to be a cheater and a liar.

 

[Ring 6]

Sure, Brady doesn't have to turn over his phone or give a reason why he doesn't want to do so. But the NFL has the power to view this as an act of guilt. This isn't a criminal proceeding with the same standards. And you are assuming that Wells would have spent hours rummaging through his phone without any criteria. Wells said he would allow a third party forensics team to use particular search terms and only look at relevant texts and emails that come up. In fact, he allowed Don Yee to decide which documents that came up were relevant and should be turned over to the league. This is standard practice in litigation. In other words, Don Yee and Brady would control the production of those documents. Don Yee and Brady refused.

From the Wells Report, p25:



And do you realize that the entire 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals hearing focused on the destroyed cell phone? So tell me again, why is not cooperating with the above request from Wells a good/smart idea?

You are relying on the veracity of the Wells report? Good one.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Sure, Brady doesn't have to turn over his phone or give a reason why he doesn't want to do so. But the NFL has the power to view this as an act of guilt. This isn't a criminal proceeding with the same standards. And you are assuming that Wells would have spent hours rummaging through his phone without any criteria. Wells said he would allow a third party forensics team to use particular search terms and only look at relevant texts and emails that come up. In fact, he allowed Don Yee to decide which documents that came up were relevant and should be turned over to the league. This is standard practice in litigation. In other words, Don Yee and Brady would control the production of those documents. Don Yee and Brady refused.

From the Wells Report, p25:



And do you realize that the entire 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals hearing focused on the destroyed cell phone? So tell me again, why is not cooperating with the above request from Wells a good/smart idea?

Your argument rests on what Ted Wells claims...wow.

 

[farn]

Kravitz is a total moron. PV=nRT is science.

Why did the nfl study footballs the next year and not publish any results? Because they realized (and buried) that in cold weather, footballs just like tires lose a little pressure. The whole thing is so stupid. And for Kraft to make Brady give in while fighting his own prostitution case is the height of hypocrisy.

.

Looks like modern society, in many aspects, would rather not heed science. Not try and understand PV=nRT. Your last sentence is strong. I wish there was something more than « agree ».

 

[PatsDeb]

Kravitz is a blowhard who likes to listen to the sound of his own unlistenable voice. He knows there's nothing there, but he'll dredge up an old story, tell you there's [still] no evidence, but his gutless gut tells him there was something there. What a maroon. Thank God it all blew up in his and Roger Goodell's faces when the Pats went 3-1 with back-up QBs and a well rested Brady took them all the way to Super Bowl Champs. If that isn't karma, I don't know what is.

 

[Doctor DDS]

Goodell should have been sued for what he did to the Patriots and Brady.

.

 

[jmt57]

If I recall correctly the NFL and Goodell had been skewered publicly for a couple of their investigations/non-investigations that occurred immediately prior to PSI-gate, one being the Ray Rice fiasco. It seemed they were absolutely determined from the start to not be exposed as inept or have to admit they were wrong once again. As a result they kept on doubling down, moving the goalposts - and most importantly, controlling the narrative that would be repeated by the media.

I haven't watched the documentary yet, but from the synopsis on their website, that is exactly what the NFL attempted (and succeeded) in doing. Even to this day most fans of the 31 other teams believe Brady did something wrong, with the logic that he must be guilty because he was suspended.

The other part of this fiasco was the rumors about the 31 other owners pushing hard for guilt/suspension - due to a desire for the Patriots to be less successful and/or a belief they were not punished enough for camera-gate.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

All Righty Then. Time for the NFL to give us an extra #1 pick as reparations.
#15 & #16 will do.
PV=nrT FTW!
Who's with me?

 

[Simpelton]

The Kraft backstab narrative is 100% accurate Kraft himself said so.

You're gonna have to source that

 

[Ring 6]

You're gonna have to source that

I assumed you were paying attention at the time. You don’t remember The needs if the 32 outweighs the needs of 1 so we will accept the penalties and not appeal?