"I don't get why the League would want to make Brady look guilty if he isn't"

[Seacoast Fan]

The NFL offices genius is Jeff Pash....born and raised in Brooklyn...head lawyer of the NFL
25. Jeff Pash: Executive VP and General Counsel, NFL
While Roger Goodell is the name everyone recognizes when it comes to the top power circles of the NFL, Jeff Pash (No. 25) is the second most powerful man in the league. A brilliant legal mind with a low-key, amiable personality, Pash was instrumental in helping negotiate the collective bargaining agreement in 2011 and has tremendous sway when it comes to complex issues.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...-of-balls-in-afc-title-game-led-by-pash-wells

Goodell....NY born and raised...that's once

Jeff Pash...2nd most powerful man in the NFL...NYC born and raised...that's twice

Mike Kensil...ex-president as was his father, of the New York Jets...and, well, uh...just READ this and then YOU decide

"
Kensil's father, Jim, occupied similar positions to the one his son is in now (except in reverse). Beginning in the league office, Jim Kensil rose to become NFL executive director, running many of the day-to-day operations. Former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle referred to him as "my offensive and defensive coordinator." Following that, he became team president of the Jets in 1977, staying in the role until 1988.

Correspondingly, Mike Kensil worked in the same role for the Jets for 28 years before moving to the league office. He was in New York for Bill Belichick's infamous "one day reign" over the team before departing for New England. Kensil was fired in 2006 by former Belichick assistant Eric Mangini (all of this was noted by CSNNE reporter Tom Curran in a January column). The obvious implication in noting the ties to the Jets was that Kensil hates the Patriots (or, specifically, Belichick).

"I do know that Kensil has been agitating about footballs for months with the Patriots" Curran told WEEI's Dennis & Callahan on Wednesday morning. "He has been asking around about possible football manipulation for months, leading into this. So, it's kind of his white whale." Curran did add context that he's always heard Kensil to be "a good man," for what it's worth.

Again, those supposed Jets ties to the current investigation are speculative, but the most recent Deflategate report only seems to further rope Kensil into the story.

As the Outside the Lines article noted, it was Kensil who apparently decided to personally intervene and head down to check the PSI of the game balls at halftime during the AFC Championship. That Kensil (and not the referees themselves) would check the status of the footballs is somewhat peculiar.

http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2015/...e-lines-report-involves-former-jets-employee/

That's THREE strikes....coincidence???????????????????? Really, any of you actually believe this is ALL one big coinky-dinky???

And NFL headquarters is in New York City, the media capital of the world, which is a tremendous pro -New York team bias .... So they knew that, for example, the New York Post would have a field day with this .

 

[1960Pats]

Once again I can't help but laugh at the futility of trying to derail the New England Patriots Express, especially when it's a bunch of former Jets behind it as the Pats keep getting stronger and stronger.

It wouldn't surprise me if Brady got suspended and Garropolo came in for those games and dropped a few bombs on the opponents for wins, and then Brady came back well rested and stronger and more ready to go than ever.

Everything the Jets do turns to crap. Why would Framegate be any different?

 

[RobertWeathers]

I have heard this a lot in recent days. The argument is that there needs to be motivation for a conspiracy and there is none because Brady being guilty is the worst possible scenario for the league to have one of their most marquee players being a cheater. But I ask is it?

The League has gotten out pretty good for this. For the last few months, the growing feeling is the League was incompetent for having a 100 day investigation that will produce nothing and they may have intentionally smeared the Patriots too boot. Now they released a report that goes out of its way to exonerate anyone in the League of any wrong doing and ignore the leaks all together while burying Brady and no one is complaining about the League anymore.

The best way to take heat off yourself is to make someone else the bigger enemy. Goodell comes down hard on Brady and the Pats and they win a lot of good will back with the rest of the country for finally taking a hard stance and not sweep things under the rug. If Goodell gives Brady a 6-8 game suspension, he will be commended for most of the country. People will forget the Ray Rice stuff. People will forget the Adrian Peterson stuff. And now Brady is the bad guy. I think Goodell thinks this has been a good week for him.

Do I think Goodell was part of a sting? No. I think others were. Do I think Goodell is using this to rehab his image at Brady's expense? Sure.

But like most things Goodell does, it will likely come back to bite him. Brady is not going to go down quietly and between him and Giselle, he has unlimited resources to fight this if he chooses to. If he feels clearing his name is worth spending millions and millions to do so, he will do everything he can to fight it. This could end up blowing up in Goodell's face.

I think that Goodell wanted to find the Patriots guilty. Wells went digging to find guilt and not necessarily the truth. I think if the Wells report did not have the Pats' guilty, it would have been the worst case scenario for Goodell and the League. Making Brady the fall guy might not be ideal, but it is far better than coming up with nothing after all this.

Goodell vastly underrestimated his exposure here.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Or, it could be that the powers that be in the NFL office are still more than a little upset with Brady for putting his name first on the players' antitrust lawsuit. You could argue that lawsuit cost the owners big.

There may be some truth to this.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Why? Perhaps Goodell is as sinister and petty as we think he is and still has loyalties with his old Jets teams. Another possibility, Goodell is a marketing genius and all this is being orchestrated to maximize buzz for the league and generate ratings and revenue.

Think about it from a marketing standpoint. In sports, having a individual or team take on the "heel" role is ratings gold. For this to work, the heel has to be successful. What better team for this than the Patriots? They win. You're NEVER going to convince rival fans to love and respect them. However, when the Patriots go on the road, ticket prices skyrocket. When the Patriots are in the Superbowl, rating are through the roof.

How will the New England faithful feel about their team as the "heel"? Just make the case against them seem questionable and have inconsistent treatment for other well known infractions (Aaron Rodgers admission and heated balls in other games). The New England faithful are outraged at how their beloved team is being treated so unfairly and now they're galvanized! Ratings! Ratings! Rating!

Look at all the attention and action the league is getting. People are fixated on the NFL in May after the draft!

Look at Brady appearing at the Mayweather fight (I've never seen anyone play the heel role so brilliantly and have it pay off so well). Brady expresses his admiration for Mayweather and says "I'm okay with some people not liking me" . . . hmmmm, maybe Brady learned something from "Money May."

Maybe I'm over-thinking this and Goodell is simply a biased, petty douche that enjoys throwing his weight around. But maybe, just maybe, he's figured out that all this Patriots drama is rating gold and he's milking it for all he can.

Let's face it. All that talk about the Patriots being the model franchise and a dynasty and all being repeated all the time gets old and people want the talking heads to "change the ****ing record already." Now Patriots have a "dark side"; Now Brady is the good guy gone bad! Look at how well that plays in pro-wrestling!

To purest like myself, this is revolting garbage. From a sleazy marketing view point, this is the mother-lode.

Just a thought.

Brady has a marketing brand as well but being cast as a cheater by his league is not something he wants.

 

[reflexblue]

Don't think he ever forgot about "Brady vs NFL" 2011 antitrust Law suit. He is an egotistical maniac. The NFL has allowed him to become what he is.

I think he has a little Megalomania going myself.

Megalomania is a psychopathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of power, relevance, omnipotence, and by inflated self-esteem

 

[Kdo5]

I understand why the envious jackals in every corner of the league are eager to tarnish Brady's legacy. But it still amazes me that Goodell could have the gall to let this happen. The NFL is doing itself no favors by slandering the greatest player and leader in the history of the goddamn sport FALSELY. Is that really how they want NFL history to look? It won't be around too much longer anyway but this is just downright pathetic and a grave mistake.

Condemn the ultimate professional while allowing thugs and criminals to run rampant around the league serving meager penalties, if any. There will never be another Tom Brady. It is sad times not only for us Pats fans but for the state of the league.

Funny I just talked to a family friend today and he said he was so angry that he penned a letter straight to Goodell. I strolled into a convenience store the other night and the cashier just started venting to me about the whole thing. For all he knew I wasn't even a sports fan. But he blew up talking about Aaron Rodgers inflating balls and Goodell being a piece of crap. Needless to say we had a good five minutes together. Patriots fans will never let this go. New England will remember this travesty of justice for as long as the league still exists.

 

[reflexblue]

You could be right. Or, it could just be, Goodell is a totally incompetent ****head.

I think your closer to it, goodell is a bumbling **** head. He has a bs in economics and worked for the jest in public relations and promotions departments. Imo hardly material to be in the position hes in. Hes in over his head.

 

[vyrago]

Don't think he ever forgot about "Brady vs NFL" 2011 antitrust Law suit. He is an egotistical maniac. The NFL has allowed him to become what he is.

So why did Brady's name go first on that anti-trust law suit to begin with? He was considered by the NFLPA beyond reproach and therefore a good frontman for the suit. How does the NFL cope with that? Argue the merits of their position? No, since there are no merits, but they can undermine the players who represent a threat to their cozy little arrangement and number one on that list is Brady, hence the effort to dirty him up.

 

[50-yard-line]

There's also a little penny-wise and pound-foolish going on here, I think.

The deflategate story exploded in the news, on shows like GMA and Today, on every cable news network - everywhere - right before the Superbowl. There were two compelling teams and lots of sports storylines without the nonsense, sure, but the ratings went off the charts. Even non-fans who couldn't care less whether the "young" Seahawks (who are older than the Pats, go figure) could knock off the old man of the league.

But now they had something to understand: Americans LOVE to knock the poster-boy for perfection on his ass. Many, many, many people outside of New England HATE Brady, and did so before deflategate.

A good villain (Patriots) makes for good copy. Publicity for the league in that manner - blachk-hat/white-hat - garnered intrigue in a better way than talking about steroids, head injuries, woman beaters. or Heisman-trophy-winning, 1st-pick rapists.

Deflategate FAVORS the NFL and its ratings - for now.

In the long run, these kinds of WWE distractions will make the league a joke. Those who know football best, the hard-core fans, are already getting there.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

The sport of football has always been entertainment but the owner$ see morphing into WWE style as massively expanding their customer revenue base. It will only get worse as it goes full Kardashian.

 

[YOUGOTMOSSED]

There may be some truth to this.

That I don't believe. That was a class action by the players, Brady was simply one of the named plaintiffs. Peyton was a named plaintiff as well.

 

[Eric Manchester]

If we are talking conspiracy theories, how about the league trying to separate the Brady/Belichick/Kraft relationship right when the LA franchise(s) are about to be welcomed back in to the league.

Coincidence? Sure, but the only thing better than Brady being the league golden boy in Boston, is for him to be the golden boy/bad boy in LA.

Wow, if this happened, I would cease to be a Pats fan. I am not from Boston, but I am not crazy about teams moving, and I don't like LA teams in general (htough I hate the Lakers more than the Clippers and the Dodgers more than the Angels, though Anaheim technically isn't LA. I actually didn't mind the Rams when they were there, but I wasn't around when they moved from Cleveland....).

In any case, I would not be a Patriots fan if they moved out of NE. In fact, one of the cool things about the team is that they represent an entire region.

 

[Tunescribe]

In a sane world, this is what the commissioner SHOULD have done:

1). Pick up the telephone.
2). Dial the Patriots' number.
3). Say the following: "Bob, I've received a complaint from [team X] alleging that you're deflating footballs below the league-mandated PSI minimum. Consider this a friendly warning that we will monitor the situation going forward and if violations are confirmed you may be penalized. I'll fax this over in written form citing pertinent rules for dissemination to your coaching staff."
4). Hang up telephone.

 

[RobertWeathers]

That I don't believe. That was a class action by the players, Brady was simply one of the named plaintiffs. Peyton was a named plaintiff as well.

Brady was listed #1. He agreed to it.

Not saying it was wrong but by doing so attracted attention.

 

[YOUGOTMOSSED]

Brady has a marketing brand as well but being cast as a cheater by his league is not something he wants.

Ok, so Brady issues a public statement maintaining his innocence and standing by every statement he made during the investigation. His fans and his detractors won't change their positions.

This is anecdotal but most casual fans I've talked to say they find this whole thing pretty stupid. Even fans of some of our rival teams have said the same thing. Of course, Jets fans think this is the greatest think that's ever happened to them.

 

[YOUGOTMOSSED]

Brady was listed #1. He agreed to it.

Not saying it was wrong but by doing so attracted attention.

But this was just ceremonial. I doubt the league is THAT petty to hold something like that against him.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I doubt the league is THAT petty to hold something like that against him.

This whole investigation is about as petty it can get.

 

[Jackson 2]

Brady was listed #1. He agreed to it.

Not saying it was wrong but by doing so attracted attention.

I seem to recall it was alphabetical.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I seem to recall it was alphabetical.

Don't know. My point it that he chose to be part of it and had no issue being a headline.