More from PFT " (Holy crap, I think I’m beginning to agree with Don Yee.) "

[livinginthe past]

Despite 'Deflategate' being characterized in some circles as a clown show, I believe it has been very carefully orchestrated since the beginning.

In general, it seems that NFL fans are lining up to pile on successful teams - regardless of bothersome evidence - look at the charade perpetrated against the New Orleans Saints - the utterly ridiculous 'Bountygate'.

When it comes to Patriots related scandals it's an extreme buyers market.

The constant 'leaks' by the NFL have no element of 'incompetence' to them - they are an integral part of the political war being waged on the Patriots - it's a well established way of setting the narrative without actually having to make deniable statements - Mort's (incorrect) leak about just how deflated the balls were etc etc.

Haven't we already seen this before?

Remember the 'taped walk through's' that have, through erroneous repetition, become an important part of 'CameraPlacementGate'?

The NFL knows how this works, despite their incompetence in some areas, they know that they have the implicit backing of about 95% of the NFL structure (owners, coaches, fans) to mete out punishment to the arrogant Patriots - who, infuriatingly, continue to defy parity.

The suspension of Tom Brady is coming, and despite all of the logical and political holes in the story, the NFL and its fans couldn't be happier.

 

[DarrylS]

IMO this whole story has gone off of the rails, from the beginning Andrews screwed the pooch as he did not record the pressure of the footballs, and then despite being warned, lost track of the chain of custody.. he should have retested the balls at that point to insure the integrity of the game.. so the baseline is probably mostly conjecture. Walt Anderson receives praise for his long "service" to the NFL....

Fast forward to half time, they confiscate and test the balls... all 12 of the Patriots balls and 4 of the Colts.. this also is flawed, as the Colts balls were not recorded before and after as well... so that comparison is also unreliable.. the bullcrap about delaying the game is bullcrap as those 8 balls of the colts could be tested in about a minute and a half.

They have tried to paint Brady as uncooperative.. however he met with the 4 inquisitors for 5 hours and according to Yee did not refuse to answer any of their questions.. however the reports paints him as uncooperative as he refused to give up his phone.. allegedly they wanted the history of the phone to see if this was a pattern, however we have been told that this investigation is solely connected to this game... duplicity???

The exhaustive report, does not provide appendices regarding all of the information gathered... would like to see the NFL emails and Grigson emails that the inquisitors had access to... and that might come out if Brady goes to arbitration or any other legal route.

So Goodell and staff are left with a mess, if they come down harsh on Brady.. he will appeal and not sure anything will stick due to the aforementioned improprieties and the NFL may have to show all of its cards.. and if he does not come down hard, he will be viewed as in Kraft's back pocket.. the Court of Public Opinion has already weighed in and they think Brady should be put in stocks for about 8 games.. Is that the pound of flesh that the NFL needs???

 

[upstater1]

Funny stuff about the Colts noticing the Patriots balls were deflated during the game in Indy.

Yeah, really? Who deflated them?

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

My conclusion in this is that Walt Anderson failed. He was warned to check the balls so make sure they don't get deflated or altered. When they suddenly go missing (for the first time in 19 years according to the report)
what does he do? Does he reexamine the balls to make sure they are within limits? No, he goes ahead and lets them play the first half. If he was so worried, he should have reexamined the balls and it would have eliminated a problem. And before anyone says, they were on a schedule, remember that they delayed the game 10 minutes at the last minute to allow people to watch the end of the NFCCG. A few more minute delay wouldn't have been a problem at all...