BRADY/PATS PUNISHMENT OVER TURNED BY JUDGE. (Updated 9/3/15)

[Sgt. Largent]

What is actually the most crazy about this entire fiasco is, the League, after being lobbied by several Qb Stars, allowed each and every team to prep their own balls, and the only check maintained is a pre game locker room pressure test.

So, by helping players use balls prepped to their specific requirements, all being different, depending on certain specific players, we now wind up with this kind of mess.

Why not just treat NFL game balls like MLB does their baseballs. Even if you have to hire an extra guy or two to do the work, make them part of the game day official team, have them prep all the balls for both teams, never let them out of their sight or control, and do away entirely with team sponsored ball boys?

To hell with a pressure range! Inflate every ball to the same pressure, and go play. Qb's throw it, Rb's carry it, punters punt it, and kickers do their thing. All with the same batch of balls. Might be very interesting to see if stats change for better or worse, up or down, when the ball equation becomes insignificant.

Good Lord knows the NFL can afford the expense!

Good question, and one MMQB kinda addressed last week, but didn't really give a satisfactory answer.

Basically because the top QB's like Brady and Manning asked to use their own footballs, the league said yes................because it means more offense? That might be the lamest reason I've ever heard for changing the rules.

Either way, it's obviously you can't give players control over anything or else they're going to try and work the system. So just take this away and have ONLY official gameballs touched by appointed refs or league people. No player or team involvement allowed.

 

[ivotuk]

I'm not sure what this is supposed to show. To me it means they have been doctoring the balls at home and on the road.

This was addressed at the bottom of the last page. (probably why it got missed :th2thumbs: )

In any case, the key piece of text:

But road teams do not bring their own ballboys to games. So, if a home-team ballboy was doctoring the footballs in any way before the game, that’s not something that could happen on the road.

Which of course makes it physically impossible for any patriots employee to deflate the balls because, you know, unless you're called a ballboy, it's physically impossible for you to deflate a ball. Which also means that it's impossible for anyone not called a Quarterback, to throw a touchdown pass to an offensive lineman who was obviously not called a wide receiver.

Edit: Because we all know what happened when Tony Romo, who is not called a Holder, tried to hold the ball for a game winning, chip shot field goal in Qwest Field.

 

[vonstout]

A question I have on ideal gas law and the tests done. We know the Pats balls deflated more than the Colts balls. But if I get in my car in the morning during cold weather occasionally the low tire pressure light will come on since he had an entire night for the PSI of the tire to drop. However when I start driving it heats up the air inside the tire. They tests where done with the ball being static.

However, these were being used. Friction being created against the pigskin, as well as several rotations in correlation with the velocity it traveled thus bouncing the air particles rapidly inside the ball and creating heat through friction. Wouldn't that have some small effect. Meaning that the PSI would have been higher had they simulated some conditions of friction on the balls?

Friction is proportional to the force applied between the surfaces and the friction coefficients. Your tire has a lot of weight and the coefficient between cement and rubber is huge compared to pigskin and air. The tire is in motion most of the time compared to the football. Huge difference. The football won't change much, if at all.

 

[lvnginhwktwn]

 

[Scottemojo]

I thought each team provided the footballs for their own possessions? Surely home-away splits wouldn't matter

This part:

But road teams do not bring their own ballboys to games. So, if a home-team ballboy was doctoring the footballs in any way before the game, that’s not something that could happen on the road.

Also...this whole thing is stupid.

:lol:

Agreed.

I think you are going to regret believing King on this one. Road teams still use their own footballs, even if no ball boy traveled. The Colts had their own footballs, right?

It would not make any sense to have a rule allowing QBs to prepare and use balls they prefer, then not let them use them in road games.

 

[SnoCoHawk]

It would not make any sense to have a rule allowing QBs to prepare and use balls they prefer, then not let them use them in road games.

Make sense? That ship has sailed for Pats fans. They're deep into the "Least Plausible Explanation" zone. Sure, there were multiple complaints against the Patriots about deflated balls, and okay - they actually FOUND deflated balls during a surprise inspection, there are text messages from The Deflator talking about deflating balls and what he wants from Brady in return, there's film of The Deflator taking the balls into an area without cameras after the ref inspection, and there's Tom himself saying he likes his footballs deflated and also lying about even knowing The Deflator even though he clearly does. But that's all just a coincidence if you're a Pats fan.

 

[chris98251]

The ball boy may not go but they still have equipment managers and his assistants.

 

[Exittium]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/05/12/brady-will-use-kessler-for-appeal-of-suspension/

Lol, the comments. I have now zero, absolutely zero respect for any patriot fans. Hell even some personal friends of mi e who live over there have gone roont and delusional, now I refuse to even talk to them. They are really a breed of their own. Not the good kind either. More like the the kind that follow one another into a slaughter house. Hell there maybe some okay stuff on the east coast but, when I read this crap and talk to fans or people over there.. I'm more and more thankful I live over here.

 

[kearly]

What Brady did was like going 15 miles per hour over the speed limit, getting pulled over, acting like he did nothing wrong then finally spitting in the cop's face when asked for license and registration.

It's not really the cheating itself, but the douchey and dishonest way that Brady, the Patriots organization, and Patriots fans themselves handled the whole thing which got the hammer so high before it dropped.

 

[Vetamur]

What Brady did was like going 15 miles per hour over the speed limit, getting pulled over, acting like he did nothing wrong then finally spitting in the cop's face when asked for license and registration.

It's not really the cheating itself, but the douchey and dishonest way that Brady, the Patriots organization, and Patriots fans themselves handled the whole thing which got the hammer so high before it dropped.

Totally agree.. if the day this happened Brady and his ballboys or whatever had just come forward and said "yes, we do it all the time, didnt realize it was a big deal. We knew there technically limits but no one ever seems to care (which is true..until this happened the refs were very lose with air pressure)...we wont do it anymore!" then they would have gotten a slap on the wrist I think. Their mock outrage and how they handled the investigation made them their own worst enemy.

 

[Hawkfan77]

What Brady did was like going 15 miles per hour over the speed limit, getting pulled over, acting like he did nothing wrong then finally spitting in the cop's face when asked for license and registration.

It's not really the cheating itself, but the douchey and dishonest way that Brady, the Patriots organization, and Patriots fans themselves handled the whole thing which got the hammer so high before it dropped.

The cover up is always worse than the original crime. I completely agree with this analogy.

 

[formido]

What Brady did was like going 15 miles per hour over the speed limit, getting pulled over, acting like he did nothing wrong then finally spitting in the cop's face when asked for license and registration.

It's not really the cheating itself, but the douchey and dishonest way that Brady, the Patriots organization, and Patriots fans themselves handled the whole thing which got the hammer so high before it dropped.

If you're fully acquainted with the scope, it's the cheating. Once the smoking gun that Brady was cheating was revealed, the analytics community is admitting that Sharp Sports was right about the fumble rate issue.

Scott Kacsmar from Football Outsiders shows Brady's fumble rate went from 110th to 6th best ever after the rule was changed: https://twitter.com/FO_ScottKacsmar/sta ... 0090603521

Scroll back through his timeline for plenty more:

https://twitter.com/FO_ScottKacsmar

Imagine if you could guarantee your team a world class fumble rate for 7 or 8 years. You would trade a helluva lot more than a 4 game QB suspension and a lost 1st rounder for it.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

If you're fully acquainted with the scope, it's the cheating.

Wells went out of his way to go into detail about how uncooperative Brady and the entire Patriot's organization was during the investigation..........so the punishment was WAY more severe due to the lying and unwillingness to cooperate.

If Brady and the Pats would have just come clean and said something like "Yes I instructed the equipment managers to lower the pressure as much as possible WITHIN the legal limits, and if that didn't happen I'm sorry and we'll fully cooperate and accept whatever punishment the league sees fit." Then Brady would have only got maybe a one game suspension, and a far less fine for the Pats.

But that didn't happen, they made a joke out of the entire thing by denying, lying, and being A-holes to Wells and his investigators. Thus the much harsher punishment.

 

[vonstout]

What Brady did was like going 15 miles per hour over the speed limit, getting pulled over, acting like he did nothing wrong then finally spitting in the cop's face when asked for license and registration.

It's not really the cheating itself, but the douchey and dishonest way that Brady, the Patriots organization, and Patriots fans themselves handled the whole thing which got the hammer so high before it dropped.

If you're fully acquainted with the scope, it's the cheating. Once the smoking gun that Brady was cheating was revealed, the analytics community is admitting that Sharp Sports was right about the fumble rate issue.

Scott Kacsmar from Football Outsiders shows Brady's fumble rate went from 110th to 6th best ever after the rule was changed: https://twitter.com/FO_ScottKacsmar/sta ... 0090603521

Scroll back through his timeline for plenty more:

https://twitter.com/FO_ScottKacsmar

Imagine if you could guarantee your team a world class fumble rate for 7 or 8 years. You would trade a helluva lot more than a 4 game QB suspension and a lost 1st rounder for it.

NW Pats was saying it's because BB's great coaching. Don't you think the Pat's tracked their improvement over the years? I know BB is arrogant, but I doubt that he thinks there fumble rates dropped way below every other team in the league based on his coaching. That's why I think BB new about it all along. Brady probably had a conversation along the lines of " Hey Bill, I like to have the balls a little flatter than the 12.5 PSI limit. I've talked to McNally and Jastremski and they think they can deflate the balls after they are inspected. I'd prefer that and by the way, it will help our WRs and RBs catch the ball and hold on to it too. I assume you'd like to see our fumble rate drop, right. Are you OK with this?"

 

[hawknation2015]

[youtube]xT9pygVQwgk[/youtube]

 

[SnoCoHawk]

[youtube]xT9pygVQwgk[/youtube]

That made me laugh! I especially liked the muppet-hands.

 

[HawkAroundTheClock]

[youtube]xT9pygVQwgk[/youtube]

HAHAHAHA! To me, this song is perfect! :lol:

CHEATERS GOT BUSTED!

If Tom goes "full arrogant" and tries to push back with an appeal, I say WTH let's go full congressional investigation. He can hang himself... er hoist himself up onto Mount Douchemore with Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro, etc.

Shoot, Tom, why not throw in a photo op with Lance Armstrong for good measure?

 

[pmedic920]

 

[ivotuk]

 

[kf3339]

The main thing for me about this whole situation is that I seriously doubt the Patriots are in the Super Bowl, let alone the AFC championship game if they were not cheating with the footballs. The penalty was far too low and damages the integrity of the game.

I actually hope the appeal ends up not only they losing, but that the officer makes the penalty even harder to reflect the real damage Brady and the Patriots did to the game. It won't happen, but would really make the point loud and clear.