SalishHawkFan
New member
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2009
- Messages
- 5,872
- Reaction score
- 0
So here is what we know:
November 2014 - The Colts intercepted two Brady passes and both times found the ball to be deflated. They took these balls to their equipment manager (notice that they did not go straight to the refs who were responsible for ensuring that the balls were legal and had the ability to force the Pats to provide legal balls, more on this later) and in turn filed a complaint with the NFL.
The NFL responded that they were now aware of the situation and would be monitoring it closely.
January 2015 - the refs tested the balls prior to the game, just as they had done last November. For an entire half, the refs did not check to see if the balls were inflated - though they'd become aware of the issue two months previously and were supposedly "monitoring" the situation. Not until yet another interception occured and the ball was found to again be deflated and the Colts AGAIN did not bring this directly to the refs attention but AGAIN went over their heads straight to the Chief of Football Operations were the refs FINALLY made to check the balls at halftime, where they found 11 of 12 balls to be significantly deflated and at the end of the game, where they found the same results.
No Colts balls were deflated, thus ruling out environmental effects.
The refs handle these balls every single down. Gerry Austin, in an attempt to divert media investigation into possible collusion of the refs and the Patriots to ignore the rules, pointed out that:
The amount of time the refs handle the ball may be very limited, but when you already have an issue the NFL has promised to monitor closely, please explain how the NFL is supposed to monitor the situation other than by having the refs be aware of it and having them take the time to actually look for it.
The Colts player had the ball for a small amount of time. It wouldn't take more than a second or two to feel the ball and notice the difference. Did the refs at any point take just a moment to feel if the ball felt flatter?
No, they did not. It was another example of concious non-calls by the NFL referees. It was another example of the NFL referees holding Tom Brady to a different standard of rules enforcement than the rest of the league.
No wonder the Colts defenders bypassed the referees all three times they caught the Patriots cheating.
They've built a very strong case of referee bias.
November 2014 - The Colts intercepted two Brady passes and both times found the ball to be deflated. They took these balls to their equipment manager (notice that they did not go straight to the refs who were responsible for ensuring that the balls were legal and had the ability to force the Pats to provide legal balls, more on this later) and in turn filed a complaint with the NFL.
The NFL responded that they were now aware of the situation and would be monitoring it closely.
January 2015 - the refs tested the balls prior to the game, just as they had done last November. For an entire half, the refs did not check to see if the balls were inflated - though they'd become aware of the issue two months previously and were supposedly "monitoring" the situation. Not until yet another interception occured and the ball was found to again be deflated and the Colts AGAIN did not bring this directly to the refs attention but AGAIN went over their heads straight to the Chief of Football Operations were the refs FINALLY made to check the balls at halftime, where they found 11 of 12 balls to be significantly deflated and at the end of the game, where they found the same results.
No Colts balls were deflated, thus ruling out environmental effects.
The refs handle these balls every single down. Gerry Austin, in an attempt to divert media investigation into possible collusion of the refs and the Patriots to ignore the rules, pointed out that:
ABC NEWS
The amount of time the refs handle the ball may be very limited, but when you already have an issue the NFL has promised to monitor closely, please explain how the NFL is supposed to monitor the situation other than by having the refs be aware of it and having them take the time to actually look for it.
The Colts player had the ball for a small amount of time. It wouldn't take more than a second or two to feel the ball and notice the difference. Did the refs at any point take just a moment to feel if the ball felt flatter?
No, they did not. It was another example of concious non-calls by the NFL referees. It was another example of the NFL referees holding Tom Brady to a different standard of rules enforcement than the rest of the league.
No wonder the Colts defenders bypassed the referees all three times they caught the Patriots cheating.
They've built a very strong case of referee bias.
