Deflategate is Back!

[Stinky Wizzleteats+]

Tom Brady has a public appearance scheduled tonight

Posted by Michael David Smith on May 7, 2015, 11:54 AM EDT

AP
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has so far let his agent do the talking about the Deflategate report. But that may change tonight.

Brady has a long-scheduled public appearance tonight, and although he would surely prefer not to talk about the investigation that concluded that he probably knew he was throwing under-inflated footballs, that topic may be unavoidable.

Brady committed months ago to appear tonight at Salem State University, and there’s been no indication that he plans to cancel. It would only make Brady look like he has something to hide if he backed out now.

And this isn’t a typical speech in which Brady is choosing his own topic. It’s a sit-down moderated by veteran sportscaster Jim Gray. It’s hard to imagine that Gray — who has built his reputation on contentious interviews with the likes of Mike Tyson and Pete Rose — would avoid the topic of Deflategate just because Brady might not want to talk about it.

So expect Brady to address Deflategate tonight. If his agent’s comments are any indication, Brady will denounce the Ted Wells report and proclaim his innocence.

[Stinky Wizzleteats+]

Shady Brady? Damning 'Deflategate' texts could force NFL to bench star
By Edmund DeMarche
Published May 07, 2015
FoxNews.com
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NFL: 'Probable' that Patriots deliberately deflated balls
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Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady could face a four-game suspension and his New England Patriots could be sanctioned as well, following a damning report by the NFL that found the star quarterback likely knew about the scandal known as "Deflategate," according to one former league insider.

Brady, one of the league's most recognizable players and a likely future Hall of Famer, won his fourth Super Bowl ring in February, but the pre-game hoopla was marred as he sought to deflect claims he had ordered game balls to be deflated against league rules. Critics say the deflated footballs, discovered during the Patriots' AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts, allowed the quarterback to get a better grip. A 243-page report commissioned by the league and released Wednesday determined that Brady was "at least generally aware" that team employees were doctoring the footballs.

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"The question is: Did these deflated footballs affect the integrity of the game? And the answer is: Yes they did."

- David Cornwell, a former lawyer for the NFL
"The question is: Did these deflated footballs affect the integrity of the game?" said David Cornwell, a former NFL attorney who specializes in representing athletes facing disciplinary measures. "And the answer is: Yes, they did."

Cornwell, who does not represent Brady, predicted the star will be suspended between two and four games and the team will likely face a fine. He said there's also a possibility that Brady's actions could lead to the team losing future draft picks.

Brady's agent, Don Yee, called the report, by veteran attorney Ted Wells, a hit job and said it "reached a conclusion first, and then determined so-called facts later." He said the report left out much of Brady's testimony.

More on this...

Will 'deflategate' allegations impact Tom Brady's legacy?
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David Cornwell talks to reporters in Florida with his client Jameis WInston. (Reuters)
It is the second time in the last decade that substantiated allegations of cheating by the Patriots have put pressure on the league to punish the team. In the scandal known as "Spygate," the Patriots were caught illegally videotaping the Jets’ defensive signals during the first game of the 2007 season. The team was fined $750,000 and docked a first-round draft pick.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, who has been criticized for not being harsh enough on players, including Ray Rice, who was videotaped knocking out his fiancee in an Atlantic City hotel elevator last year, has vowed to crack down on wrongdoing in the league. Cornwell said Goodell, who is known to be friends with Patriots owner Robert Kraft, will have to prove he is impartial, and added that Kraft will expect as much -- even though the team has already criticized the report as not having "any incontrovertible or hard evidence of deliberate deflation of footballs."

"Brady's refusal to provide us with his own emails, text messages and phone records on relevant topics, in response to our narrowly tailored requests, limited the evidence available for our review and analysis," the report said.

The report does stop short of finding as fact that the balls were deliberately deflated on Brady's orders. Although Brady was uncooperative with investigators, refusing to turn over his cellphone, two team employees did. Text messages between John Jastremski, a team equipment assistant, and locker room attendant Jim McNally, who appears to call himself the "deflator," left little room for doubt that footballs were purposely doctored for Brady's benefit.

One October exchange between the two seemed to imply that their anger at Brady prompted them to refuse to deflate footballs before a game.

Jastremski: Can't wait to give you your needle this week

McNally: F--k Tom….make sure the pump is attached to the needle…..fu-kin watermelons coming

Jastremski: So angry

McNally: The only thing deflating sun..is his passing rating

The report also points to an exchange in January that appears to show McNally being rewarded by the quarterback with sneakers and autographed footballs.

Brady and the Patriots denied any knowledge about football tampering. The star quarterback held a press conference in January to separate himself from the controversy, but it proved to have an opposite effect.

The normally cool quarterback appeared tense and deliberate with his words. The New York Times reported that, "he gripped the lectern so hard it looked as if he was trying to squeeze the life out of it. Then quickly let go, as if noticing that his death grip betrayed his nerves."

One reporter asked him point blank: "Is Tom Brady a cheater?"

"I don't believe so," Brady responded, with a chuckle.

Head coach Bill Belichick offered little cover for Brady at the time, with one USA Today headline that read, "Bill Belichick hung Tom Brady out to dry."

"Tom's personal preference on his footballs are something he can talk about in much better detail than I can possibly provide," he said.

The scandal captivated much of the country and even led to President Obama taking a shot at the team when the Super Bowl champions visited the White House last month, a trip Brady skipped.

"I usually tell a bunch of jokes at these events, but with the Patriots in town, I was worried that 11 out of 12 of them would fall flat," Obama joked.

It remains to be seen what effect the scandal and the new report will have on the legacy of Brady, one of the game's most prolific passers of all time and one of just three quarterbacks to lead a team to four Super Bowl championships. The Associated Press called him "Teflon Tom," in reference to scandals that entangle the quarterback that never seemed to stick, from the team's illegal videotaping to "an out-of-wedlock child with the actress he jilted before marrying the world’s richest supermodel."

"What I see is that he goes from being 'Tom Perfect' to 'Tom Not-So-Perfect' in some people's eyes," Marc Ganis, president of sports business consulting firm SportsCorp, said

[Wheels]

I still dont understand why the teams bring their own balls to the games, anyway.

It's just asking for abuse.

[Geezbolt]

I still dont understand why the teams bring their own balls to the games, anyway.

I see this eventually leading to a standardized game ball controlled by the league and implemented by a new member of the crew of officials. Not too slick, not to scuffed, inflation right in between the high and low limits. The same for everyone. I know the ball is already standardized, but allowing the QB's to tailor them to their personal preferences will become a thing of the past.

[6025]

I see this eventually leading to a standardized game ball controlled by the league and implemented by a new member of the crew of officials. Not too slick, not to scuffed, inflation right in between the high and low limits. The same for everyone. I know the ball is already standardized, but allowing the QB's to tailor them to their personal preferences will become a thing of the past.

Letting QBs tailor the ball is relatively new thanks to Manning/Brady heavily lobbying the league.

[captaind]

Report: Tom Brady “could be suspended for one season”
Andrew Vigliotti May 7, 2015 AFC, AFC East, New England Patriots, NFL
In the wake of the released Ted Wells report that implicates the New England Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady were “more probable than not” involved with deflate gate, harsh suspensions could be coming to the organization and Brady himself.

According to the Miami Herald

No need to read any further.

[Wheels]

By the way, it's pretty clear from the 2 employee's texts that Tom Brady is as big of an asshole as most of us on this forum have considered him. You'd think those guys would idolize him, but it seems all they do is resent him.

I guess I should say that it's "probable" that Tom Brady is an asshole.

[captaind]

Why should we expect Goodell's balls to suddenly inflate when doling out any punishment?

[Stinky Wizzleteats+]

Report: “Everything” on the table regarding Tom Brady punishment
Posted by Darin Gantt on May 7, 2015, 1:30 PM EDT

Getty Images
At the moment, the idea that the NFL is targeting poor Tom Brady in the DeflateGate investigation seems concentrated to a group of Patriots fans and/or Tom’s dad.

But it’s clear that the league is taking this one seriously.

As Florio pointed out this morning, a suspension of the Patriots quarterback seems unavoidable, as unlikely as that might seem on its face.

At the very least, it is being considered at the league level.

According to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, a league source familiar with the disciplinary process said we shouldn’t dismiss the possibility that Brady might go away for a period of time.

“Everything is being studied, everything is being considered,” the source said (emphasis Armando’s, not mine).

The league has gone hard on the crime-and-punishment from since being embarrassed by the Ray Rice debacle, as players such as Greg Hardy can attest.

But to suspend the starting quarterback of the defending Super Bowl champions (who kick off the season on national television) would be a huge move.

Of course, conspiring to break the rules of the game, and not cooperating with an investigation would be considered a huge lapse as well.

[Stinky Wizzleteats+]

So at least Goodel is considering growing a pair...

[sandiego17]

Have the Colts been penalized yet?

[bonehead]

I see this eventually leading to a standardized game ball controlled by the league and implemented by a new member of the crew of officials. Not too slick, not to scuffed, inflation right in between the high and low limits. The same for everyone. I know the ball is already standardized, but allowing the QB's to tailor them to their personal preferences will become a thing of the past.

I think the impact on the fumbling aspect of this is overlooked.....from what I've seen as soon as teams were able control the balls ( 2007 ) the Patriots fumble rate tumbled.

http://www.sharpfootballanalysis.com/blog/2015/the-new-england-patriots-mysteriously-became-fumble-proof-in-2007