Brady Suspended..

[57stratdawg]

4 Games. Pats lose 1st round pick in 2016 and 4th round in 2017. $1MM fine as well.

ouch.

 

[DerHntr]

No pay for those 4 games either. That's a 25% salary hit. Damn.

 

[rem101]

I'm sure he'll survive. The hoodie should be suspended too, but apparently hitting people too hard in football is worse than blatantly cheating.

 

[Dawgzilla]

That's gonna get reduced. Hell, that sounds like an over-reaching penalty that is intended to get reduced.

 

[jethreauxdawg]

4 games for something they have no proof of? Wasn't ray rice originally suspended 2 games for punching his wife, and that was in film.
Makes cents**

 

[justin.sixpack]

And Terrelle Pryor got 5 games for free tattoos in college. Makes perfect sense.

 

[chuckster.sixpack]

4 Games. Pats lose 1st round pick in 2016 and 4th round in 2017. $1MM fine as well.

ouch.

Breaking News!!!

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[MSUDawg25]

If he punched her on the field during the AFC championship game, he probably would have gotten more.

 

[jethreauxdawg]

What if the refs held her while she was getting punched, just like they held the ball before every snap? Should they be fired? Should they go back and penalize every lineman that held, but didn't get caught during the game? OL holding have a much bigger impact on the game than a slight air pressure change.

 

[DawgatAuburn]

Thanks Clay.

 

[MSUDawg25]

I'm actually in agreement. To me, this is the equivalent of the pine tar too far up the bat or MAYBE a corked bat. But it would have to be the Yankees after winning a championship and A-Rod is the culprit.

ETA: corked bats don't actually hit harder/farther

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

What I don't get is that there is a defined penalty, in the rule book for this. It's like walking off ten yards for a false start. Why have a set punishment for something and then not use it? I think it's a small fine. It feels like they're going after Brady because they can't get Bellicheck.

 

[hatfieldms]

If you read that rule it doesn't say the 25k is the only fine

I can't remember how it is exactly worded but it leaves it open for other punishment to be added

 

[thekimmer]

No proof?....

4 games for something they have no proof of? Wasn't ray rice originally suspended 2 games for punching his wife, and that was in film.
Makes cents**

First of all the NFL, like the NCAA, is not a court of law. The burden of proof is different. Secondly, there is not much dispute that game balls were deflated in violation of the rules. What was it, 9 out of 10 were checked and found to be underinflated? We also have a patriot employee caught on video taking the game balls in the john after they had been checked by the officials just prior to taking them to the field. For a pre-game 'leak' I suppose. Then we have texts from this same guy going back and forth with another dude clearly talking about deflating footballs and mentioning the name Tom.

So, why would two worker bees jeopardize their jobs deflating footballs on their own volition? They would not. Who would be motivated to have them do this? This mysterious person named Tom? How stupid would someone have to be not to conclude that this was Tom Brady? Then we have Brady refusing to cooperate in the investigation. That does not implicate him but it surely does not help his case.

I think there is ample evidence to conclude that someone in the patriots organization deflated footballs and ample justification under league rules to conclude Brady had something to do with it. I think the harshness of the penalty is because Brady was on record denying he cheated (i.e. lying) and also the patriots previous history of cheating. And for those who complain that deflating the balls made no difference I must ask, then why on earth did they do it? Obviously it was done because they believed that it did make a difference in their favor. Oh and BTW, Ray Rice abusing his wife is a terrible thing but it had nothing to do with play on the field and anyway he would be kicked out of the league if it happened today.

I just hope those two locker room guys enjoy the hush money they no doubt did or will receive.

 

[aTotal360]

I laugh when I hear people trying to put some magical scale on the severity of NFL "transgressions".

The way I see it, they should treat EVERY transgression with the same penalty. If you don't, it becomes this guessing game of "what worse?" And even then, it's still a slippery slope because you have to weigh accused vs convicted in domestic violence cases. It's not an exact science. Violate a rule once...get 4 games. Your next violation (no matter what it is)...full season. On pot, you start the suspensions at the 3rd strike.
Hell, I'd add at third tier to this. Get cuffed...automatic 1/2 game suspension.

Ex/ locker room bets > supposed rape > smoking dope > domestic abuse > texting from sidelines > tampering with equipment. How in the 17 are you supposed to weigh things that are so different?

 

[Dawgzilla]

Yeah, but did Brady know the equipment guys were breaking the rules? I mean, we know Brady liked the balls as soft as possible, and these guys were almost certainly doctoring the balls to make Brady happy. The equipment guys also obviously knew they were breaking the rules, or they wouldn't have been secretive about it. But I question whether Brady actually knew that the ball pressure he preferred was under the league spec? Isn't int conceivable that these guys were just trying to make Brady happy, but never clued him in that what they were doing was against the rules?

I think Brady's biggest problem was not being cooperative with the investigation. People can complain about personal privacy all they want, but when your employer is investigating you for possibly breaking company policy, you either cooperate with the investigation or you risk effecting your employment status.

 

[jethreauxdawg]

Circumstantial

Let's assume Tom sent a text ask them to lower the air pressure, that doesn't mean he said lower them below the allowable limit. I believe he had been pissed at them in a prior week because the balls had too much pressure. He probably cussed them out and threatened to have them fired, thus they hate him. No the NFL is not a court of law, but if they wrongfully take a few million of salary away from a player and can't prove why it was ok, it becomes a legal issue with the players union filing a claim on Tom's behalf.
Also, this is common for every quarterback to do. Talk to an equipment manager. Why do you think the refs check them once before the game and then allow the equipment manager to be alone with them?

 

[tcdog70]

How come nobody mentions the Refs? The Head linesman touched the ball on every play. If the ball was below standard throw the 17er out.

 

[thatsbaseball]

I agree. If the pressure is that damn important just check the balls before kick off and keep them in the officials` possession.

 

[patdog]

The fact is, the NFL never gave a damn about the game balls until the Colts LB called them on it and it became a story. Now, they're just trying to recover as much PR as they can. When the Vikings and Panthers were caught heating up game balls on the sidelines (against the rules), they were given a warning. When the Chargers were caught tampering with game balls, they were given a $20,000 fine. But when the Patriots do it and it becomes a story, suddenly it's 4 games for the QB and 2 draft picks for the team.