some decent picks.
4 months and 243 pages.
"probable".
whatever, Mr. Wells. great job. 
Seems pretty damn conclusive to me :
An investigator hired by the NFL concluded Wednesday that it was "more probable than not" that the New England Patriots personnel intentionally deflated footballs and that star quarterback Tom Brady was "at least generally aware."
😉
Seems pretty damn conclusive to me :
An investigator hired by the NFL concluded Wednesday that it was "more probable than not" that the New England Patriots personnel intentionally deflated footballs and that star quarterback Tom Brady was "at least generally aware."
😉
if you were on trial and your life or at least your reputation on the line, would you be happy with "probable" that convicted you? or would you want undeniable proof?
😉
i truly believe Pats cheated and Bill B would do anything to win whether within or outside the rules or boundaries. He and Brady make a good team. That being said, i believe Belichedk and Brady have won their last Super Bowl together.
That being said, Pats would have won that game if they threw medicine balls and Colts threw deflated footballs. The air in the ball had nothing to do with who won that game. I do not see any point in penalizing the Pats-they won the Super Bowl and who cares at this point.
i truly believe Pats cheated and Bill B would do anything to win whether within or outside the rules or boundaries. He and Brady make a good team. That being said, i believe Belichedk and Brady have won their last Super Bowl together.
That being said, Pats would have won that game if they threw medicine balls and Colts threw deflated footballs. The air in the ball had nothing to do with who won that game. I do not see any point in penalizing the Pats-they won the Super Bowl and who cares at this point.
They violated the rules. They can rant all they wNt to about how they would have won anyway, but the fact remains that they felt the need to cheat. Hopefully, the punishment will fit the crime and Pretty Boy Brady gets a lengthy suspension.
CHEATERS> PERIOD>
If NCAA players were exchanging autographs and favors to the equipment guys to have balls inflated the entire school's football program would be penalized. This is a real double standard.
They should take away all the Patriots' Super Bowl rings! This is outrageous!!!
Go Redskins!!! We don't have to cheat to suck!!! RGIII! RGIII!
The report was conducted on behalf of the NFL by an independent law firm. From the report, which is embedded in full at the bottom of this post:
For the reasons described in this Report, and after a comprehensive investigation, we have concluded that, in connection with the AFC Championship Game, it is more probable than not that New England Patriots personnel participated in violations of the Playing Rules and were involved in a deliberate effort to circumvent the rules. In particular, we have concluded that it is more probable than not that Jim McNally (the Officials Locker Room attendant for the Patriots) and John Jastremski (an equipment assistant for the Patriots) participated in a deliberate effort to release air from Patriots game balls after the balls were examined by the referee. Based on the evidence, it also is our view that it is more probable than not that Tom Brady (the quarterback for the Patriots) was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities of McNally and Jastremski involving the release of air from Patriots game balls.
At halftime of the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts on January 18, 2015, officials measured and found that all 11 of the Patriots game balls were below the minimum 12.5 pounds per square inch pressure level.On January 23, following the controversy, the NFL announced it had hired Theodore V. Wells, Jr. and the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison to conduct an independent investigation into the matter.
While the report says the team's personnel tampered with the pressure of their game balls, it added there was "no deliberate attempt" to do the same for a kicking ball during the AFC Championship game.
Perhaps most damning are a series of text messages included in the report between Jim McNally, the officials locker room attendant for the Patriots, and John Jastremski, an equipment assistant for the Patriots, that the pair exchange throughout the season. McNally referred to himself as "the deflator."
(Warning: The exchanges below contain some explicit language.)
From a text exchange on Oct. 17, 2014, following a Patriots-Jets game in which Brady complained about ball inflation:
texts
McNally also seemingly requests shoes, autographed balls and cash from Jastremski. From an Oct. 24, 2014, exchange:
texts2
(A needle can be used to deflate footballs.)
The report said that McNally -- without permission -- took the balls from the officials locker room and took them into a bathroom just before entering the field:
McNally entered that bathroom with the game balls, locked the door, and remained in the bathroom with the game balls for approximately one minute and forty seconds. He then left the bathroom and took the bags of game balls to the field.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft , who was found absent of any wrongdoing, released his own statement in defense of the organization on Wednesday:When I addressed the media at the Super Bowl on January 26 – over 14 weeks ago – I stated that I unconditionally believed that the New England Patriots had done nothing inappropriate in this process or in violation of the NFL rules and that I was disappointed in the way the league handled the initial investigation. That sentiment has not changed.
...
“Throughout the process of this nearly four-month investigation, we have cooperated and patiently awaited its outcome. To say we are disappointed in its findings, which do not include any incontrovertible or hard evidence of deliberate deflation of footballs at the AFC Championship game, would be a gross understatement. In addition, given our level of cooperation throughout the process, I was offended by the comments made in the Wells Report in reference to not making an individual available for a follow-up interview. What the report fails to mention is that he had already been interviewed four times and we felt the fifth request for access was excessive for a part-time game day employee who has a full-time job with another employer.
Kraft added that four of the Colts' footballs also measured below required psi levels. He went on to say that the team respects the investigation and will accept the findings and any disciplinary action ordered by the NFL."Fighting the league and extending this debate would prove to be futile," he said.
"I want to express my appreciation to Ted Wells and his colleagues for performing a thorough and independent investigation, the findings and conclusions of which are set forth in today’s comprehensive report," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.
"As with other recent matters involving violations of competitive rules, Troy Vincent and his team will consider what steps to take in light of the report, both with respect to possible disciplinary action and to any changes in protocols that are necessary to avoid future incidents of this type," Goodell added. "At the same time, we will continue our efforts vigorously to protect the integrity of the game and promote fair play at all times."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/06/deflategate-report-patriots-new-england_n_7224452.html
Apparently the NFL subscribes to the same "guilty until proven innocent" standard as the haters. What a joke.
The disgusting character assassination of Tom Brady
Wed, 05/06/2015 - 9:14pm
Mike PetragliaHope the Commissioner is happy with his league's hatchet job on the most successful quarterback to ever play the game.
Roger Goodell's league spent four months and a seemingness endless stream of legal resources on the "independent" Ted Wells report to kill the Patriots and Tom Brady over something they could never really prove.
In the end, what they found was enough evidence to be suspicious of the Patriots quarterback and equipment personnel inside Gillette Stadium. They did not find anything more than that.
If you spent five months turning over pebbles but couldn't move stones, that's on you. If you wanted to bring down Tom Brady and thought you had the ammo to do so, fine. It's a free country. And more to the point, as you said to old buddy Robert Kraft, it's your job to do so if you find probable cause.
But if you fail, which this independent report clearly did by virtue of its CYA language, then you owe an apology to the Patriots and Tom Brady. You shouldn't have dragged Brady's name through the mud without a smoking gun.
As soon as news broke early Wednesday afternoon and the Wells Report was made public, one line jumped out at me like a neon flashing sign.
"Tom Brady (the quarterback for the Patriots) was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities of McNally and Jastremski involving the release of air from Patriots game balls."
Exactly what does "at least generally aware" even mean?
Either you have the goods on Brady or you don't. This is clearly an attempt by the NFL to say we think you did something wrong but we can't prove it. Still, we're the NFL so we can at least tarnish your image.
This isn't the first time the NFL has come down on a legendary quarterback. For those of you who are history buffs, after winning Super Bowl III, Joe Namath opened a popular Upper East Side bar called "Bachelors III," which became associated with reputed criminals.
To protect the league's reputation, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle ordered Namath to divest himself of his interest in the bar. Namath refused, retiring from football during a teary news conference, but eventually agreed to divest his interest, and reported to the Jets.
Tom Brady won't be holding any tear-filled news conferences to announce he can't take it anymore. Neither will his dad. Tom Brady Sr. summed up, as well as anyone, the lunacy of the "at least generally aware" shot at his son.
"I don't have any doubt about my son's integrity - not one bit," Tom Brady Sr. told USA Today Sports on Wednesday. "In this country, you're innocent until proven guilty. It just seems Tommy is now guilty until proven innocent.
"This thing is so convoluted. They say that possibly - possibly - he was aware of this," he added. "The reality is if you can't prove he did it, then he's innocent, and lay off him. That's the bottom line.
"They had to protect their asses, and that's what they're doing," Brady Sr. said. "I just read that four Colts balls were underinflated. Amazing. Amazing.
"They're saying he's possibly aware. How do you put a cloud over somebody like this?" he asked. "To impugn somebody without conclusive evidence saying this is more probable than not? The reality is they have scientific evidence. Now they're overriding the scientific evidence and badgering the Patriots. It's disgusting."
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Unfortunately for Brady, his father and the rest of us, the NFL doesn't care how disgusting they are, or look. They know that fans will still pay to watch star quarterbacks like Brady line their pockets while they assassinate his character at the same time. What a daily double.
After five months and 243 pages of detailed documentation and investigation, we can now all get on with our lives. Except for Tom Brady. Sure, he's going about his offseason workout. Yep, he'll be getting a fourth Super Bowl ring. No doubt, he has the perfect home life with great kids and the super model wife.
But now, thanks to a vague, circumstantial report, his credibility has been permanently scarred. If you're going to go after a guy like Tom Brady, you have to have more in the end than "more probable than not" and "generally aware." A lot more.
"For the reasons described in this Report, and after a comprehensive investigation, we have concluded that, in connection with the AFC Championship Game, it is more probable than not that New England Patriots personnel participated in violations of the Playing Rules and were involved in a deliberate effort to circumvent the rules.
In particular, we have concluded that it is more probable than not that Jim McNally (the Officials Locker Room attendant for the Patriots) and John Jastremski (an equipment assistant for the Patriots) participated in a deliberate effort to release air from Patriots game balls after the balls were examined by the referee."
Not good enough. If you discipline Brady, you're doing so on circumstance and circumspect evidence. You have one final chance to save face. Don't suspend him over a report that fell way short of proving he was directly involved.
At least we all now know why the NFL wanted four months to release its report. They wanted to go hard after Tom Brady and prove that he cheated. They failed.
CHEATERS> PERIOD>
ask the Colts or the Seahawks if any of this matters.
better yet, ask the Ravens.
heh heh...
I will give you this: Malcolm Butler "cheated" on a slant route and made the greatest play of all time.
Have a good one...
Brady's agent's statement blasting wells report
Don Yee, the agent for Tom Brady, released this report Thursday morning slamming Ted Wells' Deflategate report:
"The Wells report, with all due respect, is a significant and terrible disappointment. It’s omission of key facts and lines of inquiry suggest the investigators reached a conclusion first, and then determined so-called facts later. One item alone taints this entire report. What does it say about the league office’s protocols and ethics when it allows one team to tip it off to an issue prior to a championship game, and no league officials or game officials notified the Patriots of the same issue prior to the game? This suggests it may be more probable than not that the league cooperated with the Colts in perpetrating a sting operation. The Wells report buries this issue in a footnote on page 46 without any further elaboration. The league is a significant client of the investigators' law firm; it appears to be a rich source of billings and media exposure based on content in the law firm's website. This was not an independent investigation and the contents of the report bear that out – all one has to do is read closely and critically, as opposed to simply reading headlines. The investigators' assumptions and inferences are easily debunked or subject to multiple interpretations. Much of the report’s vulnerabilities are buried in the footnotes, which is a common legal writing tactic. It is a sad day for the league as it has abdicated the resolution of football-specific issues to people who don’t understand the context or culture of the sport. I was physically present for my client’s interview. I have verbatim notes of the interview. Tom made himself available for nearly an entire day and patiently answered every question. It was clear to me the investigators had limited understanding of professional football. For reasons unknown, the Wells report omitted nearly all of Tom’s testimony, most of which was critical because it would have provided this report with the context that it lacks. Mr. Wells promised back in January to share the results of this investigation publicly, so why not follow through and make public all of the information gathered and let the public draw its own conclusions? This report contains significant and tragic flaws, and it is common knowledge in the legal industry that reports like this generally are written for the benefit of the purchaser."
Apparently the NFL subscribes to the same "guilty until proven innocent" standard as the haters. What a joke.
The disgusting character assassination of Tom Brady
Wed, 05/06/2015 - 9:14pm
Mike PetragliaHope the Commissioner is happy with his league's hatchet job on the most successful quarterback to ever play the game.
Roger Goodell's league spent four months and a seemingness endless stream of legal resources on the "independent" Ted Wells report to kill the Patriots and Tom Brady over something they could never really prove.
In the end, what they found was enough evidence to be suspicious of the Patriots quarterback and equipment personnel inside Gillette Stadium. They did not find anything more than that.
If you spent five months turning over pebbles but couldn't move stones, that's on you. If you wanted to bring down Tom Brady and thought you had the ammo to do so, fine. It's a free country. And more to the point, as you said to old buddy Robert Kraft, it's your job to do so if you find probable cause.
But if you fail, which this independent report clearly did by virtue of its CYA language, then you owe an apology to the Patriots and Tom Brady. You shouldn't have dragged Brady's name through the mud without a smoking gun.
As soon as news broke early Wednesday afternoon and the Wells Report was made public, one line jumped out at me like a neon flashing sign.
"Tom Brady (the quarterback for the Patriots) was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities of McNally and Jastremski involving the release of air from Patriots game balls."
Exactly what does "at least generally aware" even mean?
Either you have the goods on Brady or you don't. This is clearly an attempt by the NFL to say we think you did something wrong but we can't prove it. Still, we're the NFL so we can at least tarnish your image.
This isn't the first time the NFL has come down on a legendary quarterback. For those of you who are history buffs, after winning Super Bowl III, Joe Namath opened a popular Upper East Side bar called "Bachelors III," which became associated with reputed criminals.
To protect the league's reputation, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle ordered Namath to divest himself of his interest in the bar. Namath refused, retiring from football during a teary news conference, but eventually agreed to divest his interest, and reported to the Jets.
Tom Brady won't be holding any tear-filled news conferences to announce he can't take it anymore. Neither will his dad. Tom Brady Sr. summed up, as well as anyone, the lunacy of the "at least generally aware" shot at his son.
"I don't have any doubt about my son's integrity - not one bit," Tom Brady Sr. told USA Today Sports on Wednesday. "In this country, you're innocent until proven guilty. It just seems Tommy is now guilty until proven innocent.
"This thing is so convoluted. They say that possibly - possibly - he was aware of this," he added. "The reality is if you can't prove he did it, then he's innocent, and lay off him. That's the bottom line.
"They had to protect their asses, and that's what they're doing," Brady Sr. said. "I just read that four Colts balls were underinflated. Amazing. Amazing.
"They're saying he's possibly aware. How do you put a cloud over somebody like this?" he asked. "To impugn somebody without conclusive evidence saying this is more probable than not? The reality is they have scientific evidence. Now they're overriding the scientific evidence and badgering the Patriots. It's disgusting."
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Unfortunately for Brady, his father and the rest of us, the NFL doesn't care how disgusting they are, or look. They know that fans will still pay to watch star quarterbacks like Brady line their pockets while they assassinate his character at the same time. What a daily double.
After five months and 243 pages of detailed documentation and investigation, we can now all get on with our lives. Except for Tom Brady. Sure, he's going about his offseason workout. Yep, he'll be getting a fourth Super Bowl ring. No doubt, he has the perfect home life with great kids and the super model wife.
But now, thanks to a vague, circumstantial report, his credibility has been permanently scarred. If you're going to go after a guy like Tom Brady, you have to have more in the end than "more probable than not" and "generally aware." A lot more.
"For the reasons described in this Report, and after a comprehensive investigation, we have concluded that, in connection with the AFC Championship Game, it is more probable than not that New England Patriots personnel participated in violations of the Playing Rules and were involved in a deliberate effort to circumvent the rules.
In particular, we have concluded that it is more probable than not that Jim McNally (the Officials Locker Room attendant for the Patriots) and John Jastremski (an equipment assistant for the Patriots) participated in a deliberate effort to release air from Patriots game balls after the balls were examined by the referee."
Not good enough. If you discipline Brady, you're doing so on circumstance and circumspect evidence. You have one final chance to save face. Don't suspend him over a report that fell way short of proving he was directly involved.
At least we all now know why the NFL wanted four months to release its report. They wanted to go hard after Tom Brady and prove that he cheated. They failed.
That is some hilarious melodrama right there.
hawk, you got a pm.
That is some hilarious melodrama right there.
Perhaps.
That is, until you consider that the Wells Report's "scientific" consulting firm is the same firm that has previously "proven" tobacco doesn't cause cancer, asbestos isn't bad for workers and there's no harm in dumping toxic waste in the Amazon rain forest.
Anyone who argues that this report is unbiased or independent is either lying to themselves and others or is simply a fool.
[Edited on 5/7/2015 by gondicar]
That is some hilarious melodrama right there.
Perhaps.
That is, until you consider that the Wells Report's "scientific" consulting firm is the same firm that has previously "proven" tobacco doesn't cause cancer, asbestos isn't bad for workers and there's no harm in dumping toxic waste in the Amazon rain forest.
Anyone who argues that this report is unbiased or independent is either lying to themselves and others or is simply a fool.
At the time I thought it was the right thing to do, but denying absolutely all knowledge of everything comes with risk. This report provides no specific proof, and in the case of the AFC Championship Game, they could have been playing with beach balls filled with helium and it still would have turned out the same.
Now, a QB the level of Brady claiming that he knew and knows absolutely nothing at all about the inflations of footballs? That's just silly and strains all credulity. That's when denial gets into the territory of placing a chip on your shoulder and daring someone to knock it off. Still doesn't prove he cheated, but that denial is pretty ridiculous.
As to Brady's legacy? In the long run, it will be just fine.
That is some hilarious melodrama right there.
Perhaps.
That is, until you consider that the Wells Report's "scientific" consulting firm is the same firm that has previously "proven" tobacco doesn't cause cancer, asbestos isn't bad for workers and there's no harm in dumping toxic waste in the Amazon rain forest.
Anyone who argues that this report is unbiased or independent is either lying to themselves and others or is simply a fool.
[Edited on 5/7/2015 by gondicar]
Coming from a completely 100% biased observer that is quite rich! Here from your hometown newspaper. But I KNOW you will just attack Shaugnessy because you could not make an unbiased comment on this if your life depended on it.
o there. Deflategate takes its place alongside Spygate. The damage to the Patriot brand is universal and eternal. Brady, the Patriots, and their fans have to live with it.
Patriot toadies no doubt will line up to say that the league did not prove anything that would hold up in a court of law (Brady’s dad has already labeled it “Framegate”). It’s all circumstantial, they’ll say. Plus, it says right in the report that Bob Kraft and Bill Belichick knew nothing about the intentional deflation of the footballs. It was just a couple of rogue equipment guys breaking the rules.
Good luck with that one, folks. Bend yourself into a pretzel if you must, but Brady and the Patriots are insulting your intelligence if they want you to believe that they were not aware of what was happening to the footballs on game days.
No organization, no coach are more attentive to detail than the Patriots and Belichick. And we’re supposed to believe that before the kickoff of the AFC Championship game, a veteran team locker room guy can disappear while he’s in possession of game balls that have already been approved by officials?
Seriously, when do the Patriots stop lying and come clean on this thing? The damage is done. Insistence on innocence is not likely to be helpful when we get to the penalty phase of this scandal.
Nobody in Foxborough looks good. Brady looks like a guy who broke the rules and lied about it. Belichick looks ridiculous in the wake of his Jan. 24 Mona Lisa Vito science lesson. And Kraft evidently has been duped. Again. Just as he was duped on Spygate. And on Aaron Hernandez.
The act itself is not the issue I think but the fact that it looks like Brady lied about it is the real issue here.
If he gets suspended it will be related to the principal of the matter that he knowingly cheated and lied about it not the act itself which, IMHO, is trivial.
And somehow I don't think it will tarnish his image, as he is one of the greatest QB's in NFL history, but it does give the haters ammo to annoy the hardcore Pats fans by reinforcing the image that the the Pats cheaters.
[Edited on 5/7/2015 by Bill_Graham]
Who has it better than Brady???? So let him take some heat for being a pompous asshole. And i do believe he cheated. Someone with as much PAST success as this guy had with little to show recently would cheat to win. So would Belachek. That is how they come off to everyone except for their diehard biased fan base.
Brady and Belachek have forged an amazing partnership and we all wish our teams were in their league. Their legacy will be just fine as someone else said. But they erred stupidly on this one because they had not tasted a Super Bowl for a couple of years and needed to get there soooooo bad. They deserve the flak
And i will say it again. Brady will never win another Super Bowl.
From page 228 of the wells report
“In sum, the data did not provide a basis for us to determine with absolute certainty whether there was or was not tampering as the analysis of such data ultimately is dependent upon assumptions and information that is not certain.”
It amazes me that the same media that doesn't care about missing emails and servers for much more serious matters from the top levels of the government has already passed judgment on this.
From page 228 of the wells report
“In sum, the data did not provide a basis for us to determine with absolute certainty whether there was or was not tampering as the analysis of such data ultimately is dependent upon assumptions and information that is not certain.”
It amazes me that the same media that doesn't care about missing emails and servers for much more serious matters from the top levels of the government has already passed judgment on this.
Football is serious business! nobody cares if a politician erased his/her e-mails which is why our political system is such a mess.
ok you got me there
That is, until you consider that the Wells Report's "scientific" consulting firm is the same firm that has previously "proven" tobacco doesn't cause cancer, asbestos isn't bad for workers and there's no harm in dumping toxic waste in the Amazon rain forest.
Anyone who argues that this report is unbiased or independent is either lying to themselves and others or is simply a fool.
Coming from a completely 100% biased observer that is quite rich!
First of all, anyone who cares enough about this to post about it is biased one way or the other. No question in my mind about that. Secondly, feel free to convince me that the report is unbiased and independent.
Here from your hometown newspaper. But I KNOW you will just attack Shaugnessy because you could not make an unbiased comment on this if your life depended on it.
If you know anything about Shaugnessy, you know his is intentionally polarizing, and that is putting it kindly. Anything he writes is his opinion only and should be taken as such (and with a huge grain of salt).
The entire thing has been nothing more than an NFL-sanctioned witch hunt.
The worst part of this is if Brady gets suspended we will have to listen to gondicar and piacere whine about it for the next 6 months. For that reason alone I hope this gets dropped. 😛
Back to real football the Cowboys sing LA'EL Collins. Considering he was projected as a 1st round pick this is a great signing for them and only makes, arguably, the leagues best OLine that much better
The entire thing has been nothing more than an NFL-sanctioned witch hunt.
If it is, why? Why would the most lucrative entertainment corporation in America witch hunt their champion?
The entire thing has been nothing more than an NFL-sanctioned witch hunt.
If it is, why? Why would the most lucrative entertainment corporation in America witch hunt their champion?
I don't know why, and that's one reason why the whole thing reeks. My guess would be that they'd rather point the finger at at employees of a team than allow the shield itself to be impugned by the actions of its own employees, like for instance game officials.
Show me where in the report there is one piece of evidence, circumstantial or otherwise, that shows Brady knew anything about deflating footballs AFTER the referee is supposed to have inspected them. Perhaps Brady gave the impression to the equipment guys that he wanted them to push it below the limits if possible and see if the refs catch it, but I'd bet my house that he never directed them to deflate them after inspection. Show me evidence of THAT and I will show you a problem.
Could it be a case of a rouge employee(s) taking it upon themselves to do something (deflating the balls after inspection) that they perceive (knowing TB12 likes em soft) to be helping the team? Ok, maybe that's what it is. But as I said from the start, and reinforced by this useless document; the NFL should be ashamed this circus got this far when they had a chance to stop it before it could even have happened.
I'm over it and looking forward to back-to-back championships for the Patriots.
[Edited on 5/7/2015 by gondicar]
That is, until you consider that the Wells Report's "scientific" consulting firm is the same firm that has previously "proven" tobacco doesn't cause cancer, asbestos isn't bad for workers and there's no harm in dumping toxic waste in the Amazon rain forest.
Anyone who argues that this report is unbiased or independent is either lying to themselves and others or is simply a fool.
Coming from a completely 100% biased observer that is quite rich!
First of all, anyone who cares enough about this to post about it is biased one way or the other. No question in my mind about that. Secondly, feel free to convince me that the report is unbiased and independent.
Here from your hometown newspaper. But I KNOW you will just attack Shaugnessy because you could not make an unbiased comment on this if your life depended on it.
If you know anything about Shaugnessy, you know his is intentionally polarizing, and that is putting it kindly. Anything he writes is his opinion only and should be taken as such (and with a huge grain of salt).
The entire thing has been nothing more than an NFL-sanctioned witch hunt.
Oh please. I have been a Celtics fan since 1965, I was a Red Sox die hard from 67 until I became an Indians season ticket holder in 94,a Bruins fan for the same span until I became a Blue Jackets season ticket holder on day 1 of their existence and have read the Globe every day since I was a teenager. I am well versed in who Dan Shaugnessey and all the other players in the Boston media are. As I said previously, you can not make an objective comment on this matter. I am not a Pats hater and don't really think this is that big a deal but they got busted and your rose colored glasses will not change that.
The entire thing has been nothing more than an NFL-sanctioned witch hunt.
If it is, why? Why would the most lucrative entertainment corporation in America witch hunt their champion?
If the NFL has proven anything, it is how duplicitous it can be.
Wells Report ignores NFL lying to Patriots
by Jerry ThortonFrom Pro Football Talk – To no surprise, the 274-page report generated by Ted Wells contains plenty of information. And that information includes some bad information that initially was given to the Patriots.
At page 100 of the report, Wells explains that the January 19 letter from NFL senior V.P. David Gardi to Patriots owner Robert Kraft provided two inaccurate facts to the Patriots.
“The inspection, which involved each ball being inspected twice with different gauges, revealed that none of the Patriots’ game balls were inflated to the specifications required under Rule 2, Section 1,”Gardi wrote. “In fact, one of the game balls was inflated to 10.1 psi, far below the requirement of 12-1/2 to 13-1/2 psi. In contrast, each of the Colts’ game balls that was inspected met the requirements set forth above.”
The Wells report notes that not a single measurement of any of the New England footballs reflected a PSI reading of 10.1. In fact, only one measurement of one football was as low as 10.5 PSI.
The Wells report also points out that Gardi’s comments about the Colts’ game balls was not accurate. On one of the two gauges used to test the footballs, THREE of the four Colts balls tested were UNDER the limit of 12.5 PSI.
The Wells report essentially shrugs at these arguably significant misstatements of fact, pointing out that Gardi wasn’t personally at the game (they why did he write the letter?) and that the mistakes were “inadvertent.”
But the errors speak to a potential degree of zeal and desire by some in the league office to catch the Patriots in the act. … [and] should at least spark healthy curiosity that someone was out to get the Patriots.
Far be it for me to cast doubt on the NFL or the Wells Report. After all, I don’t want to come off like a homer, taking the side of a franchise that’s set the gold standard of success in a league that constantly passes rules designed specifically to stop them (Illegal contact in 2005, ineligible receiver in 2015). It wouldn’t be fair of me to suggest that the fact someone from NFL headquarters who wasn’t at the game sent the team a completely erroneous email filled with misinformation speaks to someone “out to get the Patriots.” After all, I don’t have proof.
Nor can I state that just because Wells dismisses these lies as “mistakes” – make that “inadvertent mistakes” – simply made by one man, not part of any larger bias against the Pats and not worthy of looking into any further proves the report isn’t on the level. Because I don’t have any facts to back that up.
However, after a comprehensive investigation, I have concluded that it is more probable than not that National Football League personnel participated in a deliberate effort to deceive the Patriots. In particular, I have concluded that it is more probable than not that Roger Goodell and David Gardi participated in a deliberate effort to make it look like the Patriots footballs were severely under-inflated and the Colts’ were not.
Based on the evidence it is also my view that it is more probable than not that Ted Wells was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities of Goodell and Gardi.
So there. Based on the new standard of guilt in football, which is to say the old standard of guilt in all witch hunts, despite and sort of proof I find the league, Goodell, Gardi and Wells all guilty of cheating, lying and covering up and deserve to be suspended and disgraced.
See how fun that was? It’s easy to come to a conclusion when you know what it’s going to be ahead of time. And it didn’t take me 100 days.
[Edited on 5/7/2015 by gondicar]
Another article from a two bit sycophant at WEEI. Oh wow, I am convinced now, it is all a frame job.
