Posted on 05/06/2015 12:49:42 PM PDT by TangledUpInBlue
Ted Wells' investigation into the possibility that the New England Patriots were involved in deflating footballs for the AFC championship game has found that it's more likely than not some of the Patriots were guilty.
"Based on the evidence developed in connection with the investigation and summarized in this Report, we have concluded that it is more probable than not that New England Patriots personnel participated in violations of the NFL Playing Rules and were involved in a deliberate attempt to circumvent those rules," the report, released Wednesday, said.
With that line on Page 121 of the massive report, it again questions the validity of the Patriots' great dynasty, which included a Super Bowl victory this past February, the fourth for coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.yahoo.com ...
I wish you would stop bashing Republicans. Leave it to the Democrats. Are you sure you aren’t a troll bashing good Republicans who happen to also be conservative?
Very true. I just want Tom to get back to preparing for Fall. He must not let this even worry him for a second.
And perhaps more importantly.... No equipment manager in the NFL, NOT ONE - would have the balls (no pun intended) to alter the footballs on his own accord without a Hall of Fame Quarterback knowing.... It just wouldn’t be done. He wouldn’t sit there and say: Gee, let me do this before a big game just to see if Tom likes it. It’s not believable.
I’m willing to bet that Tom Brady will be suspended. They have text messages he sent to the equipment managers. He obviously lied during Super Bowl week. He’ll be suspended and the team will likely be fined. Beyond that, not sure. Maybe a draft pick penalty, but it would not be a high round pick.
Here’s a link with the text messages......So much for no evidence.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/nfls-deflategate-report-disaster-tom-222506038.html
They only tested 4 of the Colt's footballs. Three of them were below 12.5 PSI.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/05/07/tom-bradys-agent-blasts-the-wells-report/
Brady felt the rule didn't apply to him, and broke it.
Typical Patriot hubris.
The rule is there’s a range of PSI (12.5 -13.5) and they can set it in that range. The refs “inspect” the balls before the game. then they go to the equipment guy. There’s been plenty of chatter over the years from various QBs about not particularly respecting the rule and having their equipment guys submit balls out of spec and hope the refs miss them (which apparently they do quite regularly). Nobody has admitted to having them tampered with after inspection, but the Viking and Panthers both got letters from the league when the cameras caught them aiming the sideline heaters into their bags. Apparently a lot of the guys don’t think the rules apply to them.
What’s interesting here is that the league decided to do this half-assed sting operation. The Colts warned the league before the game they felt the Pats deinflated balls. The league apparently decided to “investigate” with half time measurements (very outside the realm of normal procedure). But they didn’t actually bother to right down the measurements from the normal pre-game inspection, other than the official says they were “fine”. So we really don’t know how deflated they got. And they only got around to measuring 1/3 of the Colts balls during half time (again with no pre-game record), so we don’t really even know how the deflation compares, what could have been just normal use (Brady has commented in the past that Gronk spikes the ball so hard it loses air).
What we really know from this is Brady likes them below the legal limit, he complains a lot when they aren’t right, and he rewards the equipment guys with autographed swag when they are. That’s really what’s known. Oh, and it’s kind of a dumb rule and bad procedure that gives teams hours before and during the game to mess with the balls after ref approval.
***They only tested 4 of the Colt’s footballs. Three of them were below 12.5 PSI.***
For the actual measurements you can go to page 68 & 69 of the report. There were 8 measurements taken. One gauge had them all at 12.5 or above, the other had the low end as 12.15.
The Patriots, on the other hand, In 22 measurements, one gauge had none of them at 12.5# and actually had 5 weigh less than 11#. In the 22, only one over 12# (12.3).
You’re grasping at straws. You’re a Patriot fan..... I get it. In the grand scheme of things you’re no different than a Clintonista. No matter what the truth is you’ll deny it and claim conspiracy.
The report.... if you read it.... is damning. Have you actually read it?
The Patriots can't seem to win Playoff games on the road, but at home, they are a completely different team.
And little is being said about the deflated ball being easier for the running backs to carry so there are fewer fumbles.
Look at the amount of fumbles by the Patriots at home, it is nonexistent.
It just didn't meet Brady's standard so he thought he could ignore the rule.
Is using a ball with slightly less psi any worse then intentional repeated breaking of the rules during the last two minutes of a basket ball game?
why do intentional fouls not get trashed by the sports press
the NBA and colleges promote breaking the rules in basket ball
kids are schooled on how to break the rules
In the NFL the difference between a playoff game at home and on the road is often a matter of simply being the better team, especially if your stand at home includes not playing in the Wild Card round. The home team in the
Divisional round (teams that finished 1st or 2nd in the conference and got the bye) wins 75% of the time.
If deflated balls are so superior why doesn’t everybody deflate them? Rodgers likes them over inflated, Luck likes them on the high side of legal. The evidence is that it’s a matter of comfort not advantage.
Plenty of teams protect the football. That doesn’t mean the amount of air in the ball helps anybody. Again, if reducing fumbles was as simple as less air everybody would be doing it.
Lots of rules get ignored. Especially when there’s no good justification for the rule. And no real effort by the league to actually enforce it. Minnesota and Carolina got caught tampering with theirs last season (aiming the sideline heater into the ball bags), all they got was letters from the league. Didn’t seem like tampering was a big deal then, now all of a sudden it’s the worst thing to ever happen. Maybe it’s just the difference between bad teams and good. When bad teams ignore a rule nobody cares because they’re pathetic anyway, but when a good team does it the world gets deeply offended.
It seems that the Patriots have made a habit of finding ways to break them.
Yes, but Brady always seems to play poorly in those road games.
The Patriots are a different team at home, more so then any other team in the NFL.
Or he’s just being beat. Both team provide their own balls so there’s no difference between home and away on that front.
Except we know they don’t. The Vikes and Panthers got caught modifying the balls in the season, Aaron Rodgers has admitted to successfully sneaking overinflated balls past the refs. The only habit the Pats seem to have on that front is having the situation blown completely out of proportion when they get caught.
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