NFL probing Patriots' possible use of deflated balls during AFC Championship

Maybe the Texans should cheat a little more since it has been shown that the biggest scumbag cheating organizations are successful and its ok'd by the NFL.

 

Spoiler

 

You just won the BBS for today. Congrats.

 

How is it not a big deal? What if the game was close? Would it be a big deal then?

 

Hahahaha, WoW! Bucks troll game is strong.
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lol old but still funny

 

The Jets, Broncos and many other teams were fined for recording practices... Denver was also fined for coating their linemen in vasoline during games during their Super Bowl runs. It happens... Teams/players do everything they can on the margins to get an advantage.

 

Very sad.

Karma is a b**** and it will soon get them.

 

The NFL has to announce something by today to change the Super Bowl storyline. This way, the discussion will focus on the punishment over the weekend and finally revert back to the game next week.

It will be a draft pick or two. Maybe also a fine. Anything more than that risks the penalty overshadowing the game.

 

Funny thing is I figured Bill and Tom would have been smarter than trying to pass the buck. If they would have just owned up to it the story would be over and no way they miss the Super bowl.

If they are found to be lying? Oh man, they could get a nice long suspension.

 

I think they probably would have owned up to it if this had gone down after the Superbowl.

Don't want to be a confessed/admitted cheater (again) in the dead week (aka media frenzy) before the Superbowl.

 

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the only people shrugging this off are Pats fans or Brady fans.

Troy Aikman: This is worse than bountygate

Andre Ware (radio): This is huge. Huge advantage in cold weather to play with a deflated football. QBs and receivers always talk about the ball feeling like a rock in cold weather. No way Brady didn't know. Anyone who handles the football would know. There should be a suspension, but no way NFL messes with the Superbowl. Should be a long suspension next season.

Jerry Rice: Pats are cheaters, asterisk if they win

Spoiler

I'm not going to put the reactions of some others that bashed the Patriots because I've heard the "jealousy" excuse and the "reverse racism" excuse thrown out there.

Aikman has nothing to be jealous of. 3 Superbowl rings, high paying gig at Fox, NFL icon. Jerry Rice is universally recognized as one of the 2-3 greatest players ever at ANY position with multiple rings and lots of money. Andre Ware is listed as a local guy.

 

Entire story is being blown way out of proportion by the media. Nobody cared when it was Rodgers. Same issue was brought up on national television during Packers/Patriots this year and no one batted an eyelash.

Nantz: We talked to Rodgers about ‘How do you like your footballs?’ Because, you know, you can rub them up before the game. [Phil], you really kind of created that for everybody else in the league.

Simms: I don’t know if I did, because the quarterbacks got tired of them complaining. But he said something [that] was unique: ‘I like to push the limit to how much air we can put in the football, even go over what they allow you to do and see if the officials take air out of it.’ Because he thinks it’s easier for him to grip. He likes them tight. Of course, he’s got very big hands and you can tell that by watching him play.

Nantz: You’ve never heard of a guy really desiring a football to be fat and overinflated before, have you?

Simms: Everybody wants it smaller and soft, so they can dig their fingers into it. He’s such a feel thrower. You can tell. The one touchdown he threw down the field to the tight end is such feel; then he flicks it. That shows you he just has great control of it, with his fingers and hand.

Nantz: He said, ‘God gave me big hands and a strong grip.’

Simms: You know, the officials do check those footballs and sometimes maybe even get lucky and put an extra half pound of air in there to help Aaron Rodgers out.


So I'm SURE when everyone heard those words while watching that game...they MUST have said something at the time, right? Go ahead and pull up an old tweet, post, facebook, whatever... The media told US a QB told THEM he likes his footballs doctored a certain way and likes it outside of the NFL's standard specifications. Aaron Rodgers waits for the officials to take air out of the ball.

...where was the outcry then?

I'm guessing everyone must've missed it or conveniently forgot. It seems most of the country apparently did. Wanna know why? Because it's not a big deal.

Wanna know why Phil Simms said it on a national broadcast and had a mini-convo with his partner about it? Because it isn't a big deal.

Wanna know why Rodgers felt comfortable telling Simms in a pre-production meeting? Because it's not a big deal.

I mean, hell...we're at the point in this "crisis" where science & physics segments are getting technical about deflated balls instead of gearing up for the Super Bowl. Many have concluded that it doesn't provide any quantifiable advantage, and might even have a negative impact. Yet it gets ignored and thrown out the window since we're dealing with the NFL's version of the boogeyman.

It's not deflecting, not playing the victim, nor saying "everyone does it". It ain't any of that bull ****. This is not Spygate despite how much the media wants it to be.

 

Bottom line on why this is such a big deal.

1 - because it is the 'off week' of the two week gap
2 - It's the Pats
3 - the point isn't that the Pats would've won regardless
4 - Country is bored and looking for something to rant about

 

Aaron Rodgers admits that he likes it filled all the way to the limit of what they will allow and that he wishes they wouldn't put a limit. He has never said he would cheat and try to get the balls pumped up over the limit after the referees would inspect them.

Also, in the interview he gave on the matter, he admitted that underinflating the footballs would give a qb an advantage and as such there should be required minimum.

With very few exceptions, the vast majority of players who have commented have admitted that the football being underinflated is an advantage to the QB and the receiver. Even in the dialogue you posted, Simms admitted as much.

Most players who talk about more or less air are talking about within the spectrum they are allowed. 12.5-13.5 and if you get lucky you get a notch over or under without the referees catching it. Maybe you get 12.2 or 13.8 or something. (Though only Rodgers has said he wants more air in it.)

2 lbs is not "pushing the limit" it's clearly cheating.

 

I think a key distinction here is that the Patriots are doctoring the balls after inspection, whereas Green Bay would doctor them prior to inspection.

 

LOL. Apparently the Patriots balls were so noticeably under-inflated that the officials stopped using them in the first half.

I'm starting to get more and more salty about this as info comes out.

It's a dumb rule, but the fact that the Patriots so blatantly broke it time after time, coupled with their reputation as cheaters, makes me want to bring the hammer down on them.

Ding them a crapton of draft picks and a buttload of money, IMO.

Hell, decrease their salary cap if the union will allow it.

 

I just don't get how you can say it's a dumb rule. If the level of inflation in the ball makes it easier to play the game, why would a rule that standardizes it for every team be dumb?