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

Wells Report

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Statement from Robert Kraft on the Wells Report: <a href="http://t.co/VQXOWmqJwl">http://t.co/VQXOWmqJwl</a></p>&mdash; New England Patriots (@Patriots) <a href="https://twitter.com/Patriots/status/595997757099225090">May 6, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ted Wells report concludes &quot;it is more probable than not&quot; that <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Patriots?src=hash">#Patriots</a> personnel deliberately violated playing rules.</p>&mdash; Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomPelissero/status/595997837055303680">May 6, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">&quot; we also have concluded that it is more probable than not that
Tom Brady was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities&quot; Oh.</p>&mdash; Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) <a href="https://twitter.com/TomPelissero/status/595998165691596802">May 6, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">All 11 of the Patriots' ball measured at halftime of the AFC title game came in under 12.5 PSI. The one the Colts turned in wasn't measured.</p>&mdash; Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlbertBreer/status/595998237959581696">May 6, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">From the Wells report: &quot;“It is more probable than not that the Patriots personnel participated in violations of the Playing Rule&quot;</p>&mdash; Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlbertBreer/status/595998660896419845">May 6, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Here are the halftime measurements ... <a href="http://t.co/zfg7Ref3Em">pic.twitter.com/zfg7Ref3Em</a></p>&mdash; Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlbertBreer/status/595998860297838592">May 6, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">“Make sure you blow up the ball to look like a rugby ball so tom can get used to it before Sunday” <a href="http://t.co/CNqgZ7XQY2">pic.twitter.com/CNqgZ7XQY2</a></p>&mdash; Rand Getlin (@Rand_Getlin) <a href="https://twitter.com/Rand_Getlin/status/595999538671853568">May 6, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wells report: “We do not believe there was any wrongdoing or knowledge of wrongdoing by Patriots ownership, Belichick or other Pats coach”</p>&mdash; Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/595999565683130368">May 6, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Wells: Tom Brady was nervous as hell after the allegations surfaced. <a href="http://t.co/ugCeHmtRlx">pic.twitter.com/ugCeHmtRlx</a></p>&mdash; Bart Hubbuch (@BartHubbuch) <a href="https://twitter.com/BartHubbuch/status/595999271050031105">May 6, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Wells report says Tom Brady refused to cooperate on certain important matters. <a href="http://t.co/xlOBG3Vg4Q">pic.twitter.com/xlOBG3Vg4Q</a></p>&mdash; Rand Getlin (@Rand_Getlin) <a href="https://twitter.com/Rand_Getlin/status/596003154870710272">May 6, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">A previously unreported incident from 2004 is included in the Wells report. Practice balls made their way into games. <a href="http://t.co/XaTuTJWlzi">pic.twitter.com/XaTuTJWlzi</a></p>&mdash; Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeGarafolo/status/596010826508570624">May 6, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">New info in here on a 2004 incident as well, where the Patriots were accused of bringing unapproved practice balls into games.</p>&mdash; Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlbertBreer/status/596011010873499648">May 6, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Pathetic. The NFL should have suspended Brady for the Super Bowl, or they could have taken some of their draft picks. Convenient that this report comes out after the draft...

 

I expect suspensions for Brady and Belichick.

Belichick will just show up in a box with Bobby Valentine's fake moustache though.

 

Justice is a shame. It only gets dished out conveniently to those without tons of power.

Look at the 2008 banking crisis and look at this. What are they gonna do? replay the Superbowl?

 

This is sad...

Subject to further analysis of the report and findings, and responses by those involved...

To me, it invalidates much of Brady's career. I know that's harsh... but if he is actively involved in cheating, I'm not sure how that's any different than Bonds, who is persona non-grata and never getting into the HOF, for example.

The only justice is the impact on legacy. I don't suspect there will be much, since Tom and the Patriots are beloved by NY and Northeast sports media, whereas someone like Bonds was never a media darling, was in Pittsburgh and SF, and cheated more overtly, or over a longer period.

But we are talking about 2 real cheating scandals now, the last of which appears to be very Brady involved, to the extent he is refusing to cooperate, and seems ot have had various communications before, after, etc

 

once a cheater, always a cheater

 

I don't think a ball being slightly under-inflated invalidates Brady's career, but its certainly not going to help him any.

 

Well, to clarify, it invalidates the "story" of his career.

Brady is ranked so highly by many because of the post-season success, etc. I'm not arguing Tom Brady isn't great otherwise. He probably is. I assume he won the SB with correctly inflated balls and no cheating. And he played pretty solidly there, and amazingly in the fourth quarter.

But we just don't know. Like Bonds.

If Dan Marino "cheats" and wins a couple of Superbowl, the story of his career is so different.

The story of Brady is amazing quarterback, amazing stats, and the ULTIMATE winner and sportsman.
I can no longer give any credence to the last part, which is perhaps the most important part when considering post-retirement long-term legacy.

 

I can see Brady retiring.

 

The "sportsman" aspect was a media creation anyway. He tantrums on the field all the time. If the media likes you then those tantrums are just competitive fire coming from a leader. If they don't then you are a jerk. God help you if you are black lol.

 

The heavy hitter in the findings on Brady:

1) He told investigators that he didn't know the equipment manager and had no conversations with him
2) The report found that he had extensive communication with the equipment manager by email and text
3) Brady refused to provide copies or details of these communications
4) The report found that Brady had provided the equipment with gifts

So basically, Brady lied about knowing the guy, had a lot of communication with him, gave him gifts, and this guy provided under inflated balls in the AFC game as well as a previously undisclosed proven incident where practice balls were used in a game instead of the approved balls.

 

Cheating is extremely common in the NFL. I find the Bonds reference interesting because so many of the Super Bowl winners in the past were littered with steroid and PED users.

 

"Everybody does it!"

Such a lame defense.

 

What makes Brady look really bad here is the attempt to cover it up. He was noticeably flustered when they questioned him about at first and now we know why.

 

Vindication. Feels good, man.

 

joe montana didn't need to cheat.

 

Forever stained.

 

The more you read, the more damning it becomes...

Colts GM sent an email to the league before the game noting it was already well-known Brady/the Pats regularly did this.

New info on a 2004 similar incident - according to Albert Breer.

Again, the media darlings that they are, this isn't going to sting as it should.

But for comparison purposes, isn't this akin to basketball teams playing with two different balls, and one team using a consistently smaller ball? If that's the case, and we found out today that Kobe or Duncan had benefited from the smaller ball their entire career, isn't that a HUGE story and a ENORMOUS stain on their career? What's different here?

 

That is some compelling evidence, and then for him not to cooperate, and nervous internally and externally. It was done. He did it. And worse, he knew it was wrong. One cannot even surmise that he did it not knowing the rules were so strict. He clearly was nervous. I think that is what makes it foul.

Legacy will certainly be impacted. In Boston, they won't care, they cheated in baseball and football and that's a twisted part of the culture. They are edgy. But the rest of America will frown from here on out. He could have gone down as the greatest qb, but this will drop him 5-10 slots.

 

Robert Kraft's response to the report is basically "trolololololol superbowl b****essssssss"