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Wells Report concluded that the Patriots violated rules and Tom Brady was aware

I personally find it to be a big deal when a player or a team cheats in professional sports. Maybe it didn't effect the outcome of THAT game, but it seems like this has been going on for awhile.

....NBA players cheat just about every time down court! They especially "palm" the ball in such a flagrant way that the game was been bastardized beyond recognition! Nobody seems to care about that!
 
....NBA players cheat just about every time down court! They especially "palm" the ball in such a flagrant way that the game was been bastardized beyond recognition! Nobody seems to care about that!

It's not cheating to palm the ball. That's like saying committing a foul is cheating. Nowhere in the rules does it say that teams are strictly prohibited from palming the ball - only that palming the ball results in a turnover.
 
A locker room attendant and a ball boy. But people are calling for Brady to be suspended for a season. It's ****ing ridiculous!
There are text messages linking them to Brady. Brady should be suspended and the Pat's should lose draft picks and be fined. You think the ****ing QB was throwing the ball without knowing that it was deflated?
 
There are text messages linking them to Brady. Brady should be suspended and the Pat's should lose draft picks and be fined. You think the ****ing QB was throwing the ball without knowing that it was deflated?

Sure he knows they're softer/easier to grip but that doesn't mean he told them to deflate them to an illegal pressure.

Goodell is going to fold and suspend Brady. How long? BR is reporting an announcement is coming tomorrow. I have faith in Jimmy G so whatever.
 
There are no "facts". It's all assumptions and speculation.
Yes there are facts. They deflated the balls, that Is a fact. Tom Brady had text conversations with the guys who did it, about the balls. That is a fact. Tom Brady refused to turn over his cell phone and cooperate with the investigation. That is a fact. Those are enough facts for the NFL to suspend Brady and fine, and take away draft picks from the Patriots.
 
Sure he knows they're softer/easier to grip but that doesn't mean he told them to deflate them to an illegal pressure.

Goodell is going to fold and suspend Brady. How long? BR is reporting an announcement is coming tomorrow. I have faith in Jimmy G so whatever.
should be 4 games for breaking the rules and another 2+ for failure to cooperate with the investigation.
 
Yes there are facts. They deflated the balls, that Is a fact. Tom Brady had text conversations with the guys who did it, about the balls. That is a fact. Tom Brady refused to turn over his cell phone and cooperate with the investigation. That is a fact. Those are enough facts for the NFL to suspend Brady and fine, and take away draft picks from the Patriots.

"More likely than not". Really, that's the burden of proof?
 
I am a Phin's fan so I am far from unbiased in my dislike for the Patriots.

First it's not a big deal it's just a little air pressure, seems simple enough yep, however then why feel the need to do it and knowing they should conceal it and the people doing it asking for special compensation or they're going leak this information. Because it's the integrity of the game that's why and that's why there needs to be a harsher penalty then what this small/simple act would seemingly get. You can't compare penalties of this nature against recreational drug use any trouble with the law (domestic violence) because they are not the same and while clearly those are more serious at personal level at a NFL level you HAVE to protect the integrity the "Shield" as they say.

I think this will result in a rule change that the NFL controls the balls and I don't know if it will result that both teams use all the same balls but either way the NFL supplies the game balls.

Second to the every team or other teams are doing the same thing. Hmmm that may be true (even though there's less evidence of that then the people saying there's not enough evidence against the Pats, none, no evidence as a matter of fact) but if most every team is doing it then the Pats are the only team stupid or arrogant enough to get caught and the perception of the Pat's isn't one of stupidity. So if most everyone is doing it then I guess it's like marijuana most players use it but only a few are stupid enough to get caught and only a select few are stupid enough to get caught at the NFL combine test, my point being since your the only NFL team stupid enough to get caught then you should get penalized and now the rest of the NFL teams are mad at you cause now they wont be able to do it anymore.


So lastly it doesn't matter how small this may or may not have helped, the Pat's felt inclined enough to do it so they felt it helped them (as evidenced that they fumbled less than any team over the last 5-7yrs despite playing at one of the toughest inclement weather venues) and so as small of a thing as this may be this effects the integrity of the game and if fans start questioning that then they will stop watching or buying the product and that is what Rodger Goodell has shown he is about if nothing else, he is all about making the league money so this should put fear into him and therefor he should or will need to put the fear into the teams that even as something a small as this is not to be tolerated and not worth the penalty that will be handed down.
 
Why not let teams deflate or inflate balls to whatever level they want? People do understand that a deflated ball cannot be thrown as far, right?

Some qbs may like throw better with it more inflated than others. It's just laughable that so many are "outraged" over this. As if Brady invented deflated balls. Dude, every team from pee wee to the NFL adjusts the ball to the qbs liking.

If anyone screwed up it was the refs for not noticing that the balls were deflated to the point of breaking the rule. It's a dumb rule anyway. Should've let the colts play with a deflated ball. It still wouldn't have prevented them from being killed in that game.

To me, this is all sour grapes to me. If this had been any other team it would be water under the bridge. But since people are tired of the pats winning and jealous of Brady he's suddenly become judas.

A much greater issue is the NFL and it's lack policy on performance enhancers. Humans don't naturally grow to be Clay Matthews or JJ Watt size without roiding up.

So rather than address this obvious issue that ruins the integrity of the game (not to mention the health of employees) we are going to focus on deflated balls. How typical of the idiotic American public today.
 
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https://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/...ed-tom-brady-new-england-patriots-deflategate

NEW YORK -- The NFL has suspended Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady without pay for the first four games of the season, fined the New England Patriots $1 million and taken away two draft picks as punishment for deflating footballs used in the AFC title game, the league said in a statement Monday.

The NFL also indefinitely suspended the two equipment staffers believed to have carried out the plan, including one who called himself "The Deflator."

Brady will miss the season's showcase kickoff game Sept. 10 against Pittsburgh, Week 2 at Buffalo, a home game against Jacksonville and a game at Dallas.


No sugarcoating it: The NFL crushed owner Robert Kraft, quarterback Tom Brady and the Patriots for deflating footballs before the AFC Championship Game against the Colts, Mike Reiss writes.



To say there will be no love lost between the Patriots and the Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium the night of Oct. 18 would be an understatement, Mike Wells writes.

He will return the week the Patriots face the Colts in Indianapolis.

The Patriots will also lose a first-round pick in 2016 and a fourth-round pick in 2017.

Brady's agent said he would appeal the suspension to commissioner Roger Goodell, which the quarterback has three days to do.

Brady would be replaced by Jimmy Garoppolo, a 2014 second-round selection from Eastern Illinois who won the Walter Payton award as the best player in the FCS. He has thrown 27 NFL passes, including one touchdown.

Brady's agent, Don Yee, said "the discipline is ridiculous and has no legitimate basis."

"And if the hearing officer is completely independent and neutral, I am very confident the Wells report will be exposed as an incredibly frail exercise in fact-finding and logic," Yee said in a statement.


Ted Wells' 243-page report on the "Deflategate" scandal concludes "it's more probable than not" that Patriots personnel "participated in a deliberate effort to release air from Patriots game balls after the balls were examined by the referee." Warning: Some language in the report might be objectionable to users. Wells report PDF

The Patriots did not immediately comment on the punishments.

The punishment was announced five days after the release of the lengthy Wells report that found that Patriots personnel deliberately deflated footballs before the AFC Championship Game on Jan. 18, 2015, and that Brady "was at least generally aware" of the violations.

"With respect to your particular involvement, the report established that there is substantial and credible evidence to conclude you were at least generally aware of the actions of the Patriots' employees involved in the deflation of the footballs and that it was unlikely that their actions were done without your knowledge," NFL executive vice president Troy Vincent wrote in a letter to Brady.

The 243-page report by league-appointed attorney Ted Wells said it was "more probable than not" that Brady was aware of plans to prepare the footballs to his liking, below the NFL-mandated minimum of 12.5 pounds per square inch.

The report identified two Patriots employees -- officials' locker room attendant Jim McNally and equipment assistant John Jastremski -- as the ones who executed the plan. The Patriots suspended both indefinitely last week. Neither can be reinstated without the approval of the NFL, the league said.

Reaction in the sports world was widespread in the aftermath of the news.

Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount tweeted his objections to the discipline, while San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Darnell Dockett used it as an opportunity to take a jab at New England.
 
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