Continued from a now-closed thread (where my "hating Brady" 'toon reposes at https://www.azcentral.com/picture-gallery/opinion/op-ed/steve-benson/2018/01/08/steve-benson-cartoons-january-to-march-2018/109263642/), comes the following, courtesy of Brady blesser and sanctifier poster "Jimbo":

"I really do not like the Patriots but Tom Brady is the best NFL QB ever . If you can name a QB who is better well just try .All of his championships speak for themselves . In playoffs and Super Bowls nobody comes close . He is surrounded by average players with the exception of Gronkowski. Hate on Tommy all you want but he is the best pro QB ever"

("Re: Shady Brady Gets Beat by the Birds!!! (cartoon added)," by "Jimbo," Recovery from Mormonism bulletin board, 5 January 2018, https://www.exmormon.org/phorum/read.php?2,2075583,2076068#msg-2076068)
____


The evidence pointing to culpability in “Deflategate” by Patriots management, personnel and, yes, Brady himself is addressed by Chris Chase, writing in "USA TODAY" three years ago:

“You still want that apology, Robert Kraft? The one you’ve been smarmily waiting for since February, acting high and mighty in your two-toned shirts, certain that the New England Patriots had nothing to do with the Deflategate controversy and projecting such a confident air with your statements that there’s ‘no smoking gun,’ leading most to believe that you knew something they didn’t — that the Wells Report was a witch hunt that would exonerate those always-honest Patriots?

“It was anything but. Despite the headlines that say the Patriots weren’t proved to be involved in wrongdoing in the long-awaited Wells Report, they were. Just because it was lower-level employees doesn’t make the Pats any less culpable. No, the report didn’t reveal some massive Watergate-style cover-up, but told us what we generally expected: Some assistant managers were messing around with the football, likely at the behest of Tom Brady. It’s not cause for a football death penalty, but it’s still cheating and shows the Pats haven’t learned a thing in the decade since their dalliance with illegal videotaping of teams.

“But there’s no apology coming from Kraft. He doesn’t know to leave things alone and criticized the report for not having any ‘hard evidence’ that the Patriots were involved in the deflation of balls. But what does that mean — hard evidence? There’s not a videotape of it? The guys deflating the balls didn’t sit for an oil painting of them using a needle to get the balls to 11 PSI? It’s circumstantial evidence, hearsay and conjecture that Brady giving ‘the deflator,’ the nickname the employee responsible for the deflation called himself, a pair of autographed footballs and signed a game-worn jersey that he had previously obtained was possible a thank you for getting those football to the illegal PSI which Brady preferred?

“Maybe that’s not enough to get a conviction in a court of law, but in a court of common sense it was always likely Tom Brady knew. It was ridiculous all along to believe that a man who spent so much time handling footballs couldn’t tell the difference between one under-inflated and one properly inflated. If Ted Williams used to know when his bats were off by a touch of an ounce, Brady knew this. So what kind of cheating was it? He’s not necessarily a guy who could cork his bat, just one who might add a little too much pine tar. It’s reasonable to assume Brady didn’t think it was cheating, just getting a little home-field cooking, the same way the Giants used to control the wind at The Meadowlands or Red Auerbach would crank up the heat at the Boston Garden. But nobody had to answer for that, while Brady stood up in front of media members after the AFC championship and basically laughed off any wrongdoing.

“Brady doesn’t get to make that call. It appears he cheated and he did it knowingly. He should, and will, get suspended (probably for 2-4 games [NOTE: He was, in fact, suspended for 4 games]) because he knew the deflation of balls was against the rules and apparently stayed involved with it anyway. Cheating isn’t a zero-sum game like some believe. There can be degrees of it and Brady is probably at the lower end, but it’s cheating nonetheless. In the 1960s or ‘80s, such a move might considered creative, like those moves above or putting a little Vaseline on the baseball just to get some break. But everyone’s far too serious about everything these days, especially sports, and that’s why this excerpt from Page 2 of the 243-page Wells Report is all that matters:

“’For the reasons described in this Report, and we after a comprehensive investigation, we have concluded, after a comprehensive investigation that,
in connection with the AFC Championship Game, it i9s more probable than not that New England Patriots personnel participated in violation of the Playing Rules and were involved in a deliberate effort to circumvent the rthat Jules. 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 Patriot game balls after the balls were examined by the referee. BASED ON THE EVIDENCE, IT IS ALSO 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 ACTIVITES OF McNALLY AND JASTREMSKI INVOLVING RELEASE OF AIR FROM PATRIOT GAME BALLS’ [emphasis added]

“In layman’s terms: The Patriots (probably) cheated.

“Compare that to Kraft’s quote from before the Super Bowl. ‘It bothers me greatly that [Brady and Belichick’s] reputations and integrity and, by association, that of our team, has been called into question.’

“But that’s where Kraft’s defense went off the rails. The Patriots have no integrity to question, Robert.
Once a cheater, always a cheater.”

{“Tom Brady Cheated His Way to a Super Bowl,” ny Chris Chase , 6 May 2015 2015, http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/05/tom-brady-cheater-new-england-patriots-wells-report-deflategate)



Two days later, Chase added this in a follow-up column:

“It seems abundantly clear that Tom Brady is a cheater. The Wells Report proved to anyone with a modicum of reading comprehension skills that Brady was probably involved with the deflation of footballs to his advantage, including before the [2015] AFC championship game. This is a stain that will never go away. But five years down the road, here’s the reality: Nobody is really going to care about Deflategate, even the people who are the most vehement Brady critics today. Brady won’t be a Pete Rose or Barry Bonds, unjustly kept out of the Hall of Fame because of his own transgressions, he’ll be a first-ballot Hall of Famer and it won’t be close or controversial. Football is a different animal. Perform and all is forgiven.

"None of this means Brady shouldn’t be suspended for the start of the 2015 season. He should--four games sounds about right. None of this means Brady is any sort of victim, railroaded by an NFL front office out to get him. (What sense does that make anyway, Pats fans who have been filling up my Twitter timeline with this conspiracy theory? Why would the NFL want to besmirch the reputation of its most famous player? This isn’t WWE. Football doesn’t need heels, particularly not its biggest star.) And none of this means Brady will be remembered as the pinnacle of football morality, or even a follower of it.

"But 'Deflategate' is going to go away sooner rather than later. Americans love to forget. Part of it is our eagerness to bestow forgiveness on people, even on those who don’t ask for it. (Don’t expect to hear a mea culpa from Brady. His ego is far too big to admit he lied. . . .

“But most of it is that we just forget, particularly when someone has such a deep résume as Brady. He’ll likely play a minimum of 50 more NFL games in his career, more than half of which are probably going to be on national television. That’s a long time to make people forget about the 2015 AFC championship. . . . This is the way the news cycle works. Remember when it seemed like Tiger Woods would only be defined for that Escalade crash and hooking up with the best floozies Las Vegas had to offer? Now all anyone wants to talk about are his injuries and hooked tee shots. . . . Even go back to the NFL’s lowest moment, more than 50 years ago when Paul Hornung and Alex Karras were suspended a full season for betting on NFL game, those two managed to leave that controversy in their past. Hornung is revered in Green Bay, known as one of the best running backs ever and is a go-to when NFL Films produces documentaries about the golden era of the league. Karras was best known for playing the father on TV’s ‘Webster’ and his role in ‘Blazing Saddles’ rather than his role in the actual biggest controversy in NFL history. When he died in 2012, his New York Times obituary didn’t mention the season-long suspension until the 12th paragraph.

“The general public cares about Brady now but has the attention span of a first-grader . . . The Brady Show will re-enter the public consciousness when he’s inevitably suspended . . . and upon his return for whatever that suspension may be. But then November will roll around and . . . this will feel like ancient history.

“Why will Brady skate while guys such as Bonds, A-Rod and Clemens are branded for life? First, because he’s not Tom Terrific as much as he’s Teflon Tom. He never got any flak for the sleazy way he left the mother of his child for someone more famous and receives no criticism when he shows up teammates by screaming at them or getting demonstratively angry after every incompletion. People don’t want to dislike Tom Brady. Maybe it’s the dimpled chin.

“Second, popping a needle into a football isn’t on the same plane as using PEDs. Who knows how many quarterbacks do the same thing in their careers--notice the conspicuous silence on the matter from the other 31 starting quarterbacks in the league. Since every QB seems to have a different preference on what sort of inflation and feel a ball should have, it’s highly unlikely Brady is the first to order some underlings to mess with his game balls. (Incidentally, one thing that HAS [original emphasis] to come out of 'Deflategate' is changing the rule that says home teams are in charge of their own footballs. That was a disaster waiting to happen. And it did.)

"There’s also the concept that cheating isn’t a black and white issue. There are shades of gray everywhere. Brady’s violation is relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. He cheated, but it didn’t really affect the outcome of the game. This was closer to getting some home cooking in Foxboro than getting a massive, illegal influence on the field. Remember, the Pats played BETTER [original emphasis] after the deflated balls were taken out of commission at halftime.

"And though Deflategate wasn’t the witch hunt Robert Kraft always insisted it would be, you have to wonder: . . . . Brady is getting dinged because of the setting, his prominence, the dirty team for which he plays and his association with the NFL’s most notorious cheater, Bill Belichick, who spied on team’s practice sessions back in the early aughts when the Patriots were winning Super Bowls due to videotapes and Adam Vinatieri’s leg instead of horrific play calling from Pete Carroll and Darrell Bevell.

“Brady had managed to stay above the fray for years, but stupidly got himself into the muck just to gets some softer footballs in a game in which his team was favored by a touchdown. . . . But once he’s back on the field, it’ll be in everyone’s rearview mirror. Tom Brady may have cheated, but tarnishing a legacy is a lot different than trashing it.”

(“The Legacy of Tom Brady Won’t be Ruined by Deflategate,” by Chris Chase, “USA TODAY,” 8 May 2015, http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/05/om-brady-cheater-legacy-wont-be-defined-by-deflategate)

*********


God to Brady the Beloved:

"Go thy way, Thomas, and sin no more. Verily, all is forgiven. Cheateth all thou wanteth, deflateth all thou wanteth, lieth all thou wanteth. Who careth? You're the besteth pro quarterback everest and everest and everlasting everest. Higher, even, than Mt. Everest!

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Hail Mary (not to mentioneth in the name of all the cheater bleaters).

"Amen and Amen."



Edited 14 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2018 10:46AM by steve benson.

"...best NFL QB ever!"

Hmm, where else lately have I heard an overabundance of undeserved superlatives? Let me think...:)

Tom Brady is the best QB ever . This opinion is backed up by facts and QB records . When it comes to playoffs and Super Bowls no other QB even comes close . I'm not a Patriots fan by any means but facts are facts.

Ironically Tom Brady isn't even the best QB of his era. Or even the second best. I would take Payton Manning and Aaron Rogers over Tom Brady, and I might be interested in Drew Brees over Brady. All time would be Johnny Unitas and then Joe Montana. Which by my count makes Tom Brady a top five all time quarterback. But not the best.

Tom Brady 27 Playoff wins and 5 Super Bowl wins
Payton Manning 14 playoff wins 2 Super Bowl wins
Aaron Rogers and Drew Brees are not anywhere close to these guys so I am not sure how you can say they are better

Cheaters never win.

Except those with orange hair.

Win !!!

There are three MAJOR problems with the "Tom Brady - deflategate cheater" narrative.

First is a little scientific principle called the Ideal Gas Law. It explains perfectly why and by what amount the Patriots balls were deflated by. There were 21 engineers and physicists from multiple universities (MIT, Stanford, Purdue, USC among them) who wrote an amicus brief to the court during the deflategate trial explaining this in depth. Not only that, a seventh grader was able to prove it. If Brady and the Patriots had tampered with the balls by intentionally deflating them, then due to the Ideal Gas Law, they would have been inflated significantly less than what they were tested at during halftime.

Second is that it has been shown, both scientifically and by Brady's stats, that a deflated ball is a disadvantage. After the balls were re-inflated for the second half, he performed even better than he did in the first half while playing with supposedly tampered balls.

The third problem is that Tom Brady was apparently cheating for the Colts as well because, as noted in the Wells Report, three of the four Colts balls that were tested at halftime were also significantly under inflated (damn that science thing...).

ESPNs Chris Mortensen wrote a factually incorrect report about deflategate in the immediate aftermath. ESPN even went so far as to issue several corrections to the report later on. But the original narrative is still the one that people remember. It either proves the law of primacy - that we tend to remember what we hear first. Or it proves that people only believe what they want to believe, evidence be damned. If you dislike Tom Brady, it is easier to believe the narrative that he cheated (even helping the Colts cheat by deflating their balls too...), than it is to believe the scientific proof.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2018 05:26AM by alsd.

First, as pertains to your gas bag argument, RfM poster "ificouldhietokolob" notes the following in a linked, now-closed thread: "[Although] [t]hose 'physics and engineering professors' showed that deflating footballs probably wouldn't help Brady],] [t]hey didn't show that Brady didn't deflate footballs. Or that he thought it would help him." Moreover, the "gas law" argument was filed as an amicus brief meaning a "friend of the court" attachment only, with no legal standing) and was obviously not persuasive on appeal, given that the NFL ultimately prevailed Brady.

Second, Brady suspiciously eliminated potential evidence by destroying his personal cell phone, which could have provided significant content of private exchanges between him and the Patriots' locker room personnel involved in releasing air from Pat game balls, in explicit violation of the Playing Rules.

Third, you conveniently forgot to mention that the conspiring Pat personnel in this scandal referred in Brady in their private communications between themselves as "the deflator."

Fourth, NFL commissioner Goodell's 4-game suspension of Brady was upheld on appeal.

Fifth, as noted in the Wells report, Brady had a history of possible cheating prior to the 2015 AFC Championship Game, as duly noted by sports columnist Chris Chase (per mention in this thread's OP).

Sixth, past is prologue. The Patriots' head coach has a notorious and well-known track record of flagrant cheating against opponents, which had resulted in severe sanctions being imposed by the NFL on the Pats' organization.

Seventh, you're a BBB, a Brady Blind Believer--the NFL's version of a TBM.

------


As to the Baltimore Colts, keep in mind that the Pats had a sordid history of cheating against them (as well as other NFL teams) prior to Deflategate:

"ESPN report: Patriots cheated against Colts before DeflateGate:,
New England allegedly was videotaping Peyton Manning's hand signals when he was the Colts quarterback.

By Dsna Hunsinger Benbow
Indianapolis Star"
9 September 2015
https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/nfl/colts/2015/09/09/espn-report-patriots-cheated-colts-deflategate/71875228/


"The assignment to Matt Walsh, a former videographer with the New England Patriots, was different this time.

"Instead of homing in on defensive signals as he'd been ordered to do against other NFL teams, focus on offensive signals.

"More specifically, take close-up video shots of Peyton Manning's hand signals.

"It seems the Colts, too, were a victim of Spygate, the 2007 scandal in which the Patriots were disciplined for videotaping an opponent's signals. Which means the Patriots' alleged cheating against Indianapolis started long before DeflateGate.

"In an extensive ESPN report titled 'Spygate to DeflateGate: Inside what split the NFL and Patriots apart,' a myriad of cheating allegations against New England are outlined.

"Bell: Have the Patriots become the new Raiders?
Not just videotaping hand signals and deflating footballs, but stealing other team's playbooks and playlists from locker rooms and disguising videographers as NFL workers to tape opposing teams' walkthroughs.

"The story cites many unnamed sources. ESPN writers Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham say they interviewed 'more than 90 league officials, owners, team executives and coaches, current and former Patriots coaches, staffers and players, and reviews of previously undisclosed private notes from key meetings.'

"The Colts are mentioned several times in the report, including the following:

"• Walsh recalls the time he was asked to cheat against Indianapolis.

"'The cameramen's assignments differed depending on the opponent. For instance, Walsh told investigators that against Indianapolis he was directed to take close-ups of the Colts' offensive signals, then of Peyton Manning's hand signals. Mostly, though, the (other) tapes were of defensive signals.

"'Each video sequence would usually include three shots: the down and distance, the signal, and, as an in-house joke, a tight shot of a cheerleader's top or skirt. The tape was then often edited, sources say, so that (they) contained only the signals, in rapid fire, one after another.'


"• Former Colts GM Bill Polian confirms that several teams complained that the Patriots were taping signals of their coaches during the 2006 NFL season.

"In November 2006, Green Bay Packers security officials caught (video assistant) Matt Estrella shooting unauthorized footage at Lambeau Field. When asked what he was doing, according to notes from the Senate investigation of Spygate that had not previously been disclosed, Estrella said he was with Kraft Productions and was taping panoramic shots of the stadium.

"He was removed by Packers security. That same year, according to former Colts GM Bill Polian, who served for years on the competition committee and is now an analyst for ESPN, several teams complained that the Patriots had videotaped signals of their coaches. And so the Patriots — and the rest of the NFL — were warned again, in writing, before the 2007 season," that videotaping opponents was illegal.


"• NFL commissioner Roger Goodell admitted in a private meeting that the Patriots began their taping operation in 2000 and notes from those tapings were destroyed beginning as early as 2002.

"'I wish the evidence had not been destroyed because at least we would know what had been done,' Polian said. 'Lack of specificity just leads to speculation, and that serves no one's purpose — the Patriots included.'


"• Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri is mentioned as part of a Patriots Super Bowl win.

"'There were regular rumors that the Patriots had taped the (St. Louis) Rams' walk-through practice before Super Bowl XXXVI in February 2002, one of the greatest upsets in NFL history, a game won by the Patriots 20-17 on a last-second Adam Vinatieri field goal.'


"• The tip from the Colts about the Patriots' use of deflated footballs came to a league official the night before the AFC Championship game.

"And then, on the eve of the AFC Championship Game, as (Patriots owner Robert) Kraft hosted Goodell at a dinner party at his Brookline, Massachusetts, estate, a league official got a tip from the Colts about the Patriots' use of deflated footballs.

"Even the language of the tip seemed to echo suspicions shaped by the Spygate era. Ryan Grigson, the Colts' general manager, forwarded to the league office an emailed accusation made by Colts equipment manager Sean Sullivan: 'It is well known around the league that after the Patriots game balls are checked by the officials and brought out for game usage, the ball boys for the Patriots will let out some air with a ball needle because their quarterback likes a smaller football so he can grip it better.'",
-----


Those Patriots, I tell ya. To them, cheating is the highest virtue. Again, we let "USA TODAY" sports columnist Chris Chase cut to the chase:

"The defenders of New England have been even more laughable than they were during the videotape controversy of 2007. 'It doesn’t even help that much!' Sure it doesn’t. That’s why they were doing it. Of course it helps. Deflating gave Brady an easier grip on the ball . . . .


"This isn’t to say I don’t have a grudging respect for the Pats. It’s not cheating if you don’t get caught and they weren’t caught during the game. They somehow got around the biggest mystery of this controversy — how the officials, who handle the balls in between every play, didn’t notice the changes — with ease.

"But I’ll happily blame the Patriots for being skeezy once again. I’ll blame [Patriots head coach Bill] Belichick because . . . the head coach is supposed to know what’s going on with his team. I’ll blame Tom Brady who clearly knew the balls were deflated but is getting off scot-free in this controversy because he’s the Golden Boy and is handsome and is married to a supermodel. (It’s amazing how no one criticizes Brady. He’s just as guilty as the others.) But there’s blame for others too.

"How on earth does the NFL, which regulates everything from shoe color to the way players gyrate in the end zone, let teams keep 12 footballs in their own possession during the game. That’s like a teacher leaving the room during an exam.

"It doesn’t matter, though. The NFL will turn a blind eye once again. There will be minor sanctions, this controversy will dominate the news cycle for a few days and then fade into the ether and we’ll move onto something else. But in the here and now, if the report is true, the New England Patriots should be hit hard. But they won’t and the Pats legacy will grow even more.

"With a Super Bowl win . . . , people will be inclined to say Bill Belichick is the greatest coach of all time. But at what?"

("The Patriots Should Be Disqualified from the Super Bowl,"
Nun Chris Chase, 21 January 2015, http://ftw.usatoday.com/2015/01/patriots-deflate-ball-super-bowl-disqualified-penalties-sanctions/amp)



Edited 14 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2018 11:27AM by steve benson.

"Wells Report: Pats Employees Probably Deflated Balls, Tom Brady Likely Knew"

ESPN News Services [including the Associated Press]
7 May 2015
http://www.espn.com/boston/nfl/story/_/id/12833542/wells-report-finds-new-england-patriots-probably-deflated-balls


"The NFL has found that it is probable that New England Patriots personnel deliberately deflated balls during the AFC Championship Game in January and that quarterback Tom Brady was probably 'at least generally aware'of the rules violations.

"The findings were released . . . in a 243-page report by Ted Wells, the league-appointed attorney who investigated whether the Patriots deflated balls in their game against the Indianapolis Colts.

"'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,' the report said. '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.'

"The report cites evidence that McNally took the game balls into a bathroom adjacent to the field at Gillette Stadium and stayed there for about 100 seconds--'an amount of time sufficient to deflate thirteen footballs using a needle.'

"Other evidence included referee Walt Anderson's inability to locate the previously approved footballs at the start of the game --the first time that had happened to him in 19 years.

"The report includes salty text messages between McNally and Jastremski--sent in October and January -- that imply Brady was requesting footballs deflated below the minimum of 12.5 pounds per square inch. They also imply that Brady had previously been upset with the quality of the game balls.

"In a text exchange from Oct. 17, 2014, following a game between the Patriots and the New York Jets, in which the report said Brady angrily complained about the air pressure in the balls:

"McNally: 'Tom sucks...im going make that next ball a f----- balloon'

"Jastremski: 'Talked to him last night. He actually brought you up and said you must have a lot of stress trying to get them donel

"Jastremski: 'I told him it was. He was right though'

"McNally: 'I checked some of the balls this morn... The refs f----- us...a few of then were at almost 16'

"Jastremski: 'They didnt recheck then after they put air in them'

"McNally: 'F--- tom ...16 is nothing...wait till next Sunday'

"Jastremski: 'Omg! Spaz'

"Texts from Jan. 7, 2015, 11 days before the AFC title game, described requests from McNally for shoes and signed footballs from Brady in exchange for deflating the balls.

"McNally: 'Remember to put a couple sweet pig skins ready for tom to sign'

"Jastremski: 'U got it kid...big autograph day for you'

"McNally: 'Nice throw some kicks in and make it real special'

"Jastremski: 'It ur lucky. 11?'

"McNally: '11 or 11 and half kid'


"Wells Report Key Points

• "More probable than not" Patriots personnel "participated in a deliberate effort to release air from Patriots game balls after the balls were examined by the referee"

• "More than probable" Patriots QB Tom Brady "was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities" involving the release of air from the balls

• "Unlikely an equipment assistant and a locker room attendant would deflate game balls without Brady's knowledge and approval"

• No wrongdoing "or knowledge of wrongdoing" by Patriots ownership, head coach Bill Belichick or any other Patriots coach

• No deliberate attempt by the Patriots to introduce a non-approved kicking ball during the AFC Championship Game
The NFL is considering discipline for Brady, McNally and Jastremski, a source close to the investigation told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. Discipline is "days" away, the source said.

"In investigating Brady, Wells said he was hindered by the quarterback's refusal to provide his own emails, texts or phone records. But using Jastremski's phone records, Wells detected an increase in the frequency of phone calls and texts between Brady and the equipment assistant shortly after suspicions of tampering went public. After not communicating via phone or text for six months, they spoke six times on the phone over the course of three days.

"Former NFL executive (and ESPN analyst) Bill Polian, familiar with the league's crime-and-punishment procedures after spending 19 years on the league's competition committee, said the term Wells used -- 'more probable than not' -- has been the standard of proof the NFL has used for competitive violations in the past six years. 'In short, he is finding there was a violation,' Polian said. . . .

"Owner Robert Kraft, who strongly defended his team and said the NFL would owe the Patriots an apology if the investigation turned up no culpable evidence, said he still doesn't believe the team did anything wrong. . . .

"The report's findings now will be turned over to NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent.

"'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," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. "At the same time, we will continue our efforts vigorously to protect the integrity of the game and promote fair play at all times.'

"The NFL began investigating after the Patriots defeated the Colts 45-7 on Jan. 18. The Colts complained that several footballs were underinflated, and the NFL confirmed that 11 of the 12 footballs were under the limit.

"Footballs with less pressure can be easier to grip and catch. Some quarterbacks prefer footballs that have less air.

"The NFL requires balls to be inflated between 12.5 and 13.5 pounds per square inch, and each team is responsible for the balls it uses on offense. Brady said he prefers footballs inflated to 12.5 pounds per square inch. Brady has said on many occasions that he never asked for balls to be deflated outside of the rules."-
-----

Like I said, Made in the Shady Brady.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2018 10:53AM by steve benson.

I would classify myself as a TBM equivalent of the basic science.

Everything you are pointing out is circumstantial evidence. However the hard, scientifically proven evidence shows there was no tampering. If there was, then the science proves the Patriots balls would have been deflated significantly more than they were. How on earth do you explain the Colts ball also being deflated? Please answer me that. Did Tom Brady also cheat for the Colts? Yes or no?

Tom Brady was not suspended for deflating footballs, and his suspension was not upheld because he deflated footballs. He was suspended because he failed to give evidence to the commissioners office when requested. THAT is why he was suspended. The suspension was upheld on legal challenge due to the collective bargaining agreement between the league and NFLPA giving the commissioners office sole authority to determine punishments. The suspension and upholding of the suspension had nothing to do with the facts of the case.

You are simply putting circumstantial evidence over scientific evidence. You are also ignoring the undisputed fact that most of the Colts balls were also similarly under inflated. The only way that can be is either the basic science works, or Brady also cheated on behalf of the Colts. Which seems more likely, basic science working, or Brady trying to help an opponent cheat?

Occam's Razor. Either Tom Brady concocted an elaborate scheme to deflate the balls for the Patriots and the Colts, or a very basic scientific principle is correct.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/13/2018 06:42AM by alsd.

Gronkowski's home was burglarized during the Superbowl, including three firearms.

By the way, when Phoenix hosted its most recent Super Bowl, I was press-credentialed to go to the Media Day events in the downtown convention center, where I drew caricatures of both him and Brady. I stood a few feet away from them, angling for a view while doing a balancing act on a chair in a hot, packed madhouse. Women were hitting on Brady like bugs on a windshield and Gronkowski was rotely answering questions like he was bored to death.

Frankly, I was glad to get out of there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2018 11:10AM by steve benson.

It's INFESTED with Christians!

http://www.breitbart.com/sports/2018/02/06/christian-faith-central-pillar-many-philadelphia-eagles-players/

I don't know about Steve, but I wouldn't be.
Frankly, I was pretty disappointed in their after-game implications that god loved them more than any other team...:)

As I communicated with you elsewhere, Fie, Superbowl LII is proof positive that Satan does not always honor his side of the pact.

caffiend Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As I communicated with you elsewhere, Fie,
> Superbowl LII is proof positive that Satan does
> not always honor his side of the pact.

Or, if you go by some of the Eagles' statements after the game, it's "proof positive" that god is stronger than satan. 'Cause lots of them credited god for their win. As if no other players prayed to god to win the super bowl (or god simply didn't like those other players as much, or it wasn't god's plan for other teams to win, or whatever else they can make up) :)

Let's see: The Eagles were God's chosen team...or...Satan abandoned HIS team, the Patriots, the treacherous wretch. Tough call!

Getting serious, I confess to being embarrassed by anybody who claims God has chosen their side. I have three children who attended a Baptist school, and not once did I ever hear anybody pray for victory, only prayers for good sportsmanship and protection from injuries, which you may dismiss as tepid and meaningless, but that's what we Christians do. I do think the "We're God's team" mentality that Steve depicts above is not only overdrawn, but the exception. The Eagles statements I came across were more along the line, "We want to glorify God" than "God chose us!"

Maybe you can fine one to counter, fine. I don't follow the sports pages much.

I'm prefer Lincoln's sentiment,"Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right."

caffiend Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ...only prayers for good sportsmanship and
> protection from injuries...

Good for them. At least they weren't asking "god" to take sides in a sports match!

I'm betting there were still injuries and bad sportsmanship now and then, though. At about the same rate as with teams that don't pray for such things...:)

. . . but I wasn't aware that devoutly deflating footballs is the name of the game for delighting Deity, as we cheer on our gridiron god frauds to cheat their way to kicking butt through the uprights for Jesus. Aswe celebrate by jiggling our own butts and crossing ourselves on bended knee and bowed head in the end zone, praising tve Lord of Lords that He's for leading our one-and-only true tribal horde. This truth is further affirmed from On High by the everlasting, ever-flowing, ever-increasing streams of righteous corporate ad revenue replenishing the storehouses of FOX's Faith and Football network.

Still, at this moment and in this thread, I'm focusing my concerns on cheating in NFL football, committed by two-faced, prima donna prevaricators--not on cheating in morally calcified churches run by conmen like necromancer Joseph Smith and by sweaty TV evangelists lining their linen pockets with loot lifted from their loony lemmings.

I know, of course, that many believers in the Church of the Holy Pigskin and many believers in the Church of the Pay-to-Play Jesus often confuse their prayers with their pom-poms and vice-a-Biblical versa.

For those of you out there in either, or even both, of these kissin'-cousin camps of crusaders for Cash 'n Christ, say "Hallelujah!" and repeat after me:

"Praise be to Brady! Praise be to Lying for the Long Bomb Lord! Praise be to Breitbart who is the Bread and Bounty of Anti-Liberal Life!!!" (or prsise be to whatever you may wish to proclaim in their drunken shout-outs roared for the Lord under the enlightening influence of the sacred sacramental wine obtained at your local church communion table or at the window of your local liquor store drive-thru.

In the meantime, if a team track record means anything, the New England Perjuring Patriots continue to cheat for the Higher Good.

As the Super Bowl trophy-cup coach Vince Lombardi proclaimed, "Winning isn't everything. It's the only thing."

So, go out there, Brother Brady, and steal anotber one for The Gypper. God and his bleacher screechers will bless you for it.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2018 03:21PM by steve benson.

Graphic image shows him wallowing in comfort and solace from Gisele.

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2018/02/tom-brady-gisele-photo-super-bowl-loss-vacation-costa-rica-instagram-patriots-nfl

Hating on Tom Brady (for whatever contrived reason) ranks right with worrying about how unfairly that Deiter Fuckdork may have been treated in the latest reorganization of LD$ Inc (ASSpostHOLES) top management.