Bill Belichick brilliantly schools NFL, league has no answer

by: Mike Petraglia on Sat, 01/24/2015 - 5:54pmShame on the NFL, again.In the year of*Ray Rice,*Adrian Peterson*and Greg Hardy, they've somehow managed to trump serious cases of domestic abuse by blowing a silly, inane, moronic controversy over the inflation of game balls into a national story that gets more sublime and ridiculous by the day.The league didn't take their time and do due diligence on what really mattered in the*Ray Rice*case, and delivered a hasty judgment that Commissioner Roger Goodell admitted was ill-conceived.Now, they're taking their sweet time to decide who may have taken too much air out of the balls, a violation that is punishable by a minimum $25,000 fine. This is no more serious than hockey players playing with an illegal stick or, as we saw in 1983 with George Brett, hitting with a doctored, pine-tarred bat.Talk about having your priorities all screwed up.In an impromptu Belichick press conference Saturday afternoon that was equal parts Joe Pesci and Albert Einstein, the Patriots coach spelled out his outright disgust in being forced to deal with a controversy that clearly should have been resolved within 48 hours."I'm embarrassed to talk about the amount of time that I've put into this, relative to the other important challenge in front of us," Belichick said. "I'm not a scientist. I'm not an expert in footballs. I'm not an expert in football measurements. I'm just telling you what I know. I would not say I'm Mona Lisa Vito of the football world, as she was in the car expertise area. I'm not a scientist, and I'm not a league official."Boom. Another brilliant Belichick salvo fired toward the league. Not only did Belichick spell out the science of deflation, he said the Patriots conducted their own investigation (whether you want to believe it or not) based on recreating game protocols. The Patriots came up with more facts in 30 minutes than the league has in six days.If the league had suspicions the Patriots did something untoward, and they certainly did three hours after Sunday night's game, then act quickly. Don't let it drag, not on the brink of one of the most anticipated Super Bowls in recent memory. If you couldn't find the goods on the Patriots, then admit it and move on.Heck, if the league announced last Tuesday or Wednesday they had probable cause to determine something was done to the footballs, and penalized the team because, ultimately, they're responsible, Belichick and Robert Kraft might not have liked it but they certainly would've accepted it. Belichick and his team then would be free to shift into Beastmode for the*Super Bowl*preparations. That would certainly beat the muck they're being dragged through now.Which brings us to the crux of the matter. Why, six days after the fact, is the NFL so obsessed over this?I get it. Someone in the NFL office is fuming and embarrassed. They think they have something on big bad*Bill Belichick*and choir boy*Tom Brady. They feel they absolutely know it. And they're apparently being stonewalled or stalled. But this is where Kraft's buddy Roger Goodell should've stepped in as a strong leader and taken quick action.If you want transparency, then the league conducts interviews in the first 48 hours, announces findings and appropriate discipline.If the Patriots want to appeal it, fine. They can do so after the*Super Bowl. But the Patriots and Belichick would've likely accepted practically anything as punishment. Want proof?When asked Saturday if this is another case of the team pushing the envelope like Spygate, Belichick, for the first time, actually acknowledged what happened in the season opener of 2007 against the Jets. His answer tells you everything you need to know about accepting responsibility and moving on."The guy is giving signals out in front of 80,000 people," Belichick said. "OK? We filmed him taking signals out in front of 80,000 people like there were a lot of other teams doing at that time too, OK? Forget about that. If we were wrong, then we've been disciplined for that."Guy's in front of 80,000 people. Eighty-thousand people saw it, everybody's sideline saw it, everybody sees our guy in front of 80,000 people. There he is. It was wrong, we were disciplined for it. That's it. We never did it again. We're never gonna do it again. Anything else that's close we're not gonna do, either."If you're going to argue that the*Ray Rice*case taught the NFL not to rush to judgment, please. We're talking about PSIs not CSI. This is a trivial pursuit of game equipment violations, not videotape of a woman being punched inside an elevator.In the best interest of the league and NFL fans everywhere, Goodell could've and should've stepped in and made a finding soon. This would've shown everyone that he is a decisive leader who wants everyone talking about the game's biggest event, not air in a football.Read into it what you will but for Belichick to speak Saturday, publicly and for the organization, in the midst of a league investigation tells you all you need to know about how those inside*Gillette Stadium*feel the team is being treated.Belichick announcing they conducted their own investigation this week, taking up serious time commitment and resources leading up the*Super Bowl, is a not-so-thinly veiled message to the league: We're being transparent. How about you?If you wanted to re-open the case after the*Super Bowl, fine. Do that. But to announce Friday that you're talking to 40 people over inflated balls during the AFC championship that had nothing to do with the outcome of the previous game is a waste of time and resources.But apparently, that's what the league wants. They want*Bill Belichick*quoting "My Cousin Vinny" and talking about animal skin and sending people to the moon and showing anger because, hey, what else would the Patriots coach rather be doing eight days before a Super Bowl?