[dbussone]

Originally Posted by Bosoxfan

Retired Pro Bowl quarterback Jeff Blake says that removing air from footballs was common when he played in the NFL from 1992-2005.

“I’m just going to let the cat of the bag, every team does it, every game, it has been since I played,” the ex-Jets QB said Wednesday in a radio interview on the “Midday 180″ show on Nashville’s 104.5 The Zone. “Cause when you take the balls out of the bag, they are rock hard. And you can’t feel the ball as well. It’s too hard.

“Everybody puts the pin in and takes just enough air out of the ball that you can feel it a little better. But it’s not the point to where it’s flat. So I don’t know what the big deal is. It’s not something that’s not been done for 20 years. … I would say (to a ball boy), ‘Take a little bit of air out of it. It’s a little bit hard,'” Blake said. “And then he’d take a little bit out and I’d squeeze it and I’d be like, ‘OK, it’s perfect.’ That’s it.”

Oh dear Lord. This is a scandal I don’t think we’ll ever recover from.

I mean, the air pressure inside eleven footballs during one half of a blowout football game has been the biggest story of 2015. So this ought to rock America to it’s very foundation. Apparently football pressure integrity is one of the pillars of our republic. Written into the Constitution somewhere between free speech and right to a jury trial.

So the fact that NFL quarterbacks have been letting the air out of balls since Tom Brady was wearing Garanimals just gives lie to everything we stand for. Forget Watergate or Teapot Dome or the 1919 Black Sox. This is the kind of crisis that gives lie to everything you ever believed in. Once you’ve lost faith in your ability to believe in the sanctity of “12.5-to-14.5 PSI,” how can you trust anything ever again?

We might as well just take all the Lombardi trophies won over the last twenty years and just melt them down into asterisks, disband every NFL team, raze all the stadiums, close down civilization and go move back to the forest because our whole lives have been a lie. This is exactly what the Fall of Rome must have felt like.* Oh well, America. It was fun while it lasted.

Your astute analysis will undoubtedly lead to a major decline in the financial markets. Well done; Go Pats.

Football is obviously done before the SuperBowl. Looking forward to the Red Sox first training season game?

[DougB]

Close call when the Pats landed in Arizona. Someone deflated the tires on their plane.

[mtdjed]

CSI Deflate-gate is found to be trash talk to Seattle Seahawks. End of story.

How The NFL Made a Fool of You With "Deflategate"

If you are a football fan that feels as though the Patriots have hurt the integrity of your precious sport with the PSI of a game ball, or a member of the media who took to your laptops and the airwaves to editorialize your distrust of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady and Bob Kraft, then you should be mad right now; because the NFL played you like a fiddle.*

*They made a mockery of you. They dangled the bait in front of you and you snapped it up so quickly and with so much vigor that they haven’t even had to come out and speak to you and answer your questions; because you haven’t even asked them to.

And they knew that you wouldn’t.

They dared you to inundate an entire team of athletes and personnel with accusations based on your lingering distrust of Bill Belichick post-SpyGate; distrust that constantly leaves you calling for his resignation and/or the confiscation of his Super Bowl rings despite the fact that you have failed to exhibit the same vitriol for the also-highly-decorated Jimmy Johnson who admitted to doing the same exact thing.

You went on the radio and the internet and TV and indicted the Patriots based on nothing other than a couple of flimsy reports and an announcement of an investigation. You did that knowing that despite it being enough of a story that Belichick and Brady were at the podium talking to you about it, the NFL had inexplicably failed to even have a conversation with Brady yet. You did that knowing that this is the same exact league and Commissioner whose credibility you’d spent most of the season dismantling.

You wanted and needed so badly to believe that the Patriots couldn’t possibly be the dynasty that has reigned supreme over the last fourteen years that you gave the NFL the benefit of the doubt.

The league that tried to cover up their knowledge of a video of Ray Rice knocking his fiancé unconscious with a punch to the face, then had their Commissioner stand up in front of you and dare you to try to make him pay any consequences for it.

The league that, in the interest of financial gain, ignored and covered up the brutal health implications of playing for them until a beloved Hall of Fame linebacker killed himself and donated his brain to science in the hopes that it may save the lives of other players.

Why has it not also been shoved down your throats that they’re investigating the Browns for illegal use of electronic devices for sideline communication, or that the Chargers were fined in 2012 for cheating through illegal use of towels with a hidden substance? Where was the viral outrage when the Cowboys and Redskins were fined millions in cap dollars after being found guilty of purposely dumping salaries into the uncapped year in 2010?*

*Wait, you will love this one. Why didn’t the NFL deem it necessary to make quarterbacks and coaches speak to their accountability and respect for the integrity of the game when just TWO MONTHS AGO they caught the Vikings heating game balls on the sideline in a 12-degree game against the Panthers after they supposedly reminded both teams that it was illegal to do so? (Full credit and big thanks to*Pats Krieg for compiling these.)

The NFL’s brilliant leaking of a “possible” Patriots scandal was enough to incite such a frenzy that you immediately repudiated the trustworthiness of Brady; one of the NFL’s pillars of sportsmanship and someone who has never previously been accused of being a cheater (or drug-user or rapist or animal endangerer or criminal of any kind). Not only did you question him but you attacked him. With nearly no provocation and armed with only a vague statement from an NFL spokesperson and unofficial reports from other sources, you labeled Brady a liar and a cheater.

After he told you that he didn’t do anything wrong and stood and answered your questions for 35 minutes, you came on television and arrogantly rattled on about “disappointment” in him; disappointment based on the inflation level of game balls that almost every single current and former player agrees is a non-issue. That consensus is further backed up by the lack of outrage when the aforementioned ball-tampering in Minnesota popped up in November of 2014.

Aaron Rodgers admitted that he hopes his purposely over-inflated balls sneak by the referees’ inspection, and you dismissed that as not cheating. Because you know that the pressure of the balls does not win you NFL games. You aren’t mad about deflation or inflation; you just want to hate the Patriots.*

The problem is that if you do think that the Patriots benefit from ball pressure, then Rodgers just told you that he does too. You’re not going to start a war against Rodgers, so you make it about principle. It’s “the principle” of the matter.

Okay. That’s what they were figuring you would do.

So now we are nine days into this thing while fast approaching the Super Bowl, and the NFL has not even had to come out and actually call the Patriots cheaters. Nor have they addressed the issue directly to the media or the public. A spokesperson confirmed that there was an investigation. Then five days ago the NFL released a statement that took three paragraphs to say exactly what the spokesperson had confirmed: that they are investigating. The only notable addition was to note that the Patriots are cooperating fully with said investigation as well as a particularly preposterous paragraph in which they explain the reconnaissance mission in terms more suited for the script of an episode of CSI.

The fact that you so willingly fell into this trap is a testament to just how much power the NFL has over you. They handed you the narrative that they knew you wanted. They figured they could solve the “indignity” that the league had suffered at the hands of the mighty cheating Patriots by throwing the book*at the "bad guys”. They’d even do it to Bob Kraft to show you how they don’t play favorites.

What better way to help solve an image issue than align yourself with the masses against a common enemy? Bravo to Goodell.*He "cracked down" on cheating without further angering any of the NFL owners that already don't like him.

You bought it hook, line and sinker because you're under the delusion that your team is all clear eyes-full hearts and has somehow been victimized by this. It is one thing to buy into a perfectly timed PR stunt. It’s another thing entirely to fall into the ignorant space between conspiracy and reality that*enables you to continuously denounce the NFL and its most successful franchise as cheaters and liars, yet still voraciously consume their product that they've pitted you against.*

The only way that this league will change for the better is if you stop letting the NFL take you for such fools.*

[mtdjed]

Originally Posted by birdawg

Do you think the CHEATERS should get bounced out of the super bowl?

There are no cheaters. It was just trash talk against Seattle to get them riled. Just like saying Brady has a cold.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

It really is incredible. A few footballs were under inflated by a small amount.

The league has launched an investigation to try to determine how this happened.

There has not even been an accusation or an allegation by anyone and yet people are calling the entire team cheaters, calling for them to be banned from the Super Bowl and fined.

The whole thing is really pretty ridiculous, isn't it?

[PennBF]

NE has and are cheaters. Their problem is they got caught. All the analysis of how PR usage suckers those who listen to the media, etc is smoke trying to divert from the very basic point. The Patriots cheated and have cheated and how anyone wants to deal with that is their business. To go into denial is a disorder that will not be changed by a few notes in TOTV's. Stay on point: They cheated in the past and there is no basis to believe they cleaned up their act. Remember the best predication of the future is the past. Hope that rings a bell for some.

[The Great Fumar]

Those of us who have actually played the game know that an underinflated ball is not an advantage....Its harder to throw a tight spiral therefore less accurate, punts won't travel as far and field goals won't track as true toward the uprights..........I'll take a max inflated ball any day...........
What we have to keep in mind here is that this not Penn State , This is the best team in Pro Football.............

fieldgoal fumar

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by PennBF

NE has and are cheaters. Their problem is they got caught. All the analysis of how PR usage suckers those who listen to the media, etc is smoke trying to divert from the very basic point. The Patriots cheated and have cheated and how anyone wants to deal with that is their business. To go into denial is a disorder that will not be changed by a few notes in TOTV's. Stay on point: They cheated in the past and there is no basis to believe they cleaned up their act. Remember the best predication of the future is the past. Hope that rings a bell for some.

Thank you for that information. I'd love to see the details of the extensive investigation that you have done to come to that conclusion.

Other than the fact that they got caught on a minor technical violation of a rule seven years ago, by taking video from just outside of that approved area, I'm not sure how to can say conclusively that they had anything to do with the balls being under inflated. The past is the the past and has nothing to do with this incident.

There is absolutely not one shred of evidence to show that they had anything to do with it. But you have evidently come up with some information that the rest of us don't have. I'd really love to see what you turned up. Because, without that, there is no basis to believe that they did anything wrong. To go into denial of that is a disorder that will not be changed by a few notes in TOTV's.

[TheVillageChicken]

This is chump change when compared to steroid use, players like Suh intentionally cleat stomping quarterbacks, etc.

[mtdjed]

Who makes NFL Footballs? What is the name of the Seattle quarterback? The signal was sent.

[dbussone]

Originally Posted by Bosoxfan

How The NFL Made a Fool of You With "Deflategate"

If you are a football fan that feels as though the Patriots have hurt the integrity of your precious sport with the PSI of a game ball, or a member of the media who took to your laptops and the airwaves to editorialize your distrust of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady and Bob Kraft, then you should be mad right now; because the NFL played you like a fiddle.*

*They made a mockery of you. They dangled the bait in front of you and you snapped it up so quickly and with so much vigor that they haven’t even had to come out and speak to you and answer your questions; because you haven’t even asked them to.

And they knew that you wouldn’t.

They dared you to inundate an entire team of athletes and personnel with accusations based on your lingering distrust of Bill Belichick post-SpyGate; distrust that constantly leaves you calling for his resignation and/or the confiscation of his Super Bowl rings despite the fact that you have failed to exhibit the same vitriol for the also-highly-decorated Jimmy Johnson who admitted to doing the same exact thing.

You went on the radio and the internet and TV and indicted the Patriots based on nothing other than a couple of flimsy reports and an announcement of an investigation. You did that knowing that despite it being enough of a story that Belichick and Brady were at the podium talking to you about it, the NFL had inexplicably failed to even have a conversation with Brady yet. You did that knowing that this is the same exact league and Commissioner whose credibility you’d spent most of the season dismantling.

You wanted and needed so badly to believe that the Patriots couldn’t possibly be the dynasty that has reigned supreme over the last fourteen years that you gave the NFL the benefit of the doubt.

The league that tried to cover up their knowledge of a video of Ray Rice knocking his fiancé unconscious with a punch to the face, then had their Commissioner stand up in front of you and dare you to try to make him pay any consequences for it.

The league that, in the interest of financial gain, ignored and covered up the brutal health implications of playing for them until a beloved Hall of Fame linebacker killed himself and donated his brain to science in the hopes that it may save the lives of other players.

Why has it not also been shoved down your throats that they’re investigating the Browns for illegal use of electronic devices for sideline communication, or that the Chargers were fined in 2012 for cheating through illegal use of towels with a hidden substance? Where was the viral outrage when the Cowboys and Redskins were fined millions in cap dollars after being found guilty of purposely dumping salaries into the uncapped year in 2010?*

*Wait, you will love this one. Why didn’t the NFL deem it necessary to make quarterbacks and coaches speak to their accountability and respect for the integrity of the game when just TWO MONTHS AGO they caught the Vikings heating game balls on the sideline in a 12-degree game against the Panthers after they supposedly reminded both teams that it was illegal to do so? (Full credit and big thanks to*Pats Krieg for compiling these.)

The NFL’s brilliant leaking of a “possible” Patriots scandal was enough to incite such a frenzy that you immediately repudiated the trustworthiness of Brady; one of the NFL’s pillars of sportsmanship and someone who has never previously been accused of being a cheater (or drug-user or rapist or animal endangerer or criminal of any kind). Not only did you question him but you attacked him. With nearly no provocation and armed with only a vague statement from an NFL spokesperson and unofficial reports from other sources, you labeled Brady a liar and a cheater.

After he told you that he didn’t do anything wrong and stood and answered your questions for 35 minutes, you came on television and arrogantly rattled on about “disappointment” in him; disappointment based on the inflation level of game balls that almost every single current and former player agrees is a non-issue. That consensus is further backed up by the lack of outrage when the aforementioned ball-tampering in Minnesota popped up in November of 2014.

Aaron Rodgers admitted that he hopes his purposely over-inflated balls sneak by the referees’ inspection, and you dismissed that as not cheating. Because you know that the pressure of the balls does not win you NFL games. You aren’t mad about deflation or inflation; you just want to hate the Patriots.*

The problem is that if you do think that the Patriots benefit from ball pressure, then Rodgers just told you that he does too. You’re not going to start a war against Rodgers, so you make it about principle. It’s “the principle” of the matter.

Okay. That’s what they were figuring you would do.

So now we are nine days into this thing while fast approaching the Super Bowl, and the NFL has not even had to come out and actually call the Patriots cheaters. Nor have they addressed the issue directly to the media or the public. A spokesperson confirmed that there was an investigation. Then five days ago the NFL released a statement that took three paragraphs to say exactly what the spokesperson had confirmed: that they are investigating. The only notable addition was to note that the Patriots are cooperating fully with said investigation as well as a particularly preposterous paragraph in which they explain the reconnaissance mission in terms more suited for the script of an episode of CSI.

The fact that you so willingly fell into this trap is a testament to just how much power the NFL has over you. They handed you the narrative that they knew you wanted. They figured they could solve the “indignity” that the league had suffered at the hands of the mighty cheating Patriots by throwing the book*at the "bad guys”. They’d even do it to Bob Kraft to show you how they don’t play favorites.

What better way to help solve an image issue than align yourself with the masses against a common enemy? Bravo to Goodell.*He "cracked down" on cheating without further angering any of the NFL owners that already don't like him.

You bought it hook, line and sinker because you're under the delusion that your team is all clear eyes-full hearts and has somehow been victimized by this. It is one thing to buy into a perfectly timed PR stunt. It’s another thing entirely to fall into the ignorant space between conspiracy and reality that*enables you to continuously denounce the NFL and its most successful franchise as cheaters and liars, yet still voraciously consume their product that they've pitted you against.*

The only way that this league will change for the better is if you stop letting the NFL take you for such fools.*

What he said

[DonH57]

The next complaint from a crying team the Patriots beat will claim something was amiss with the cleats on their shoes or they were using a primitive language while calling signals.

[DonH57]

Originally Posted by The Great Fumar

Those of us who have actually played the game know that an underinflated ball is not an advantage....Its harder to throw a tight spiral therefore less accurate, punts won't travel as far and field goals won't track as true toward the uprights..........I'll take a max inflated ball any day...........
What we have to keep in mind here is that this not Penn State , This is the best team in Pro Football.............

fieldgoal fumar

Ya got that right.

[redwitch]

None if this matters. Whether you love or hate the Pats is irrelevant. Whatever the findings ultimately are is totally inconsequentail. It will be another black mark against the Pats.

Fans will defend the under inflation as they have the video taping and the plowing of the field for their kicker. And please remember that just because something is legal doesn't make it morally right. Non-fans will continue to rail against the Pats.

Fact: Tom Brady is a great QB and a truly decent guy.

Fact: Belichick skirts the line and will take any advantage he can. There is a reason Shula calls him Belicheat.

FACT: the Pats don't need any edge. They are a great franchise right now whether those of us who dislike them want to admit it or not.

Defending the Pats is not going to make an iota of difference to any of this. Railing against the Pats and the tarnishing of the purity of the game is not going to make an iota of difference to any of this. The Super Bowl will be played. Either the much loved/loathed Pats will win or the Seachickens will win. We will all enjoy the commercials and possibly the halftime show. Odds are that Monday discussions will be had about the latter two and little will be said about the actual game.

Personally, I will keep on loathing the Pats, I will keep the Dolphins close to my heart (but they almost lost me when they hired Johnson, whom I detest even more that the Pats) and I will happily cheer when the Niners win a game.