4th game of the season is against Dallas.

Pats QB Garoppolo is a Eastern Illinois U. Alum; Cowboys QB Tony Romo is also from Eastern Illinois U. Way to go Panthers!


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I never have an issue with how YOU express your 'hatred'. It is thought out and without malice. I hate to admit it, but I likely was at the stadium for that infamous field goal plow job. I may have even cheered, I was young and the Pats really stunk for a long time, please forgive me :pray:

Tom Brady will appeal through the players union and probably win, so I expect maybe a 2 game suspension. Pats will make the playoff's again.

I thought the fines and removal of the draft picks was over the top.

Fine to Robert Kraft was excessive and he will not be happy with Roger Goodell.

My prediction is Robert Kraft will drop Roger Goodell from his Xmas card list and no party invitations will be extended to Roger, at Kraft's house especially at Christmas. :smiley:

AJ, i keep loving what you say...something honest about you. Clear and human, and forgiving us all for what we are.

Yep. No more christmas cards or party invites from Bob.:a20:

An independent arbitrator hears the appeal.

I am wondering if the entire penalty to the team will be overturned or just Brady's suspension.

I admit freely that I cheered for the field goal plow job. Shuler brought it to the NFL rules committee and it was found that no rule was violated. They may have changed the rule after the fact, but it wasn't against the rules at the time.

It's one thing to talk about the alleged rules violations but why do people bring up something that was not in violation of the rules and happened a long time ago under a different coach, different management and different ownership.

I wonder if any of the other great dynasties in American sports had so many people hating them to this degree?

Patriots fans incensed with Tom Brady’s four-game suspension for his role in ‪#‎Deflategate‬ have taken to social media to express their disapproval, going so far as to suggest the Patriots not hang their banner for winning Super Bowl XLIX on Opening Night, but rather wait until No. 12’s first game back before raising it. Are you on board with ‪#‎NoBradyNoBanner‬

Why did I bring the snowplow game up? I felt Redwitch _might_ get a chuckle out of my comments.

A forgotten thing about the end of that game is Shula refused an offer to use the snow plow believing he would win his protests. Here is an article written in part by one of my all time favorite Patriots:

Patriots Hall Of Famer John Hannah: Why The 'Snowplow Game' Is Misunderstood | ThePostGame

From the article:
The Dolphins played like their hair was on fire. In the remaining few minutes, pure adrenaline pushed them within field goal range for the tie attempt. In all fairness the Dolphins were also offered the use of the snowplow by the head referee to clear the field for their kick, but with complete indignation and certainty the game would be nullified for the unfair use of it by the Patriots, Coach Shula adamantly refused to stoop to such tactics and chose to kick as the field lay.

AJ, You're right, I cracked up when I saw your comment. And legality was irrelevant. It showed how little class the Pats had back then. Sadly, the classlessness never seems to cease for this team. Of course, today that classlessness seems to be true for every team. Thugs on and off the field. The willingness to sign felons, alleged felons and potential felons. Since everyone else does it, it makes it okay for us to bend the rules. I really want football to go back to being a sport, with owners and coaches caring about the game, as much as the bottom line. Until then, I'll whimper and whine, watch a tenth of the games I used to watch and care very little who wins or loses. Strangely, I still love the game and probably always will.

Officials should be in control of the footballs
 

Dean, I agree with you, the officials should be in control of the balls from start to finish. To be fair I'm not a big Pats fan but I think the NFL is "over the top" on this one. Give me a break---look what the Patriots did in the Super Bowl---with a so called "inflated ball".

Classless for being able to outsmart the other team within the rules? Wow!

I'm not sure that they game has changed all that much. There have been felons, alleged felons and potential felon playing this game from day one. The only difference now is that with 24/7 news reporting and the internet we know every little detail of everyone's lives.

If you've ben watching for that long, you must remember when it was common and legal for the defense line to grab opponents face masks. It wasn't against the rules but it caused numerous serious injuries.

How about before they banned stickum. Every great receiver prior to the ban was covered in the stuff. Was that also classless?

If you think that this game was played by a bunch of choir boys back in the 40s and 50s, you are sadly mistaken.

If anything, most of todays players are more educated and classier then the thugs that played back then. The difference like I said is that the press had important things to report on and didn't bother with the private lives of athletes.

Not a problem as long as the teams are allowed to witness the inflation process. Like I said, in the Patriots Jets game last year, the Patriots balls were at 16 pounds. That's what started this whole mess.

Some one needs to witness what the refs are doing to the balls and there needs to be appeal process. Maybe an independent ball company should provide all the balls.

first of all, I don't think that's going to be necessary. This ruling is so over the top that it's going to be overturned easily.

If not then I don't think that this move would go far enough. I don't think that the NFL could really care about whether or not a team has a championship celebration or when they have it.

I'd say if by some bizarre chance this suspension holds up, the Patriots don't take the field for any games next year. Dress and show up for every game and stand on the sidelines until the referees call a forfeit. See how the NFL likes losing all that television revenue.

Why would someone pump the footballs to 16. Were they trying to dribble the ball.? Isn't the minimim 12.5. ? Talk about tampering with the balls.