So they were CHEATING
 

So today we hear that the PATRIOTS were cheating so sad that they would go to this level to win.

LOL. Those texts between them two were pretty funny. I would think Ted Wells is not hinging his report solely on that text exchange. It had about the same content as what I read on TOTV every day. So. The equipment managers will get a wrist slap.

I find the whole thing to be a witch hunt.More probable then not . Really. ? 103 days to come up with" more probable then not" . Give me a break. Haters are always going to be haters.No proof here. Get over it!

Yeah. Really incriminating. And I'm not a Pats fan (or hater). But come on.

No evidence? How about deflated balls that were not deflated by the officials?

No doubt deflated ....big doubt about how it happened . Every thing thus far is speculation. More probable then not.....what's that?

Hope the Commissioner is happy with his league's hatchet job on the most successful quarterback to ever play the game.Roger Goodell's league spent four months and a seemingness endless stream of legal resources on the "independent" Ted Wells report to kill the Patriots and*Tom Brady*over something they could never really prove.In the end, what they found was enough evidence to be suspicious of the Patriots quarterback and equipment personnel inside*Gillette Stadium. They did not find anything more than that.If you spent five months turning over pebbles but couldn't move stones, that's on you. If you wanted to bring down*Tom Brady*and thought you had the ammo to do so, fine. It's a free country. And more to the point, as you said to old buddy Robert Kraft, it's your job to do so if you find probable cause.But if you fail, which this independent report clearly did by virtue of its CYA language, then you owe an apology to the Patriots and*Tom Brady. You shouldn't have dragged Brady's name through the mud without a smoking gun.As soon as news broke early Wednesday afternoon and the Wells Report was made public, one line jumped out at me like a neon flashing sign."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."Exactly what does "at least generally aware" even mean?Either you have the goods on Brady or you don't. This is clearly an attempt by the NFL to say we think you did something wrong but we can't prove it. Still, we're the NFL so we can at least tarnish your image.This isn't the first time the NFL has come down on a legendary quarterback. For those of you who are history buffs, after winning*Super Bowl*III, Joe Namath opened a popular Upper East Side bar called "Bachelors III," which became associated with reputed criminals.To protect the league's reputation, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle ordered Namath to divest himself of his interest in the bar. Namath refused, retiring from football during a teary news conference, but eventually agreed to divest his interest, and reported to the Jets.Tom Brady*won't be holding any tear-filled news conferences to announce he can't take it anymore. Neither will his dad.*Tom Brady*Sr. summed up, as well as anyone, the lunacy of the "at least generally aware" shot at his son."I don't have any doubt about my son's integrity - not one bit,"*Tom Brady*Sr. told USA Today Sports on Wednesday. "In this country, you're innocent until proven guilty. It just seems Tommy is now guilty until proven innocent."This thing is so convoluted. They say that possibly - possibly - he was aware of this," he added. "The reality is if you can't prove he did it, then he's innocent, and lay off him. That's the bottom line."They had to protect their asses, and that's what they're doing," Brady Sr. said. "I just read that four Colts balls were underinflated. Amazing. Amazing."They're saying he's possibly aware. How do you put a cloud over somebody like this?" he asked. "To impugn somebody without conclusive evidence saying this is more probable than not? The reality is they have scientific evidence. Now they're overriding the scientific evidence and badgering the Patriots. It's disgusting."Couldn't have said it better myself.Unfortunately for Brady, his father and the rest of us, the NFL doesn't care how disgusting they are, or look. They know that fans will still pay to watch star quarterbacks like Brady line their pockets while they assassinate his character at the same time. What a daily double.After five months and 243 pages of detailed documentation and investigation, we can now all get on with our lives. Except for*Tom Brady. Sure, he's going about his offseason workout. Yep, he'll be getting a fourth*Super Bowl*ring. No doubt, he has the perfect home life with great kids and the super model wife.But now, thanks to a vague, circumstantial report, his credibility has been permanently scarred. If you're going to go after a guy like Tom Brady, you have to have more in the end than "more probable than not" and "generally aware." A lot more."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.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."Not good enough. If you discipline Brady, you're doing so on circumstance and circumspect evidence. You have one final chance to save face. Don't suspend him over a report that fell way short of proving he was directly involved.At least we all now know why the NFL wanted four months to release its report. They wanted to go hard after Tom Brady and prove that he cheated. They failed.he disgusting character assassination of Tom Brady patriots - The disgusting character assassination of Tom Brady - WEEI | Mike Petraglia

BoSoxFan - well said.

Lets face it, the Pat fans are always going to defend Brady and this whole, silly mess. The Pat haters are going to use this report as another reason to add to their why I don't like the Pats list. Personally, I think the balls were deflated, that Brady was aware the balls were slightly below regulations and that it did in fact give the Pats a SLIGHT edge. So slight as to be meaningless. If I'm right, it wasn't done to win, it was done because this is the PSI Brady is most comfortable with. It is not an earth shattering violation. The Pats would have won regardless. The game will go on. The Pats will win and lose more games. The balls will not be under-inflated again. We'll continue watching our teams and rooting as we always have.

Now, let's talk baseball. This that season.

Yes baseball time. When the balls were slightly underinflated the Pats scored less points so it definately did not give them an edge. I about busted a gut reading the text messages between the equipment assistants because of the language and content. :a20:

Here's a quote from the Boston Herald:
"But wait, buried on the 228th page was this nugget: "In sum, the data did not provide a basis for us to determine with absolute certainty whether there was or was not tampering as the analysis of such data ultimately is dependent upon assumptions and information that is not certain."

No wonder Patriots owner Robert Kraft said Wells' findings were "incomprehensible" in a statement that ripped the report."

Nice post as usual. Thanks for the reasonable approach you have to things in life.

Everyone seems to forget, if these under inflated balls in the first half were so great, why did the a Patriots make most of their points in the second half? Just wondering...

...

They didn't.

Actually they scored the same in both halves. 14 + 14 for 28 total. And all scores were PASS plays.

Just clarifying. Still don't think the balls were the difference. Seattle's pass play call at the end was the difference maker.

What's that? Sounds like Brady and Bellichick to me

Las Vegas giving odds on Brady Suspension

Maybe you have the wrong game here for the subject at hand?

That's what I was thinking.

Owner Kraft called the conclusion "incomprehensible" like you said, but also added, The Patriots would accept the findings and any subsequent discipline!!! (Like he knows something is coming) Evidence showed, McNally took the game balls into the bathroom adjacent to the field, before play started. Also, a text message : Remember to put a couple sweet pig skins ready for Tom to sign, one said!! It is what it is, and no matter what, if cheating is involved, there needs to be a punishment. It's not like players taking an enhancement drug etc, but still its cheating, and a violation occurred.

The only noteworthy news emanating from the NFL is they have greed to waiver their tax-exempt status.

Wrong game. The underinflated balls were found in the 45 -7 defeat of the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship game. The Patriots scored 17 points in the first half and 28 points in the second half.

The Patriots got a lot of yardage and points from their running game.

I like a good joke as much as anyone, so I laughed when the NFL released its long-awaited decision on "Deflategate," because it's funny.

Have we waited since January to find out today that maybe the NFL knows what happened, and maybe it doesn't? But we should be satisfied because the NFL is "at least generally aware" of what went on, which is the same silly standard the league is pinning on Tom Brady.

There are many things that I'm "generally aware of" that I really don't know much about. For example, the weather, and computers.

So I think the NFL owed Tom Brady a higher standard; say "beyond a reasonable doubt" or "preponderance of the evidence" before it judges him guilty.

Instead, the NFL convicts the Patriot's quarterback by concluding "it is more probable than not that Tom Brady was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities..."

Well, that's just another way of the NFL saying, "we think he knew, but we can't prove it. And it's less probable that he wasn't aware."

Interestingly, the NFL trashed Tom Brady's reputation, but stopped short of painting the Patriots team and owner as "generally aware" of doing anything wrong.

Now, the NFL Commissioner says the league will see what steps to take next, including possible disciplinary action.

I think a fitting punishment would be to make everyone in NFL headquarters actually read the entire 243 page report, to see how uncertain it leaves us.

Believing Brain
 

There is a book out that many would be helped by reading. It is called "The Believing Brain" and it's subject deals with the mind first deciding what it wants to believe and then going about trying to justify that belief. Does it sound familiar with some of the strong opinions in these notes. It is few and far in between when someone first develops their facts and then establishes their beliefs. None of us know for sure what happened with the process of the ball but many have set up their belief and are now fighting to convince they know the facts which actually don't exist. This is traditional thinking. Life is fun isn't it.:jester:

Neat. Thanks for sharing!

I read the text messages between the Pats equipment assistants presented in the Wells report. Due to the content and language I had such a good laugh this morning I had coffee go up my nose.:a20:

just can't believe Tom would do this

Did better with inflated footballs
 

Not a big Patriot fan but the facts speak for themselves--- they scored better after the balls were inflated than with the balls with "less" air. What does this say? This has to do about nothing IMHO. They just beat the colts like a drum! Get over it---move on. :pepper2:

This whole deflategate is ridiculous. NFL has a dog killer, a child molester, A wife beater, and a player that beat his own son with a stick. They're all playing. And everyone is talking about the air in some footballs? Think about it. How small minded can people get?

Tom Brady never looked better than he did at his appearance at Salem State University tonight. He said he will address this controversy in the not too distant future. We love you, Tom.

haha this is what I saw...must look closer next time! N.F.L. Sentences Tom Brady to Year with Jets for Deflategate - The New Yorker

Let's just be honest, and admit what is wrong here!!!! Has nothing to do with how many points scored, but that someone tried to deceive the system. You would not (I hope) teach your children to cheat????? Super Bowl rings will not change or will the scores, but discipline must be taken. I'm not a fan of Bonds, Alex Rodrigous, or McGuire because they all cheated, and they are being disciplined. Same thing goes for this. Honesty will always pay!!

Nice post PaPa. Some folks just don't get it, When we see something wrong we are called haters or we are told" WHAT DIFFERANCE DOES IT MAKE" but it's good to see some of us still have values.

It will be interesting to see what punishment the NFL sees fit for Tom Brady. Will they suspend him from the first game which pits the super bowl champs against the Pittsburgh steelers? This Thursday night opening game is always one of the biggest draws of the season. How many will watch some second or third string quarterback play? Is the NFL willing to hit themselves in the pocketbook?

That is so great.:a20::a20::a20:

Thanks to drug testing, I now have the exact same number of Tour de France wins as Lance Armstrong.

Still will be sold out!!!!! Pittsburg is a great draw. Situation will not affect the game

Good one.:clap2::1rotfl:

My setiments exactly.

If it isn't importan,why does the league have a psi rule. To go behind officials after the balls have been approved for play is not only cheating ,but a serious breach of faith with the fans in Boston and nationwide.

Nice role model Tom. This kind of stuff plus the growing lists of Felons in the league does not bode well for the sport.