Deflategate, Ballghazi, Whatever You Call It – Patriots Caught Cheating Again
Tom Brady and the New England Patriots have a fight on their hands. Brady, a reigning Super Bowl MVP, has been suspended for 4 games by the NFL. He will appeal this suspension, according to his agent, and the Pats have already thrown their “unconditional” support behind their beloved quarterback after the NFL showed that even the seemingly spotless Brady had more than a little dirt on his shoulderpads after all.
In just five days after an NFL investigator made clear that it was “more probable than not” that the Patriots were knowingly breaking the rules, the league handed down its “Deflategate” punishment: Brady wouldn’t be part of the bunch for four games, and the Patriots were penalized $1 million. This was equal to the heftiest NFL fine in history, and the Patriots were also docked two draft picks for using improperly inflated footballs in the AFC Championship game.
Tom Brady at his Press Conference
Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive VP of football operations, also indefinitely suspended the two equipment staffers who put the deflation plan into action, including the one who literally referred to himself in text messages the league uncovered as “The Deflator.” In letters to both the team and Brady, Vincent noted clearly that the investigation by the league found “substantial and credible evidence” that the quarterback knew the employees were deflating the game-day footballs:
“With respect to your particular involvement, the report established that there is substantial and credible evidence to conclude you were at least generally aware of the actions of the Patriots’ employees involved in the deflation of the footballs and that it was unlikely that their actions were done without your knowledge. Moreover, the report documents your failure to cooperate fully and candidly with the investigation, including by refusing to produce any relevant electronic evidence (emails, texts, etc.), despite being offered extraordinary safeguards by the investigators to protect unrelated personal information, and by providing testimony that the report concludes was not plausible and contradicted by other evidence.
Your actions as set forth in the report clearly constitute conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the game of professional football. The integrity of the game is of paramount importance to everyone in our league, and requires unshakable commitment to fairness and compliance with the playing rules. Each player, no matter how accomplished and otherwise respected, has an obligation to comply with the rules and must be held accountable for his actions when those rules are violated and the public’s confidence in the game is called into question.”
The NFL’s Case is More Than Hot Air. Is the Same True of the Patriots?
The continued investigation by attorney Ted Wells found that Brady “was at least generally aware” of plans by two Patriots employees to prepare the balls to be his desired size and weight- and that meant below the league-mandated bare minimum of 12.5 lbs per square inch.
“Each player, no matter how accomplished and otherwise respected, has an obligation to comply with the rules,” Vincent stated, “and must be held accountable for his actions when those rules are violated and the public’s confidence in the game is called into question.”
Barring the suspension being overturned on his appeal, Brady will miss the first four games of the NFL season — including the league’s big deal Sept. 10 opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers, a game at which the Super Bowl championship banner will traditionally be raised. Brady would also miss games against Buffalo in Week 2, then a home game against Jacksonville, and also a game at the Dallas Cowboys. It wouldn’t be until the week of a Patriots-Colts AFC championship rematch in Indianapolis that Brady would return. Brady has three days to appeal the suspension to Commissioner Roger Goodell, and the appeal is expected to happen soon.
Tom Brady Throwing a Football of Unknown Air Pressure
In addition to the suspension and gigantic fine, the Patriots would lose next year’s first-round pick and a fourth-round choice in 2017. Kraft, who said after the Wells Report was released that he would gladly do good by the league’s decision, changed his position on Monday, saying in a statement that the punishment “far exceeded any reasonable expectation.”
Was it beyond any reasonable expectation? Perhaps, but it’s the second time in just 8 years the Pats have violated league rules and been punished for it. Back in 2007, the Patriors were fined $500,000 and docked a first-round draft pick, with coach Bill Belichick being personally fined $250,000 for videotaping opposing coaches as a way to document & decode their unique play signals. In his 243-page report that the league released last week, Wells found that the team broke the rules once again- by deflating the game day balls after they’d already been checked by officials as legitimate.
The investigation did not conclusively link Brady to the illegal activity, but text messages between the equipment staffers seemed to indicate fairly clearly that the quarterback “was at least generally aware” of it. Investigators pegged Brady’s explanation of the texts as implausible. “It is unlikely that an equipment assistant and a locker room attendant would deflate game balls without Brady’s knowledge and approval,” the report said.
Was Another Super Bowl Win Worth the Weight?
The NFL allows each team to provide the footballs used by its offense — and that quarterbacks like Brady play a role in creating — but it strictly requires them to be inflated in the range of 12.5-13.5 pounds per square inch. Footballs with less pressure can be easier to grip and catch, and Brady has directly expressed a preference for the lower end of the range.
Next week, during their meetings in San Francisco, league owners will discuss the pregame handling of footballs. Vincent told the Patriots that it did not matter whether the flatter footballs affected the outcome of the 45-7 win over the Colts. He said that, more importantly, it was plausible that the incident they got caught for was not the first time the footballs had been improperly inflated- citing ample evidence referring to games before the start of the 2014 season.
“It is impossible to determine whether this activity had an effect on the outcome of games or what that effect was,” Vincent said.
The Patriots went on to beat the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl 28-24 — their fourth NFL title since the 2001 season. In his only public comments since the release of the Wells Report, Brady said that the scandal hasn’t taken away from the team’s accomplishments.
“Absolutely not,” he said at a previously planned appearance in Salem, Massachusetts, Thursday night. “We earned everything we got and achieved as a team, and I am proud of that and so are our fans.”
Tom Brady Holding a Properly Inflated Vince Lombardi Trophy
