Patriots being investigated after Colts game (4 Viewers)

[msudaisy26]

Jerry Sandusky, Hilter, Bernie Madoff, and the Patriots. I can't be the only one that sees the clear line between them all.

You have just redlined the Timsochet signal.

You will have to explain that to me. I have no idea what that means.

 

[bicycle_seat_sniffer]

Lmao the amount of salt in this thread is ####### hilarious. The amount of "OMGZ THEY CHEATED" posts is even more hilarious. Gotta love how jealous the best franchise of the past 15 years makes people. I also find it funny that half of you guys are 40 and over, and yet you act like you're 12. Lets accuse someone of cheating even though there's no proof!

There has been plenty of proof that they cheated in the past. Once you are known as a cheater you do not get that benefit of the doubt.

If one of Greg Williams defense gets accused of targeting I bet he doesn't get the benefit of the doubt either.

Its not immature to dislike a team that has cheated and has had success. Look at A-rod, Barry Bonds, etc. No one likes a cheater. Its more immature to try to ignore their sketchy ways as long as it means winning. That's classless.

Embrace the stupidity and let us Pats fans know how it turns out. We'll be here, busy making plans for the Super Bowl

No one can take away your enjoyment as a classless organization. That is really awesome for your city. In all honesty I would take it if it were my city. But own it man. You have a sketchy team. So enjoy this time but 20 years from now when they compare dynasties lets see how it all plays out and what people actually give them credit for.

well, I think what you're forgetting is that time leads to a lot of hazy and incomplete memories.

people will tend to remember the glory days of these dynasties and forget the details.

like with san fran --- how often do you hear people writing off that dynasty because they had to outspend the league to buy championships?

or the steroids that paved the way for pittsburgh's short lived domination?

how about the salary cap cheating the broncos used to practice to get that unfair edge which led to titles?

most of that stuff is long forgotten

Interesting thought. I would add that along with the details most fans forget the win-loss records of the years. Heck, people don't even remember the playoff teams. Not even the SB losers. We are a culture of championships. We remember Green Bay as an old school dominant team of the 60's because they won 6 titles in that time. Now they are good again but without the SB titles these more recent Packer teams of the last decade will go down as "good" but not elite or dominant. The Steelers were the elite, dominant team of the 70's because of their 4 SB titles in that era. Their more recent teams reflect a clear comeback but with only two SB titles in the last decade their recent teams will go down as good but not elite/dominant. Same is true with the Patriots. They will be remembered as the dominant team 10-12 years ago because of those 3 titles, but these last 10 years without SB titles will be remembered as good but not great teams.

Of course the fans of those teams will all argue about their greatness, but truth is, no one ever remembers the losers. Even the losers of the Superbowls.

nobody outside yourself thinks that way.

there's nobody calling the niners dynasty a 4 championship run.

there were 3 consecutive years montana spit the bit and threw up jamarcian numbers in the 3 playoff losses but those years get folded in with the rest because it was a long time ago.

the pats dynasty will most likely comprise belichick's tenure with the team, unless they keep rolling even after his departure.

the single greatest dynasty in the history of football, and possibly all sports.

Lmfao ur terrible at trolling

 

[SeniorVBDStudent]

ATTENTION Pats fans: Most don't believe this incident had anything to do with the outcome of the game, BUT it just goes to show how classless this organization really is. One more nail in their legacy under Belichick. At the end of the day, if it looks like a duck.........

Congrats to the colts on a great year. Great qb and coaching staff. Enjoy the off-season and stay classy.

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

ATTENTION Pats fans: Most don't believe this incident had anything to do with the outcome of the game, BUT it just goes to show how classless this organization really is. One more nail in their legacy under Belichick. At the end of the day, if it looks like a duck.........

Congrats to the colts on a great year. Great qb and coaching staff. Enjoy the off-season and stay classy.

they'll be getting the last laugh in 15 yrs

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Pats fans are a lot like Penn State fans. Defend their team no matter what in the face of cheating or horrible criminal activities. Stick your head in the sand and keep waving your teams flag.

Not even a son of a ##### like Joe Paterno would sit idly by while balls were being deflated.

 

[Serenity Now]

You guys must have hurt yourselves jumping to conclusions today. What an embarrassing display of ignorance.

 

[pats3in4]

I can't wait for the Super Bowl when Belichick will fill one of their balls with helium instead of air. Brady will drop back to pass, arc a towering spiral down the field, which will rise.......rise.......keep rising......... and sail right out of the stadium and up into the afternoon desert sky.

A week later, someone named Ngoc will find the ball on the beach and look to the sky. With a slight nod and a wry smile, he'll softly say "Berrichek," put the ball in his backpack, and his moped will whine off into the jungle.

The Pats couldn't get the helium ball in play in time for the 4th down play at the end of the Baltimore game. Otherwise Brady would have run out the clock chucking a 4th down toss into the heavens.

 

[Run It Up]

I can't wait for the Super Bowl when Belichick will fill one of their balls with helium instead of air. Brady will drop back to pass, arc a towering spiral down the field, which will rise.......rise.......keep rising......... and sail right out of the stadium and up into the afternoon desert sky.

A week later, someone named Ngoc will find the ball on the beach and look to the sky. With a slight nod and a wry smile, he'll softly say "Berrichek," put the ball in his backpack, and his moped will whine off into the jungle.

Not gonna lie, I spit water all over my keyboard reading this.

 

[Lutherman2112]

I can't wait for the Super Bowl when Belichick will fill one of their balls with helium instead of air. Brady will drop back to pass, arc a towering spiral down the field, which will rise.......rise.......keep rising......... and sail right out of the stadium and up into the afternoon desert sky.

A week later, someone named Ngoc will find the ball on the beach and look to the sky. With a slight nod and a wry smile, he'll softly say "Berrichek," put the ball in his backpack, and his moped will whine off into the jungle.

That sounds more like the Flubber effect.

 

[FUBAR]

Lmao the amount of salt in this thread is ####### hilarious. The amount of "OMGZ THEY CHEATED" posts is even more hilarious. Gotta love how jealous the best franchise of the past 15 years makes people. I also find it funny that half of you guys are 40 and over, and yet you act like you're 12. Lets accuse someone of cheating even though there's no proof!

There has been plenty of proof that they cheated in the past. Once you are known as a cheater you do not get that benefit of the doubt.

If one of Greg Williams defense gets accused of targeting I bet he doesn't get the benefit of the doubt either.

Its not immature to dislike a team that has cheated and has had success. Look at A-rod, Barry Bonds, etc. No one likes a cheater. Its more immature to try to ignore their sketchy ways as long as it means winning. That's classless.

Embrace the stupidity and let us Pats fans know how it turns out. We'll be here, busy making plans for the Super Bowl

No one can take away your enjoyment as a classless organization. That is really awesome for your city. In all honesty I would take it if it were my city. But own it man. You have a sketchy team. So enjoy this time but 20 years from now when they compare dynasties lets see how it all plays out and what people actually give them credit for.

well, I think what you're forgetting is that time leads to a lot of hazy and incomplete memories.

people will tend to remember the glory days of these dynasties and forget the details.

like with san fran --- how often do you hear people writing off that dynasty because they had to outspend the league to buy championships?

or the steroids that paved the way for pittsburgh's short lived domination?

how about the salary cap cheating the broncos used to practice to get that unfair edge which led to titles?

most of that stuff is long forgotten

Interesting thought. I would add that along with the details most fans forget the win-loss records of the years. Heck, people don't even remember the playoff teams. Not even the SB losers. We are a culture of championships. We remember Green Bay as an old school dominant team of the 60's because they won 6 titles in that time. Now they are good again but without the SB titles these more recent Packer teams of the last decade will go down as "good" but not elite or dominant. The Steelers were the elite, dominant team of the 70's because of their 4 SB titles in that era. Their more recent teams reflect a clear comeback but with only two SB titles in the last decade their recent teams will go down as good but not elite/dominant. Same is true with the Patriots. They will be remembered as the dominant team 10-12 years ago because of those 3 titles, but these last 10 years without SB titles will be remembered as good but not great teams.

Of course the fans of those teams will all argue about their greatness, but truth is, no one ever remembers the losers. Even the losers of the Superbowls.

nobody outside yourself thinks that way.

there's nobody calling the niners dynasty a 4 championship run.

there were 3 consecutive years montana spit the bit and threw up jamarcian numbers in the 3 playoff losses but those years get folded in with the rest because it was a long time ago.

the pats dynasty will most likely comprise belichick's tenure with the team, unless they keep rolling even after his departure.

the single greatest dynasty in the history of football, and possibly all sports.

Lmfao ur terrible at trolling

Honestly, the pats are a top 6 dynasty in football. Gotta give them credit.

But that's like saying Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds are top 10 baseball players of all time.

 

[rockaction]

I can't wait for the Super Bowl when Belichick will fill one of their balls with helium instead of air. Brady will drop back to pass, arc a towering spiral down the field, which will rise.......rise.......keep rising......... and sail right out of the stadium and up into the afternoon desert sky.

A week later, someone named Ngoc will find the ball on the beach and look to the sky. With a slight nod and a wry smile, he'll softly say "Berrichek," put the ball in his backpack, and his moped will whine off into the jungle.

Not gonna lie, I spit water all over my keyboard reading this.

This really was a masterpiece.

 

[jon_mx]

If this were the NCAA, there would be suspensions, probabation, lose of scholarships, wins being forfeited. The NCAA is about as nuts as punishing people as the NFL is as letting them off.

 

[General Tso]

If this were the NCAA, there would be suspensions, probabation, lose of scholarships, wins being forfeited. The NCAA is about as nuts as punishing people as the NFL is as letting them off.

Uh, it did happen in the NCAA. A few years ago at USC. The NCAA poo-poo'd it relatively speaking.

 

[the moops]

If this were the NCAA, there would be suspensions, probabation, lose of scholarships, wins being forfeited. The NCAA is about as nuts as punishing people as the NFL is as letting them off.

Uh, it did happen in the NCAA. A few years ago at USC. The NCAA poo-poo'd it relatively speaking.

Yea, they fired the waterboy

 

[Deamon]

I can't wait for the Super Bowl when Belichick will fill one of their balls with helium instead of air. Brady will drop back to pass, arc a towering spiral down the field, which will rise.......rise.......keep rising......... and sail right out of the stadium and up into the afternoon desert sky.

A week later, someone named Ngoc will find the ball on the beach and look to the sky. With a slight nod and a wry smile, he'll softly say "Berrichek," put the ball in his backpack, and his moped will whine off into the jungle.

Not gonna lie, I spit water all over my keyboard reading this.

This really was a masterpiece.

The roof will be closed.

 

[Penguin]

http://www.amazon.com/Franklin-Ball-Maintenance-Kit-Pressure/dp/B001ZFIA6U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421718747&sr=8-1&keywords=football+pump

 

[BustedKnuckles]

I can't wait for the Super Bowl when Belichick will fill one of their balls with helium instead of air. Brady will drop back to pass, arc a towering spiral down the field, which will rise.......rise.......keep rising......... and sail right out of the stadium and up into the afternoon desert sky.

A week later, someone named Ngoc will find the ball on the beach and look to the sky. With a slight nod and a wry smile, he'll softly say "Berrichek," put the ball in his backpack, and his moped will whine off into the jungle.

Not gonna lie, I spit water all over my keyboard reading this.

This really was a masterpiece.

The roof will be closed.

party pooper....the story is awesome

 

[Run It Up]

I can't wait for the Super Bowl when Belichick will fill one of their balls with helium instead of air. Brady will drop back to pass, arc a towering spiral down the field, which will rise.......rise.......keep rising......... and sail right out of the stadium and up into the afternoon desert sky.

A week later, someone named Ngoc will find the ball on the beach and look to the sky. With a slight nod and a wry smile, he'll softly say "Berrichek," put the ball in his backpack, and his moped will whine off into the jungle.

Not gonna lie, I spit water all over my keyboard reading this.

This really was a masterpiece.

The roof will be closed.

But someone left a door open.

 

[thatguy]

I can't wait for the Super Bowl when Belichick will fill one of their balls with helium instead of air. Brady will drop back to pass, arc a towering spiral down the field, which will rise.......rise.......keep rising......... and sail right out of the stadium and up into the afternoon desert sky.

A week later, someone named Ngoc will find the ball on the beach and look to the sky. With a slight nod and a wry smile, he'll softly say "Berrichek," put the ball in his backpack, and his moped will whine off into the jungle.

Not gonna lie, I spit water all over my keyboard reading this.

This really was a masterpiece.

The roof will be closed.

party pooper....the story is awesome

It was classic. Reminds of something straight out of a Kurt Vonnegut novel... maybe "Sirens of Titan" or "Cats Cradle".

 

[Dragon1952]

The Pats beat Indy twice by a combined 60 pts. They could have beat them with a freakin' Nerf ball, basketball, hockey puck, badmitton birdie, cue ball, water balloon or even a blown up ##### bag. It's pretty irrelevant what PSI the ball is inflated to since it's not an exact science anyway and can fluctuate a bit depending on the temp to boot. And it's not like Brady carries his own personal football around when he's on offense.

 

[Run It Up]

The Pats beat Indy twice by a combined 60 pts. They could have beat them with a freakin' Nerf ball

They did, a new report from me, right now, says that NE used a Nerf Vortex Mega Howler half way through the game.

 

[JohnnyU]

The Pats beat Indy twice by a combined 60 pts. They could have beat them with a freakin' Nerf ball, basketball, hockey puck, badmitton birdie, cue ball, water balloon or even a blown up ##### bag. It's pretty irrelevant what PSI the ball is inflated to since it's not an exact science anyway and can fluctuate a bit depending on the temp to boot. And it's not like Brady carries his own personal football around when he's on offense.

That is irrelevant because it doesn't change the fact that it is cheating if they did it. Why would they feel the need to cheat? That is what is wrong with what they did, if they indeed did do it. Not whether it mattered in determining the outcome of that game.

 

[DropKick]

The Pats beat Indy twice by a combined 60 pts. They could have beat them with a freakin' Nerf ball, basketball, hockey puck, badmitton birdie, cue ball, water balloon or even a blown up ##### bag. It's pretty irrelevant what PSI the ball is inflated to since it's not an exact science anyway and can fluctuate a bit depending on the temp to boot. And it's not like Brady carries his own personal football around when he's on offense.

That is irrelevant because it doesn't change the fact that it is cheating if they did it. Why would they feel the need to cheat? That is what is wrong with what they did, if they indeed did do it. Not whether it mattered in determining the outcome of that game.

Seems far fetched to me... NE's has run the ball at will lately against the Colt's while the Colt's tend to throw more, especially with a deficit. A ball that is easier to catch favors the Colts.

I remember the first play from scrimmage in the second half; there was a delay while they switched ball. The explanation provided (TV) was they still had a kicking ball in the game.

 

[PatsFanCT]

Love the Pats homers in here defending the potential cheating.

Love the ignorant haters here defending the obvious BS.

 

[Dragon1952]

It's no more cheating than anything else that goes on in sports.....acting like you made a catch when you know you didn't (happens in baseball too), flopping to get a foul or penalty, greasing or scuffing the ball in baseball, holding could probably get called on someone on every single play in football, PED's (you only hear about the one's who get caught), riding the officials in any sport to try and get one to go your way later, and a million other things. Everyone looks the other way about all that #### and this is so insignificant it's ridiculous. Even if they did both teams play with the same balls.

 

[PatsFanCT]

I hope they lose LOTS of draft picks this time and they probably will.

They wont, and they shouldn't, hater.

 

[PatsFanCT]

The Pats beat Indy twice by a combined 60 pts. They could have beat them with a freakin' Nerf ball, basketball, hockey puck, badmitton birdie, cue ball, water balloon or even a blown up ##### bag. It's pretty irrelevant what PSI the ball is inflated to since it's not an exact science anyway and can fluctuate a bit depending on the temp to boot. And it's not like Brady carries his own personal football around when he's on offense.

That is irrelevant because it doesn't change the fact that it is cheating if they did it. Why would they feel the need to cheat? That is what is wrong with what they did, if they indeed did do it. Not whether it mattered in determining the outcome of that game.

Because they didn.t cheat. They beat your ###, fair and ####### square. Deal with it,

 

[JohnnyU]

The Pats beat Indy twice by a combined 60 pts. They could have beat them with a freakin' Nerf ball, basketball, hockey puck, badmitton birdie, cue ball, water balloon or even a blown up ##### bag. It's pretty irrelevant what PSI the ball is inflated to since it's not an exact science anyway and can fluctuate a bit depending on the temp to boot. And it's not like Brady carries his own personal football around when he's on offense.

That is irrelevant because it doesn't change the fact that it is cheating if they did it. Why would they feel the need to cheat? That is what is wrong with what they did, if they indeed did do it. Not whether it mattered in determining the outcome of that game.

Because they didn.t cheat. They beat your ###, fair and ####### square. Deal with it,

No doubt they didn't need to cheat to win, but time will tell if they cheated.

 

[bucsbaby]

Wow, teams should just cancel their offseason training programs and deflate their footballs a little bit instead. :Championship:

 

[JohnnyU]

It's no more cheating than anything else that goes on in sports.....acting like you made a catch when you know you didn't (happens in baseball too), flopping to get a foul or penalty, greasing or scuffing the ball in baseball, holding could probably get called on someone on every single play in football, PED's (you only hear about the one's who get caught), riding the officials in any sport to try and get one to go your way later, and a million other things. Everyone looks the other way about all that #### and this is so insignificant it's ridiculous. Even if they did both teams play with the same balls.

No, both teams do not play with the same balls. Each team has 12 of their own balls submitted 2hrs before game time.

 

[JohnnyU]

I hope they lose LOTS of draft picks this time and they probably will.

They wont, and they shouldn't, hater.

Of course I hate your team and what is wrong with that? So yes, I'm a hater of the Patriots and I'm proud of it.

 

[Slider]

The Pats beat Indy twice by a combined 60 pts. They could have beat them with a freakin' Nerf ball, basketball, hockey puck, badmitton birdie, cue ball, water balloon or even a blown up ##### bag. It's pretty irrelevant what PSI the ball is inflated to since it's not an exact science anyway and can fluctuate a bit depending on the temp to boot. And it's not like Brady carries his own personal football around when he's on offense.

That is irrelevant because it doesn't change the fact that it is cheating if they did it. Why would they feel the need to cheat? That is what is wrong with what they did, if they indeed did do it. Not whether it mattered in determining the outcome of that game.

Because they didn.t cheat. They beat your ###, fair and ####### square. Deal with it,

Doubtful.

 

[fruity pebbles]

I hope they lose LOTS of draft picks this time and they probably will.

They wont, and they shouldn't, hater.

Of course I hate your team and what is wrong with that? So yes, I'm a hater of the Patriots and I'm proud of it.

You should hate your owner. One of the biggest dbags in sports.

 

[Bossman]

If I were the

It's no more cheating than anything else that goes on in sports.....acting like you made a catch when you know you didn't (happens in baseball too), flopping to get a foul or penalty, greasing or scuffing the ball in baseball, holding could probably get called on someone on every single play in football, PED's (you only hear about the one's who get caught), riding the officials in any sport to try and get one to go your way later, and a million other things. Everyone looks the other way about all that #### and this is so insignificant it's ridiculous. Even if they did both teams play with the same balls.

No, both teams do not play with the same balls. Each team has 12 of their own balls submitted 2hrs before game time.

What??? Indy brought their own balls?

 

[msudaisy26]

The Pats beat Indy twice by a combined 60 pts. They could have beat them with a freakin' Nerf ball, basketball, hockey puck, badmitton birdie, cue ball, water balloon or even a blown up ##### bag. It's pretty irrelevant what PSI the ball is inflated to since it's not an exact science anyway and can fluctuate a bit depending on the temp to boot. And it's not like Brady carries his own personal football around when he's on offense.

That is irrelevant because it doesn't change the fact that it is cheating if they did it. Why would they feel the need to cheat? That is what is wrong with what they did, if they indeed did do it. Not whether it mattered in determining the outcome of that game.

Because they didn.t cheat. They beat your ###, fair and ####### square. Deal with it,

No doubt they didn't need to cheat to win, but time will tell if they cheated.

My guess is this is nothing, just like after the Lions vs Cowboys. Everyone was like OMG they told the Lions they missed a holding call on the 4th and 6 play. They also told the Cowboys that 7 of the 10 calls they disputed were mistakes too. They also took a game ball from the Colts. My guess is it is standard procedure and someone got the bright idea that they could make story out of it and be the first to "break" a huge scandal.

Then you get people who hate a team and run with it. It is sad actually.

 

[Dragon1952]

It's no more cheating than anything else that goes on in sports.....acting like you made a catch when you know you didn't (happens in baseball too), flopping to get a foul or penalty, greasing or scuffing the ball in baseball, holding could probably get called on someone on every single play in football, PED's (you only hear about the one's who get caught), riding the officials in any sport to try and get one to go your way later, and a million other things. Everyone looks the other way about all that #### and this is so insignificant it's ridiculous. Even if they did both teams play with the same balls.

No, both teams do not play with the same balls. Each team has 12 of their own balls submitted 2hrs before game time.

What difference does it make? Regardless of where they come from they are tested pre-game, and also, balls that are deemed 'irregular' during the game are removed . The point is that each team doesn't use just their own balls on offense. . If an 'irregular' ball was in play there is no way it could be advantageous to just one team.

 

[fdsannie]

In my opinion, I think this allegation is a little far fetched. But there are to many unanswered questions about spygate. So people have a hard time letting this go.

I think the hate comes not only from what has happened, but from the arrogance that starts with Belicheat and trickles down through the team especially from Brady through most of the team. I have never seen so much disregard for treating and making fun of other human beings.

 

[drummer]

First and foremost, I'm a fan of the game. I hope it's not true.

Tell the truth, most want this to be true. Most want this to further tarnish this cheating organization's legacy.

Really I don't. I think it would cheapen a great legacy, cheapen a win, and would make these boards even more unbearable for the next 20 years. It's like taking brass knuckles to a fist fight when you're the heavy favorite anyway. I was content last night with losing the game to a better team. Today, I'm having to deal with this.

 

[BustedKnuckles]

It's no more cheating than anything else that goes on in sports.....acting like you made a catch when you know you didn't (happens in baseball too), flopping to get a foul or penalty, greasing or scuffing the ball in baseball, holding could probably get called on someone on every single play in football, PED's (you only hear about the one's who get caught), riding the officials in any sport to try and get one to go your way later, and a million other things. Everyone looks the other way about all that #### and this is so insignificant it's ridiculous. Even if they did both teams play with the same balls.

No, both teams do not play with the same balls. Each team has 12 of their own balls submitted 2hrs before game time.

this has to be shtick...nobody can be this obtuse on purpose

 

[Sonny Lubick Blowup Doll]

When Oregon or Boise run "trick" plays, it's not football.

 

[Kool-Aid Larry]

In my opinion, I think this allegation is a little far fetched. But there are to many unanswered questions about spygate. So people have a hard time letting this go.

I think the hate comes not only from what has happened, but from the arrogance that starts with Belicheat and trickles down through the team especially from Brady through most of the team. I have never seen so much disregard for treating and making fun of other human beings.

get that a lot?

 

[PhD]

Lmao the amount of salt in this thread is ####### hilarious. The amount of "OMGZ THEY CHEATED" posts is even more hilarious. Gotta love how jealous the best franchise of the past 15 years makes people. I also find it funny that half of you guys are 40 and over, and yet you act like you're 12. Lets accuse someone of cheating even though there's no proof!

There has been plenty of proof that they cheated in the past. Once you are known as a cheater you do not get that benefit of the doubt.

If one of Greg Williams defense gets accused of targeting I bet he doesn't get the benefit of the doubt either.

Its not immature to dislike a team that has cheated and has had success. Look at A-rod, Barry Bonds, etc. No one likes a cheater. Its more immature to try to ignore their sketchy ways as long as it means winning. That's classless.

Embrace the stupidity and let us Pats fans know how it turns out. We'll be here, busy making plans for the Super Bowl

No one can take away your enjoyment as a classless organization. That is really awesome for your city. In all honesty I would take it if it were my city. But own it man. You have a sketchy team. So enjoy this time but 20 years from now when they compare dynasties lets see how it all plays out and what people actually give them credit for.

well, I think what you're forgetting is that time leads to a lot of hazy and incomplete memories.

people will tend to remember the glory days of these dynasties and forget the details.

like with san fran --- how often do you hear people writing off that dynasty because they had to outspend the league to buy championships?

or the steroids that paved the way for pittsburgh's short lived domination?

how about the salary cap cheating the broncos used to practice to get that unfair edge which led to titles?

most of that stuff is long forgotten

Interesting thought.

I would add that along with the details most fans forget the win-loss records of the years. Heck, people don't even remember the playoff teams. Not even the SB losers. We are a culture of championships. We remember Green Bay as an old school dominant team of the 60's because they won 6 titles in that time. Now they are good again but without the SB titles these more recent Packer teams of the last decade will go down as "good" but not elite or dominant. The Steelers were the elite, dominant team of the 70's because of their 4 SB titles in that era. Their more recent teams reflect a clear comeback but with only two SB titles in the last decade their recent teams will go down as good but not elite/dominant. Same is true with the Patriots. They will be remembered as the dominant team 10-12 years ago because of those 3 titles, but these last 10 years without SB titles will be remembered as good but not great teams.

Of course the fans of those teams will all argue about their greatness, but truth is, no one ever remembers the losers. Even the losers of the Superbowls.

nobody outside yourself thinks that way.

there's nobody calling the niners dynasty a 4 championship run.

there were 3 consecutive years montana spit the bit and threw up jamarcian numbers in the 3 playoff losses but those years get folded in with the rest because it was a long time ago.

the pats dynasty will most likely comprise belichick's tenure with the team, unless they keep rolling even after his departure.

the single greatest dynasty in the history of football, and possibly all sports.

Dude - at some point in all of this I thought you were just an exaggeration of Patriot blindness and you just drank a little too much of that Kool-Aid, but damn, you either can't think or can't read or maybe both. First off, no one even mentioned the niners so cool it down there Sparky. Second, I didn't say anything about dynasty. But if you want to go there, no team can be called a dynasty without winning championships. I think you can call the Pats a dynasty for about 4-5 years there at the turn of the century. But throughout Belichick's tenure?! Are you so delusional that you think the Pats have actually won an NFL championship since 2005? C'mon! The last time they won an NFL title was TEN YEARS ago! Do you honestly think you can call them a dynasty without a championship?! The unfortunate reality is that there was at least one team that was BETTER THAN THEY WERE in each of the last NINE years. Heck, the Steelers and the Giants were better than the Patriots TWICE in that time. For the sake of your psyche I hope the Pats win, because a 3-3 record in the 13 years of Belichick's super bowl tenure (2002-2015) will look a lot like the Dolphins during Don Shula's tenure when he went 2-3 in a similar 13-yr span (1972-1985).

Hmmm. A modern day Shula...

 

[KarmaPolice]

Pats fans.... Im looking for a YES or NO response.

Is deflating game balls to get a competitive advantage cheating?

YES or NO?

Note: I am not accusing the Patriots of doing this or asking about their specific situation. Im just asking if it is by rule a cheating offense.

Just as much cheating as a roughing the passer penalty, hitting a defenseless receiver in the head, stretching the truth on an injury report, having a coach on the field of play to disrupt a kick returner, messing with the salary cap, or stealing another team's signals, having the clock operator run off some extra time, having too many practices in pads, spying on another team's practice, faking an injury to slow down a hurry up offense, or taking steroids. They are all forms of cheating, and the list and examples could go on and on and the team's that have done stuff could go on and on. Yahoos like us on a public forum could be outraged, but most of current and former players accept that stuff like that goes on. All. The. Time.

fair enough.

Now answer this, if a person cheats and roughs the passer or holds, does that play stand?

No the play does not stand, they get punished for cheating. The play doesn't count and the cheating team loses yards. So if that is the case then that game should not count if they get caught cheating.

Now you say "oh it didn't effect the game". Also true, but I have seen plenty of holding calls on the backside of the play that had zero effect on the play and it still got called a holding.

So if they get caught, then does that game not count cause they cheated?

We could do this all day long, but I will bite at least for now. You can't regulate everything. If guys are found to have used PEDs, the team doesn't forfeit. If a guy is found to have a non-compliant contract per the CBA or salary cap, they don't make the player sit out. If a stadium puts blowers on for a long FG attempt to try to get an extra yard or two on the kick they don't forfeit the game.

Again as I have outlined a ton of examples at the pro or youth levels, teams will do whatever they can to try to win, whether it is considered cheating or not. For youth leagues with weight restrictions, I have seen coaches intentionally make the scale add 3-4 pounds to kids' weights so they couldn't play. I have seen kids weigh in without their required equipment on to make weight. I have seen clock operators "accidently" pull the plug on the scoreboard and change everything that was on it but the score to gain an advantage (down and distance, add a timeout, change the time), etc. Coaches would put guys in the trees at other team's practices to tape their practices. I even heard of a team bugging the opponent's locker room to listen in on what they were playing and what some of their audibles would be.

Bottom line, cheating is so prevalent in sports that if you aren't doing it you really aren't trying. Sad but true.

So sure, to the letter of the law the Patriots are "cheaters." I can see how that would offend people and thing that that alone should cause NE to be stripped of their titles and have to vacate their victories. And I can see that perspective. I personally don't agree with it, but people can have that opinion. But when guys like Jimmy Johnson and Bill Cower literally laugh at people that are offended by what the Pats have done and launch into stories about all the things that have been done over the year, that tells me that it really isn't that big a deal.

I put everything in my theory of relativity model. Is 60 degrees hot or cold? It depends if you live in Alaska or the Equator. To some what the Patriots have done is cheating at the highest order. To others it's driving 56 in a 55 mph speed zone.

This post casts a very dark cloud over sports at every level. Not that these things are happening (which I agree that they are), but that your point seems to be that its perfectly OK for them to happen, and we should all turn a blind eye to it since it is so prevalent. Cannot disagree with that more. If you are brought up properly, you learn at a young age the difference between wrong and right. Most of what you describe here is inarguably wrong, and I would hope and imagine unacceptable to most people. You seem fine with it though, and that is your right. I just wouldnt expect the majority of people to agree with you, or get offended when they dont. I suspect you are in the minority. Maybe not in this thread, but in society as a whole.

Maybe not that it is OK that it is happening, but that it is reality and it is so silly that people pretend that only one or two teams are the ones doing it. I would think that if you are that upset by things like this happening, you would just stop watching sports altogether. Like the above poster said, there coaches out of the games talking about all sorts of #### that they did to gain an edge. It is the culture of the NFL. It is a little dance the teams do of 1/2 the time trying to steal the other team's signals and gain any edge and the other 1/2 spend complaining about the other team that did it to them.

Patriots got busted because they were arrogant enough to do what they were specifically told not to do, but people pretend like they were the only team that was doing things like that. Just silly. But if it makes you feel better, I guess you can pretend that it is the only reason this franchise is successful and/or the only reason they haven't won a Super Bowl in the last decade.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

It's no more cheating than anything else that goes on in sports.....acting like you made a catch when you know you didn't (happens in baseball too), flopping to get a foul or penalty, greasing or scuffing the ball in baseball, holding could probably get called on someone on every single play in football, PED's (you only hear about the one's who get caught), riding the officials in any sport to try and get one to go your way later, and a million other things. Everyone looks the other way about all that #### and this is so insignificant it's ridiculous. Even if they did both teams play with the same balls.

No, both teams do not play with the same balls. Each team has 12 of their own balls submitted 2hrs before game time.

What difference does it make? Regardless of where they come from they are tested pre-game, and also, balls that are deemed 'irregular' during the game are removed . The point is that each team doesn't use just their own balls on offense. . If an 'irregular' ball was in play there is no way it could be advantageous to just one team.

Your point is incorrect. Both teams do use their own balls on offense. That's the whole point, and why if this is true would be a team trying to get an advantage (which admittedly they didn't really need).

 

[devouredbychaos]

http://deadspin.com/reports-dqwell-jacksons-int-triggered-deflated-ball-in-1680569440?utm_campaign=socialflow_deadspin_twitter&utm_source=deadspin_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

Lol. This is such a joke of an accusation. So an LB who touches the ball once notices it, yet the refs who touch both teams balls all game don't notice it? Stay classy Colts.

 

[rjv]

Why are the patriots always involved in controversies like this? Seems a little fishy to me.

 

[Football Jones]

First, I'm not a Pats hater. In fact, I find the practice of rooting against teams a waste of time. Let's get that out of the way...

As most of you know, teams use their own balls during a game. It could be a huge advantage to slightly deflate a ball due to fully inflated balls being harder to throw, especially when it's colder &/or in wet weather. Try throwing a fully inflated NFL football. It's not easy, even with big hands. That's one of the reasons you see ugly passes (even in perfect conditions) from QBs who have been throwing a football nearly their whole lives.

It's dead wrong to assume deflating footballs couldn't make a huge difference in the outcome of a game. It very well might've been the difference between Brady having the kind of game he had or playing more like Luck did. We don't know how much a fully inflated ball would've affected Brady that day. He could've thrown a pick-six that might've changed the whole game. Who knows.

The Pats may very well have won, & likely would have, but we can't assume that. Same for all forms of cheating. This is why the NFL must come down hard on the Pats if it's determined they did indeed deflate footballs. The penalty must be severe enough where teams won't be tempted to try anything underhanded again. Loss of draft picks (including a 1st-rounder), a long suspension, & a fine that truly hurts.

That goes for any team, not just the Pats. This stuff has to stop (if true). I hope it's simply a false accusation.

 

[Bossman]

The media WANTS this to be a story. They pump it up over and over trying to get people to tune in.

Sad that the "investigation" will take several weeks / months to conclude only for the NFL to tell us "nothing to see here".

Maybe they should spend more time investigating why two refs refused to throw a flag when the Colts DB grabbed and held facemask as Edelman turns to catch a pass.

 

[devouredbychaos]

Why are the patriots always involved in controversies like this? Seems a little fishy to me.

Because people are consistently jealous of their success and grasp at any little detail to try and discredit them. It pretty much boils down to "They hate us cause they ain't us"

 

[devouredbychaos]

Gronk's take on the whole ordeal is priceless..

https://mobile.twitter.com/RobGronkowski/status/557394981930168320