Patriots being investigated after Colts game (5 Viewers)

[parrot]

- I am sure I will enjoy the game when it is happening, but this has soured the contest a lot for me. Vegas set this line super close. People are massively divided as to who has the better team. This should have been set up as something great to watch instead of the soap opera that it has become.

This has the potential to be an epic game. Aaron Schatz says it's the closest SuperBowl matchup they've ever looked at. And most of the sports media is talking about is how much air is in the footballs.

 

[Flying Elvis]

So it wasn't a sting, but the refs did something they've never, ever done before? The routine replacement of balls during the game instead became "test the pressure immediately" followed by "take them all away for investigative purposes" and we're supposed to buy the fact that there wasn't, at the very least, a serious anti-Pats agenda in all of this? Ok, sure. I'm too unsmartlike to see through that. Herp.

I hope Kraft goes ballistic on NFL HQ for this. My gut tells me he won't because he's proven to be 100% class, and won't want anymore negative press. But I would be thrilled if he went all-in on the expected apology.

Oh, the backpedaling we will see . . .

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

Roger Goodell: I would like to personally apologize to my good friend, and an NFL Icon, Mr. Robert Kraft. Robert, we in the league Office were confronted, yet again, with evidence that your team, under the leadership of a paranoid little genius, was cheating. The initial evidence and allegations came not only from a drug addled fellow owner, but from several other organizations who have bones to pick with your team. The league has no definitive proof of your latest cheating, just circumstantial evidence buttressed by an ongoing salty dislike for the overriding and offensive arrogance of a small portion of your fan base which has poisoned the well for the rest of them. I am sorry. Profusely sorry. Sorry we were unable to prove your ongoing cheating. In the future, as your team finds ever new and more imaginative ways to cheat, I personally pledge that we will run competent investigations to document the transgressions committed. I hope this apology will put this matter to rest so that the League can concentrate on important matters, like Marshawn Lynch's refusal to cooperate with the media. That is all.

 

[[icon]]

Looks like The Locker Room Guy has come forward.

 

[General Tso]

Predictions on Goodell's presser? I would guess he is Roger the Dodger and only says the investigation is on going and deflect questions by saying those types of things are what is being investigated and will be reported on in the final report.

he won't say a word about it.

 

[General Tso]

For those suggesting fairness: Dallas and Washington were penalized harshly by the league for circumventing the cap when there was no cap (strike killed the cap for a bit). If the rest of the league owners want to punish your team, it's going to happen. Both of these teams had legal recourse available to them, but both just took their unfair punishments.

My gut tells me these things:

- NFL refs were extremely lax in checking the pressure of footballs before or during an NFL game. It was likely widely accepted that your QB could play with footballs that he liked regardless of the psi reading.

- The Patriots pushed this by introducing game balls below the starting threshold that would lose a lot of psi by the time the game would play (We can all guess at the method, but I seriously doubt the league knows exactly what was done)

- A sting was likely put in play, based on an earlier game, but no one fully informed the refs exactly how to carry this out. And because they were not routinely doing their job (checking psi and logging the results), the sting got botched.

- The NFL has had ample opportunity to make this go away by admitting this was a rule that wasn't really enforced. Refs did not routinely check the pressure, etc. They could have even put the Patriots (and the rest of the NFL) on notice by saying balls confiscated ended the game below stated psi levels. And this would be something the league took much more serious going forward, etc. When the league chose not to announce anything immediately, I believe they will punish the Patriots (regardless of evidence collected)

- It probably will not be fair (and likely could not stand up to a court process). The Commish (and NFL office) appear to have a vendetta in play. It could very well have to do with them feeling they "saved" the Patriots by destroying all of the Spygate tapes so they expected better from them, etc. Or it could just be that Goodell is a puppet to the rest of the owners and they refuse to let up on this.

- For all the Patriots fans, this has to suck really bad. The league has tarnished your guys image a lot with this scandal. The findings / lack of proof / etc don't really matter anymore. If the final penalties are light, the "salty haters" think they were spared again. If they are heavy, those "haters" are saying yes, this team just cheats to win.

- I am sure I will enjoy the game when it is happening, but this has soured the contest a lot for me. Vegas set this line super close. People are massively divided as to who has the better team. This should have been set up as something great to watch instead of the soap opera that it has become.

Now that's the David Dodds I know. Good analysis David, and good to have you back.

 

[Road Warriors]

Forgot to mention that Boston talk radio thinks Kraft will get his full apology today and the Pats will fully be exonerated today, which I think is wishful thinking.

Few things in this world can compare to Boston talk radio. Some of the best unintentional comedy you'll find.

 

[espnespn]

The fact that the league opted to launch a fair and impartial investigation tells me they had no intent on things being fair and impartial. As I already mentioned, if they really wanted to be fair and impartial, they would have never taken this on as a serious investigation. They could have approached the Pats and behind close doors asked them why there were multiple reports from other teams on under inflated footballs. They could have warned them that they would be scrutinized. They could have sent a memo to all teams pointingout the specs and requirements on footballs. Once the story broke,m they could have dismissed it and written it off quickly.

But they didn't. When they named a lead investigator and launched an investigation that would take weeks and months, that tells me that the league started out with a destinination or an outcome that they wanted to get to. To make things easier on the Pats, they could have come out and said the league currently had nothing to show the Patriots had done anything wrong but they would be continuing with their investigation. Instead, they let the Pats twist in the wind.

The Brady/BB/Kraft pressers may only have forced the investigators to try even harder to come up with something. Some people take the Pats public statements as an authoratative stance of 100% innocence. As others have said, what were they going to do, come out and admit to it? Every defense attorney in the world will advide people to deny, deny, deny.

I see no way that the league will apologize to Kraft & Co. on this, and I don't see a two month investigation completely exhonerating NE. Best case for the Pats at this point is only getting a fine for using underflated footballs. Even if the refs didn't log the PSI of the footballs upon inspection, the logically conclusion is that they all were a minimum of 12.5 PSI (which is what the league will argue).

If the league really wanted to be fair and equitable, we would not be 123 pages into this thread, as the whole thing borders on the absurd and should never have got any legs at all (IMO). But 95% of the general public has again perceived the Patriots cheated, and rest assured there are PLENTY of owners that want NE to fry (whether it be for this issue or many others that we may not even know about).

So, yeah, I think the league has an axe to grind and they will weasle word some report and statement at the end of all this that things were fishy, the Pats had motive and opportunity to deflate the footballs, and the league went easy on them by only issuing XXXXX as a penalty (which would have been way worse if they had more definitive proof or evidence). What will get me ever more is if in the report itself the league lists unspecified sources for information (ie, we spoke to representatives from other teams who said blah, blah, blah).

Bottom line, I don't see NE being cleared 100%, and I REALLY don't see the league issuing a formal apology to anyone.

I never see a defense attorney advise denying anything unless the accused is 110% confident of no wrong doing AND the defense believes there is no case for the prosecution. This is what we are looking at here.

This has become personal for Kraft and he isn't accepting any punishment. He's already dug his heels in and I'll take Kraft over a bunch of stumble bums in the NFL front office who have already proven over and over to be incompetent when dealing with any situation like this.

Seriously???

I'm sure you are going to call me a "salty hater," or some other nonsense, to avoid this point, but the only reason you hire a defense attorney is to deny the charges against you. Why hire a defense attorney to stand next to you when you say "guilty" when asked how your plead?

The only time a defense attorney advises you to admit to anything is if you are accepting a plea bargain, otherwise, you are pleading "not guilty," or DENYING the charges levied against you.

A lot of defendants publicly keep quiet when they were guilty, others publicly denied the charges when they were guilty -- not sure which is more prevalent, without a real study.

However, Kraft is not the defendant here. If the Patriots actually deflated, no one believes Kraft had anything to do with it.

What is more telling, is how Kraft responded during the Spygate investigation. I don't remember him loudly demanding an apology during the Spygate investigation, probably because he knew pretty quickly that the team broke the rule. If he is demanding an apology here, he is very confident that the team did not deflate. Otherwise, why not keep quiet like he did during Spygate?

Kraft takes no blame if he keeps quiet and the Patriots deflated. He will certainly get crushed if he demands an apology and the Patriots deflated. And he knows that.

 

[TobiasFunke]

A lot of defendants publicly keep quiet when they were guilty, others publicly denied the charges when they were guilty -- not sure which is more prevalent, without a real study.

However, Kraft is not the defendant here. If the Patriots actually deflated, no one believes Kraft had anything to do with it.

What is more telling, is how Kraft responded during the Spygate investigation. I don't remember him loudly demanding an apology during the Spygate investigation, probably because he knew pretty quickly that the team broke the rule. If he is demanding an apology here, he is very confident that the team did not deflate. Otherwise, why not keep quiet like he did during Spygate?

Kraft takes no blame if he keeps quiet and the Patriots deflated. He will certainly get crushed if he demands an apology and the Patriots deflated. And he knows that.

Can you explain this? Because it seems to me that (1) the owner of a team whose head coach got caught cheating by the league twice in 8 years would absorb some blame no matter what, and (2) the owner's public statements would be irrelevant to the extent of the blame. What are they gonna do, fine him/penalize his team for defending his coach and star QB? Pretty sure the league's not gonna do that.

The league and the commissioner aren't some independent governing body. It's just the owners' collective will. They have no desire to start punishing themselves for excessive boldness or some other nonsense. The other 31 owners would gain absolutely nothing from it.

 

[Workhorse]

@GreggDoyelStar: (Part 1/2) Patriots official just told me the team has received more than 100 independent studies of deflation from colleges, high schools..


"@GreggDoyelStar: (Part 2/2) Each study showed PSI will drop 2 lbs in 15 minutes in cold, he said. Most recent study Thursday from aerospace engineer at UCLA.

 

[Run It Up]

@GreggDoyelStar: (Part 1/2) Patriots official just told me the team has received more than 100 independent studies of deflation from colleges, high schools..

"@GreggDoyelStar: (Part 2/2) Each study showed PSI will drop 2 lbs in 15 minutes in cold, he said. Most recent study Thursday from aerospace engineer at UCLA.

There is no room for magic in the NFL.

 

[espnespn]

A lot of defendants publicly keep quiet when they were guilty, others publicly denied the charges when they were guilty -- not sure which is more prevalent, without a real study.

However, Kraft is not the defendant here. If the Patriots actually deflated, no one believes Kraft had anything to do with it.

What is more telling, is how Kraft responded during the Spygate investigation. I don't remember him loudly demanding an apology during the Spygate investigation, probably because he knew pretty quickly that the team broke the rule. If he is demanding an apology here, he is very confident that the team did not deflate. Otherwise, why not keep quiet like he did during Spygate?

Kraft takes no blame if he keeps quiet and the Patriots deflated. He will certainly get crushed if he demands an apology and the Patriots deflated. And he knows that.

Can you explain this? Because it seems to me that (1) the owner of a team whose head coach got caught cheating by the league twice in 8 years would absorb some blame no matter what, and (2) the owner's public statements would be irrelevant to the extent of the blame. What are they gonna do, fine him/penalize his team for defending his coach and star QB? Pretty sure the league's not gonna do that.

The league and the commissioner aren't some independent governing body. It's just the owners' collective will. They have no desire to start punishing themselves for excessive boldness or some other nonsense. The other 31 owners would gain absolutely nothing from it.

Kraft has a very good reputation among the other owners. What does he have to gain by demanding an apology, if he knows the Patriots deflated? He gains nothing, but puts his name on the line.

How does Kraft get blame for Belichick? Do people blame Paul Allen after his Seattle players repeatedly got busted for PEDs?

 

[Workhorse]

Seriously, this whole thing will be a laughable case study of what not to do in journalism classes around the country for the next 20 years.

 

[Run It Up]

Seriously, this whole thing will be a laughable case study of what not to do in journalism classes around the country for the next 20 years.

In 5 years, journalism wont exist.

 

[TobiasFunke]

A lot of defendants publicly keep quiet when they were guilty, others publicly denied the charges when they were guilty -- not sure which is more prevalent, without a real study.

However, Kraft is not the defendant here. If the Patriots actually deflated, no one believes Kraft had anything to do with it.

What is more telling, is how Kraft responded during the Spygate investigation. I don't remember him loudly demanding an apology during the Spygate investigation, probably because he knew pretty quickly that the team broke the rule. If he is demanding an apology here, he is very confident that the team did not deflate. Otherwise, why not keep quiet like he did during Spygate?

Kraft takes no blame if he keeps quiet and the Patriots deflated. He will certainly get crushed if he demands an apology and the Patriots deflated. And he knows that.

Can you explain this? Because it seems to me that (1) the owner of a team whose head coach got caught cheating by the league twice in 8 years would absorb some blame no matter what, and (2) the owner's public statements would be irrelevant to the extent of the blame. What are they gonna do, fine him/penalize his team for defending his coach and star QB? Pretty sure the league's not gonna do that.

The league and the commissioner aren't some independent governing body. It's just the owners' collective will. They have no desire to start punishing themselves for excessive boldness or some other nonsense. The other 31 owners would gain absolutely nothing from it.

Kraft has a very good reputation among the other owners. What does he have to gain by demanding an apology, if he knows the Patriots deflated? He gains nothing, but puts his name on the line.

How does Kraft get blame for Belichick? Do people blame Paul Allen after his Seattle players repeatedly got busted for PEDs?

What does he gain from demanding an apology? The adoration of Patriots fans (i.e. his customers), who will love that he's sticking up for his guys in the middle of Super Bowl week and also will feel reassured that the team did nothing wrong. See the last 50 pages of this thread for Exhibit A.

Owners get some residual blame for everything bad that happens within their organization even if they had nothing to do with it, just like every other boss in every industry. That's just how the world works. PEDs is a silly example because every team in the league has players who "repeatedly gets busted for PEDs," but if someone unearthed some plan by Carroll to mandate PED use you can be sure Allen would get some blame for it.

 

[ROCKET]

A lot of defendants publicly keep quiet when they were guilty, others publicly denied the charges when they were guilty -- not sure which is more prevalent, without a real study.

However, Kraft is not the defendant here. If the Patriots actually deflated, no one believes Kraft had anything to do with it.

What is more telling, is how Kraft responded during the Spygate investigation. I don't remember him loudly demanding an apology during the Spygate investigation, probably because he knew pretty quickly that the team broke the rule. If he is demanding an apology here, he is very confident that the team did not deflate. Otherwise, why not keep quiet like he did during Spygate?

Kraft takes no blame if he keeps quiet and the Patriots deflated. He will certainly get crushed if he demands an apology and the Patriots deflated. And he knows that.

Can you explain this? Because it seems to me that (1) the owner of a team whose head coach got caught cheating by the league twice in 8 years would absorb some blame no matter what, and (2) the owner's public statements would be irrelevant to the extent of the blame. What are they gonna do, fine him/penalize his team for defending his coach and star QB? Pretty sure the league's not gonna do that.

The league and the commissioner aren't some independent governing body. It's just the owners' collective will. They have no desire to start punishing themselves for excessive boldness or some other nonsense. The other 31 owners would gain absolutely nothing from it.

Twice? WTF are you talking about?

 

[Reegus]

The patriots are known for cheating. How is this a surprise to people. All the homers who are defending them did the same for spygate. Nothing changes.

 

[TobiasFunke]

A lot of defendants publicly keep quiet when they were guilty, others publicly denied the charges when they were guilty -- not sure which is more prevalent, without a real study.

However, Kraft is not the defendant here. If the Patriots actually deflated, no one believes Kraft had anything to do with it.

What is more telling, is how Kraft responded during the Spygate investigation. I don't remember him loudly demanding an apology during the Spygate investigation, probably because he knew pretty quickly that the team broke the rule. If he is demanding an apology here, he is very confident that the team did not deflate. Otherwise, why not keep quiet like he did during Spygate?

Kraft takes no blame if he keeps quiet and the Patriots deflated. He will certainly get crushed if he demands an apology and the Patriots deflated. And he knows that.

Can you explain this? Because it seems to me that (1) the owner of a team whose head coach got caught cheating by the league twice in 8 years would absorb some blame no matter what, and (2) the owner's public statements would be irrelevant to the extent of the blame. What are they gonna do, fine him/penalize his team for defending his coach and star QB? Pretty sure the league's not gonna do that.

The league and the commissioner aren't some independent governing body. It's just the owners' collective will. They have no desire to start punishing themselves for excessive boldness or some other nonsense. The other 31 owners would gain absolutely nothing from it.

Twice? WTF are you talking about?

The text I bolded in espnespn's post assumes the Pats deflated. It discusses what the reaction would be to Kraft's comments if "the Patriots deflated" vs. the reaction of they did it but Kraft said nothing. If they did, it would be the second time they were caught cheating in eight years, as they were previously caught and punished for illegally videotaping defensive signals. That was the first time. This would be the second time. See how that works?

 

[Run It Up]

####... I was listening to Goodells presser and I didn't hear his 2nd question...

We are focusing principally on two questions:

1. Why were some balls used and others not

2. ?

Also, wtf does 1 even mean?

 

[Baloney Sandwich]

Goodell is punting

 

[Flying Elvis]

Seriously, this whole thing will be a laughable case study of what not to do in journalism classes around the country for the next 20 years.

In 5 years, journalism wont exist.

Journalism has been dead for longer than that, really. It's been replaced by sensationalist "media" that has all the journalistic integrity of, well, the ####storm we've seen over the last 10 days.

 

[ROCKET]

A lot of defendants publicly keep quiet when they were guilty, others publicly denied the charges when they were guilty -- not sure which is more prevalent, without a real study.

However, Kraft is not the defendant here. If the Patriots actually deflated, no one believes Kraft had anything to do with it.

What is more telling, is how Kraft responded during the Spygate investigation. I don't remember him loudly demanding an apology during the Spygate investigation, probably because he knew pretty quickly that the team broke the rule. If he is demanding an apology here, he is very confident that the team did not deflate. Otherwise, why not keep quiet like he did during Spygate?

Kraft takes no blame if he keeps quiet and the Patriots deflated. He will certainly get crushed if he demands an apology and the Patriots deflated. And he knows that.

Can you explain this? Because it seems to me that (1) the owner of a team whose head coach got caught cheating by the league twice in 8 years would absorb some blame no matter what, and (2) the owner's public statements would be irrelevant to the extent of the blame. What are they gonna do, fine him/penalize his team for defending his coach and star QB? Pretty sure the league's not gonna do that.

The league and the commissioner aren't some independent governing body. It's just the owners' collective will. They have no desire to start punishing themselves for excessive boldness or some other nonsense. The other 31 owners would gain absolutely nothing from it.

Twice? WTF are you talking about?

The text I bolded in espnespn's post assumes the Pats deflated. It discusses what the reaction would be to Kraft's comments if "the Patriots deflated" vs. the reaction of they did it but Kraft said nothing. If they did, it would be the second time they were caught cheating in eight years, as they were previously caught and punished for illegally videotaping defensive signals. That was the first time. This would be the second time. See how that works?

Oh, an assumption of guilt with deflategate, got it.

 

[Run It Up]

When asked how he felt about Kraft asking for an apology if the investigation finds nothing:

This is my job.

 

[TobiasFunke]

A lot of defendants publicly keep quiet when they were guilty, others publicly denied the charges when they were guilty -- not sure which is more prevalent, without a real study.

However, Kraft is not the defendant here. If the Patriots actually deflated, no one believes Kraft had anything to do with it.

What is more telling, is how Kraft responded during the Spygate investigation. I don't remember him loudly demanding an apology during the Spygate investigation, probably because he knew pretty quickly that the team broke the rule. If he is demanding an apology here, he is very confident that the team did not deflate. Otherwise, why not keep quiet like he did during Spygate?

Kraft takes no blame if he keeps quiet and the Patriots deflated. He will certainly get crushed if he demands an apology and the Patriots deflated. And he knows that.

Can you explain this? Because it seems to me that (1) the owner of a team whose head coach got caught cheating by the league twice in 8 years would absorb some blame no matter what, and (2) the owner's public statements would be irrelevant to the extent of the blame. What are they gonna do, fine him/penalize his team for defending his coach and star QB? Pretty sure the league's not gonna do that.

The league and the commissioner aren't some independent governing body. It's just the owners' collective will. They have no desire to start punishing themselves for excessive boldness or some other nonsense. The other 31 owners would gain absolutely nothing from it.

Twice? WTF are you talking about?

The text I bolded in espnespn's post assumes the Pats deflated. It discusses what the reaction would be to Kraft's comments if "the Patriots deflated" vs. the reaction of they did it but Kraft said nothing. If they did, it would be the second time they were caught cheating in eight years, as they were previously caught and punished for illegally videotaping defensive signals. That was the first time. This would be the second time. See how that works?

Oh, an assumption of guilt with deflategate, got it.

Right, sort of. I wasn't assuming they actually are guilty, I was just discussing the potential reactions to Kraft's comments vs. his silence in a hypothetical situation where they actually did something wrong here.

 

[Flying Elvis]

Well, to be fair, it's not like we can expect him to say "Yes, allowing information leaks that lead to an entire organization, it's players, and fanbase get dragged through the mud all week is completely unacceptable."

 

[ROCKET]

I was waiting for Goodell to come out and say " I'm only here so I won't get fired" to every question.

 

[Baloney Sandwich]

How can nobody ask about the leaks that were attributed to his office?

 

[Flying Elvis]

How can nobody ask about the leaks that were attributed to his office?

Because the very people who scream about the lack of integrity are guilty of, and dependent upon, that very lack of integrity.

 

[Workhorse]

The patriots are known for cheating. How is this a surprise to people. All the homers who are defending them did the same for spygate. Nothing changes.

Even the most strident Patriot haters aren't doubling down on nonsense at this point quite like this.

Congratulations.

 

[Flying Elvis]

Predictions on Goodell's presser? I would guess he is Roger the Dodger and only says the investigation is on going and deflect questions by saying those types of things are what is being investigated and will be reported on in the final report.

clik: we have to do better click: i have to do better clik: i will do better

Nailed it. There was even a "soul searching" thrown in for good measure.

 

[Ditkaless Wonders]

I wonder if Kraft will insist that Roger must swallow for an apology to be accepted.

 

[espnespn]

A lot of defendants publicly keep quiet when they were guilty, others publicly denied the charges when they were guilty -- not sure which is more prevalent, without a real study.

However, Kraft is not the defendant here. If the Patriots actually deflated, no one believes Kraft had anything to do with it.

What is more telling, is how Kraft responded during the Spygate investigation. I don't remember him loudly demanding an apology during the Spygate investigation, probably because he knew pretty quickly that the team broke the rule. If he is demanding an apology here, he is very confident that the team did not deflate. Otherwise, why not keep quiet like he did during Spygate?

Kraft takes no blame if he keeps quiet and the Patriots deflated. He will certainly get crushed if he demands an apology and the Patriots deflated. And he knows that.

Can you explain this? Because it seems to me that (1) the owner of a team whose head coach got caught cheating by the league twice in 8 years would absorb some blame no matter what, and (2) the owner's public statements would be irrelevant to the extent of the blame. What are they gonna do, fine him/penalize his team for defending his coach and star QB? Pretty sure the league's not gonna do that.

The league and the commissioner aren't some independent governing body. It's just the owners' collective will. They have no desire to start punishing themselves for excessive boldness or some other nonsense. The other 31 owners would gain absolutely nothing from it.

Kraft has a very good reputation among the other owners. What does he have to gain by demanding an apology, if he knows the Patriots deflated? He gains nothing, but puts his name on the line.

How does Kraft get blame for Belichick? Do people blame Paul Allen after his Seattle players repeatedly got busted for PEDs?

What does he gain from demanding an apology? The adoration of Patriots fans (i.e. his customers), who will love that he's sticking up for his guys in the middle of Super Bowl week and also will feel reassured that the team did nothing wrong. See the last 50 pages of this thread for Exhibit A.

Owners get some residual blame for everything bad that happens within their organization even if they had nothing to do with it, just like every other boss in every industry. That's just how the world works. PEDs is a silly example because every team in the league has players who "repeatedly gets busted for PEDs," but if someone unearthed some plan by Carroll to mandate PED use you can be sure Allen would get some blame for it.

Kraft didn't demand an apology during Spygate and still got/has adoration of Patriots fans. No reason to think keeping quiet again wouldn't result in the same.

Fine, owners get some residual blame. But you overestimate the blame Kraft will get if he stays quiet and the Patriots deflated. The risk/reward for him simply isn't there.

If he demands an apology and the Patriots deflated, that is much worse to his reputation than keeping quiet.

 

[Workhorse]

Goodell: "We don't know enough to know who is responsible or in fact if there is even an infraction."

 

[Run It Up]

Lmfao Goodell just said whether it gained a competitive advantage or not is secondary to whether it broke the rules.

Mother####er there are multiple examples THIS YEAR of this happening with other teams and you did nothing!

 

[Bucky86]

Lmfao Goodell just said whether it gained a competitive advantage or not is secondary to whether it broke the rules.

Mother####er there are multiple examples THIS YEAR of this happening with other teams and you did nothing!

What teams?

 

[Run It Up]

Lmfao Goodell just said whether it gained a competitive advantage or not is secondary to whether it broke the rules.

Mother####er there are multiple examples THIS YEAR of this happening with other teams and you did nothing!

What teams?

The Panthers and Vikings both in the same game heated balls on the sideline in full ####### view of everyone - weren't even fined.

 

[ROCKET]

Goodell: "We don't know enough to know who is responsible or in fact if there is even an infraction."

This statement is about 10 days too late.

 

[ROCKET]

Lmfao Goodell just said whether it gained a competitive advantage or not is secondary to whether it broke the rules.

Mother####er there are multiple examples THIS YEAR of this happening with other teams and you did nothing!

What teams?

The Panthers and Vikings both in the same game heated balls on the sideline in full ####### view of everyone - weren't even fined.

That's different, it wasn't the Pats.

 

[shader]

Goodell: "We don't know enough to know who is responsible or in fact if there is even an infraction."

Pretty sad. I think if I was there investigating for 12 days and still didn't know this info, I'd close the investigation.

 

[Gandalf the Grey]

Listening to ESPN talking about Goodell's speech...man Schefter is an annoying big mouth, talking over Polian. S T F U and let Polian talk. Schefter tried to talk over everyone on that discussion panel. Polian is 10x more interesting than any of those others. And Herm Edwards is like listening to nails on a chalkboard.

 

[Flying Elvis]

Lmfao Goodell just said whether it gained a competitive advantage or not is secondary to whether it broke the rules.

Mother####er there are multiple examples THIS YEAR of this happening with other teams and you did nothing!

What teams?

The Panthers and Vikings both in the same game heated balls on the sideline in full ####### view of everyone - weren't even fined.

That's different, it wasn't the Pats.

Not true. I'm certain we'll see the national media run away with the story of Goodell's inconsistent application of that rule, specifically citing the Vikes/Panthers game. The only way they can prove they actually care about "The Integrity Of The Game!" is to investigate why NFL HQ felt a warning was sufficient for those teams but a full fledged investigation was required when NE had cold balls.

 

[KarmaPolice]

The patriots are known for cheating. How is this a surprise to people. All the homers who are defending them did the same for spygate. Nothing changes.

Do they have a culture of cheating too?

 

[12punch]

- For all the Patriots fans, this has to suck really bad. The league has tarnished your guys image a lot with this scandal. The findings / lack of proof / etc don't really matter anymore. If the final penalties are light, the "salty haters" think they were spared again. If they are heavy, those "haters" are saying yes, this team just cheats to win.

I obviously can't speak for any pats fans besides myself, no one fan can speak for all fans, but I think you're really out of touch with the world of the pats and their fans.

any 'tarnish' to anything is certainly in one's own perception, and I can't imagine why pats fans would care one way or the other what some disgruntled whiny tools think about the team.

it's a long and boring period between games, leading up to the superbowl, and in a perfect world we'd all be talking football, but we all know that's just not realistic.

pats fans went through a whole season of this nonsense already back in '07, while the team was putting on one of the greatest football clinics of all time.

you'd have to look this one up, but I think they dropped that phony story about taping practices right before the last superbowl.

this is nothing new.

these same people talking about the pats were hating the yankees back in the day, hating the celtics in the 80s, etc -- you really think it sucked being a celts fan?

does it suck having 100% media saturation of the pats?

not really

does it suck having a 100 page thread about the pats on a board like this, or having half the threads on the first page talking about the pats --- let me check with browns fans on that.

I believe their team just got popped for that same rule they got belichick on in '07 and not a peep --- are they happier as browns fans?

you want to know what sux as a pats fan?

last year we had like 20 guys miss significant time with injuries, staggered into the afccg against the greatest offense in history fielding guys like austin collie, and then lose talib during the game as the final nail, to fall short by 10. --- that SUX

the few years prior we were constantly struggling to put together a secondary that wouldn't get regularly torched, signing guys off the street, and even playing edelman at db -- that sux

in 2009 we had so many issues on our defensive line we were signing guys off the street to field a playoff roster, and baltimore took advantage, running over us 50x --- that most definitely sux

2008 ---- do I even need to mention how much that year sux?

if you even want to go all the way back as far as 2006, we were going to make deion branch one of the highest paid receivers in the game, but that wasn't enough for him, so we ended up with reche caldwell as a #1 and picking up doug gabriel.

we lost the afccg in a squeaker with caldwell battered and bruised by footballs bouncing off him all game -- SUX

this 2014 team actually managed to stay relatively healthy, has one of the best secondaries in the game, and is rolling into the superbowl as not only possibly one of the greatest football teams of all time, but is just flat out an awesome team with prospects to be even better next year.

if you really think anything sux for pats fans right now, I think you're still sleeping on this team, like a lot of others.

 

[Run It Up]

awesome team

Man I go from six to noon every time.

 

[theplayer11]

- For all the Patriots fans, this has to suck really bad. The league has tarnished your guys image a lot with this scandal. The findings / lack of proof / etc don't really matter anymore. If the final penalties are light, the "salty haters" think they were spared again. If they are heavy, those "haters" are saying yes, this team just cheats to win.

I obviously can't speak for any pats fans besides myself, no one fan can speak for all fans, but I think you're really out of touch with the world of the pats and their fans.

any 'tarnish' to anything is certainly in one's own perception, and I can't imagine why pats fans would care one way or the other what some disgruntled whiny tools think about the team.

it's a long and boring period between games, leading up to the superbowl, and in a perfect world we'd all be talking football, but we all know that's just not realistic.

pats fans went through a whole season of this nonsense already back in '07, while the team was putting on one of the greatest football clinics of all time.

you'd have to look this one up, but I think they dropped that phony story about taping practices right before the last superbowl.

this is nothing new.

these same people talking about the pats were hating the yankees back in the day, hating the celtics in the 80s, etc -- you really think it sucked being a celts fan?

does it suck having 100% media saturation of the pats?

not really

does it suck having a 100 page thread about the pats on a board like this, or having half the threads on the first page talking about the pats --- let me check with browns fans on that.

I believe their team just got popped for that same rule they got belichick on in '07 and not a peep --- are they happier as browns fans?

you want to know what sux as a pats fan?

last year we had like 20 guys miss significant time with injuries, staggered into the afccg against the greatest offense in history fielding guys like austin collie, and then lose talib during the game as the final nail, to fall short by 10. --- that SUX

the few years prior we were constantly struggling to put together a secondary that wouldn't get regularly torched, signing guys off the street, and even playing edelman at db -- that sux

in 2009 we had so many issues on our defensive line we were signing guys off the street to field a playoff roster, and baltimore took advantage, running over us 50x --- that most definitely sux

2008 ---- do I even need to mention how much that year sux?

if you even want to go all the way back as far as 2006, we were going to make deion branch one of the highest paid receivers in the game, but that wasn't enough for him, so we ended up with reche caldwell as a #1 and picking up doug gabriel.

we lost the afccg in a squeaker with caldwell battered and bruised by footballs bouncing off him all game -- SUX

this 2014 team actually managed to stay relatively healthy, has one of the best secondaries in the game, and is rolling into the superbowl as not only possibly one of the greatest football teams of all time, but is just flat out an awesome team with prospects to be even better next year.

if you really think anything sux for pats fans right now, I think you're still sleeping on this team, like a lot of others.

totally agree...too many get caught in the media hype, for me, it's all about getting to watch my team play in meaningful games.

The deeper they go, the more exciting it gets. The Pats have played so many meaningful games over the past 15 years, that doesn't suck. I don't care about dynasties, whether the media thinks Maninng is better than Brady, the words of x players who the Pats beat consistantly, PSI, ect. It's all about getting to watch more football games. Some people just don't get it.

 

[mbuehner]

Forget the facts, this establishes a pattern of cheating and we know it was cheating because of the pattern of cheating.

 

[ROCKET]

Sucks to be a Pats fan now? Are you serious? No, sucking is going 1-15 with **** McPherson as your head coach and sitting on bleacher seats at Sullivan Stadium. Even if they lose 10 SB's and have 50 more scandals it won't suck like that.

Even if we don't cash in another title this has been an awesome run. It's not like the Bills who went 0-4 in the SB, we have 3 rings.

Never prouder or happier to be a Pats fan. Embracing the hate every day.

 

[squistion]

I can't imagine why pats fans would care one way or the other what some disgruntled whiny tools think about the team.

Yeah, right, and that explains why you have posted only 263 times in this thread.

 

[12punch]

I can't imagine why pats fans would care one way or the other what some disgruntled whiny tools think about the team.

Yeah, right, and that explains why you have posted only 263 times in this thread.

if I watch a 3 stooges marathon is it because I'm determined to find out what curly thinks about the pats?

 

[squistion]

I can't imagine why pats fans would care one way or the other what some disgruntled whiny tools think about the team.

Yeah, right, and that explains why you have posted only 263 times in this thread.

if I watch a 3 stooges marathon is it because I'm determined to find out what curly thinks about the pats?

It wouldn't surprise me.