July 28, 2015 was a great victory for those who staunchly oppose logic and reason. The decision made by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to uphold the four-game suspension of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was unfortunate, but not unexpected. In fact, it falls in line with everything Goodell and the NFL has stood for over the course of the last several years— most notably, covering its own ass at all costs.
Goodell has been a walking dartboard amongst the players ever since his handling of the New Orleans Saints “Bountygate” scandal, and amongst the media ever since last year’s Ray Rice elevator debacle. Most don’t seem to understand how difficult it is to hand out punishments to ego-maniacal millionaires with the entire world watching and judging each decision like it’s Dancing With The Stars, in the most transparent and hypersensitive society we’ve ever known. However, these facts do not excuse the commissioner from exercising reprehensible judgement in a case that should be as clear as the Hope Diamond.
According to Goodell, his decision to not reduce the reigning Super Bowl MVP’s suspension hinged on the news that Brady willingly destroyed his cell phone with the knowledge that Ted Wells, the “independent investigator” hired by the NFL to get to the bottom of Deflategate, requested it for his research. Presumably, the phone contained texts between Brady and Patriots equipment staffers Jim McNally and or John Jastremski, in which the plot to intentionally release air from the Pats’ footballs used in the AFC Title Game was discussed on some level. This revelation Brady informed Goodell of at his appeal hearing on June 23rd didn’t do him any favors (and actually conjures up the images of his former teammate Aaron Hernandez destroying surveillance cameras in his home in an attempt to cover his tracks as it related to the murder of Odin Lloyd, for which he was found guilty of in April), but only serves as sufficient evidence to convict in the minds of those willing to ignore list of errors and inconsistencies within this entire investigation and ruling; a list that’s longer than the O.J. trial.
Sidebar: Word to Big L.
Brady, through his attorney, contends that he regularly destroys his phones as a security measure to protect himself, as well as his super-duper model wife and his children. Given the über convenient timing, that seems extremely hard to believe. Although, this is a guy who once owned a house with a moat (he sold it to Dr. Dre). So it’s reasonable to think he takes his privacy pretty seriously (more on this phone business later). In any event, Brady’s supposed admitted destruction of the phone DOES NOT change the following five points:
• The ball-deflation policy was incorrectly applied to him, as the rules were meant for club personnel and not players.
• The Wells report doesn’t prove he did anything illegal.
• If it is determined that the ball-deflation policy applied to Brady, the league failed to give him notice of the penalty, in essence making up the punishment without precedent.
• The NFL didn’t have the proper techniques and standards for measuring deflation of footballs.
• Goodell was not a neutral arbitrator.
These are the basic grounds on which the NFL’s Player’s Association (NFLPA) is expected to appeal Goodell’s ruling in federal court.
First and foremost, the Wells Report proved nothing. The burden of proof should rest at the hands of the prosecution, and Ted Wells fell spectacularly short of doing so. According to several experts in the field, the science in the report was erroneous, and made only a passing reference to the fact that three of the four Colts footballs measured after halftime of the AFC Championship game WERE ALSO BELOW THE ALLOWABLE AIR PRESSURE LIMIT! Yet there’s no investigation of the Colts— no questioning of their quarterback’s character.
Update: In the many months since this news broke, scientists and physics professors from around the country have come out in droves to debunk the idiocy that is Deflategate.
If this entire episode were taking place in Minnesota with Teddy Bridgewater, for example, you would’ve never heard about “Deflategate”.
Need proof? Last November, the Minnesota Vikings hosted the Carolina Panthers on a frigid 12-degree day. Fox cameras captured both teams warming up the balls on the sidelines, which was a direct violation of NFL rules (no science, no fluctuating air pressure, no text messages— they were caught red-handed on film). What was the league’s response? A warning to both teams, and the rest of the league. That’s it. Both teams continued on without an investigation, a fine, a loss of draft picks or the suspension of Bridgewater and Cam Newton.
Three years ago, a separate incident involving the San Diego Chargers allegedly using towels to apply a stickum-type substance on game balls resulted in an investigation. But the Chargers were cleared of any wrongdoing and the league only fined the team 20 stacks for what amounted to the attempted cover up (similar to Brady), as the team did not turn the towels over to officials when first asked. However, the Bolts appealed the fine, and guess what? They won!
This ain’t new to the NFL though.
Yesterday evening several of ESPN’s “experts”, MANY of whom still have an axe to grind against the Pats because they could never beat them (most notably the insufferable Bill Polian), jumped on TV and stated that Tom Brady winning an appeal in federal court would be a tall task, citing judges unwillingness to overturn an arbitrator’s decision. This information is patently incorrect, or at the very least, incomplete. A federal judge just overturned the Adrian Peterson ruling in February. Three months prior, a former federal judge overturned the Ray Rice suspension.
Higher authorities have long been flipping Goodell rulings like Big Macs. Former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue threw out the Saints Bountygate decision. Less than three weeks ago, arbitrator Harold Henderson reduced the Greg Hardy suspension from ten games to four (Hardy having been CONVICTED on charges that make the Ray Rice incident look like a tea party). And on the same day in which the league upheld the suspension of the three-time Super Bowl MVP, they reduced the suspension of Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell from three games to two (for DUI and weed possession) after it struck a deal with the NFLPA.
The NFLPA attempted to reach a settlement on behalf of the Brady camp…it was rejected without a counteroffer.
So to recap, those accused — and in most cases convicted of — physical abuse on and off the field, drunk drivers gone off that loud and illegally tampering with footballs on game day all either saw their punishments reduced, overturned or they were exonerated altogether. Meanwhile, Brady remains in the NFL’s crosshairs.
Why?
Because Goodell has taken a beating at each and every turn over the last few years and he’s trying to atone for all of his past blunders with one public execution. He crushed the Saints but ended up looking buffoonish in the end. Then he was famously lenient in the initial Ray Rice ruling to the point that even non-football fans learned his name and subsequently raked him over the coals. The current law of the land is “punish excessively, reduce as necessary”. But the fact that most of his penalties have been levied against Black players — and Brady being a white face of the league — coupled with the perception that Patriots owner Robert Kraft has Goodell in his hip pocket, motivated Goodell to lash out against New England in spite of there being no distinguishable evidence Brady directly ordered the equipment managers to deflate the footballs below the legal limit.
Roger may also be facing internal pressure from other owners. The Baltimore Ravens and Indianapolis Colts have had to squash rumors that they believe the Patriots are finally getting their comeuppance. While each team is denying this report, it’s worth noting that A) both teams have a longstanding rivalry with New England B) the Patriots wiped out both teams in the playoffs in January and C) the Ravens loudly complained about the Pats offensive substitutions in their playoff loss, while the Colts were the initial Deflategate whistle-blowers. Some fans will choose to believe Brady was hiding something by destroying his phone— those same fans ought to conclude these teams have it out for the Patriots.
Sidebar: Furthermore, who are these teams to call out anyone else for their improprieties? Indy and BMore have each had players knocked for PEDs multiple times. The Colts have been accused of piping noise into their dome. The Ravens didn’t cut Ray Rice until after the elevator tape dropped seven months later. The Colts tanked an entire season to get Andrew Luck. And remember the Ray Lewis deer antler spray thing?
Exactly. People can cling to Spygate if they want, but that eight-year-old offense Brady was not involved in shouldn’t influence this decision, in light of other teams not having their penalties for league violations compounded by history.
Roger Goodell hired Ted Wells to run the haphazard investigation. Roger Goodell empowered Troy Vincent to actually discipline Brady and the Patriots organization, which itself was a questionable decision. Roger Goodell then appointed himself the arbitrator for Tom Brady’s appeal (something he had not done in the aforementioned high-profile cases). Roger Goodell denied the appeal.
Roger Goodell has successfully turned the greatest QB in the game to the greatest martyr in the game.
If it seems like the last paragraph had too much “Roger Goodell”, you’re correct. One man wielding that much power, whether collectively bargained by the Player’s Association or not, is never good. But Goodell has a reputation to protect— his own. And he’s not afraid of sacrificing one of his game’s greatest ambassadors to do it.
Hopefully some federal court, which the league is also trying to manipulate, has the guts to do what Roger Goodell and the NFL couldn’t— overturn this nonsensical suspension. Brady has given Goodell barely enough to cover his own tracks from the jump. Denying he knew the equipment staff was enough to launch the Wells Report. Not handing over his phone to Wells begat the suspension. Admitting the phone was destroyed was enough to uphold the suspension. None of it speaks to the “crime” though.
The NFL is content to allow the national media to spoon-feed fans the narrative, “Had Brady admitted it up front, he would’ve only been fined.” HHSR has beachfront property for sale to anyone who believes that trash. The media and fans would’ve crushed him just like they did in January, and just like they did hours after the news broke that Brady informed Goodell he destroyed the phone.
But then there’s this piece of news: Mike Florio of Profootballtalk.com reports that in footnote 11 (A FOOTNOTE!) on page 12 of Goodell’s 20-page explanation for upholding the suspension, Brady’s team provided all the phone numbers with whom he texted during the designated time period in question. The Brady camp also indicated the NFL could attempt to obtain any missing texts sent to & from Brady from those other individual’s phones, but the NFL opted not to do so.
Florio goes on to point out how the NFL has consistently misled the media and the public on all things Deflategate, including: the notion that one football was as light as 10.1 PSI, the headline-grabbing claim that NE had 11 of 12 balls two whole pounds under the 12.5 PSI minimum and that the Wells Report’s “more probable than not” charge of Brady’s involvement was somehow damning enough to warrant conviction in the eyes of the public. All of this was absolutely false.
Update: An alleged email exchange between the Patriots and the NFL has surfaced, which basically illustrates the league’s unwillingness to take any action whatsoever in correcting the misinformation they were potentially responsible for leaking.
For his part, Brady himself has indicated that he was told by his legal team his phone would not be needed as part of the investigation when he decided to dispose of it, that disposing of the phone wouldn’t have any impact his appeal, and he provided phone records and offered to retrieve any lost texts from his phone company.
In essence, like so many other pieces of this “investigation”, the destroyed phone detail was largely overblown by the media and Roger Goodell.
Unlike his play in the fourth quarter, TB12 has made his share of mistakes throughout this process. Indicating he didn’t know who McNally or Jastremski were and the team ridiculously claiming McNally called himself “The Deflator” because he was overweight, were certain missteps. Collectively, it appears Brady may have been up to something nefarious. But it only proves he was guilty of at least a guilty conscience, which under the twisted circumstances, isn’t nearly enough to sully the man’s rep via suspension, particularly in light of the fact that this incident had a microscopic impact on the game.
Do y’all actually remember the AFC Championship Game?
There is absolutely no way that a half a pound of air pressure in a football is going to sway the outcome of a game that ended at 45-7. That’s the score of an Ohio State vs. Toledo game! Plus, Brady and the Pats stomped on Indy even worse in the second half with the properly pressurized footballs. New England went on to defeat the league’s best defense on a neutral field with properly regulated footballs two weeks later.
None of this matters. Deflategate. Doesn’t. Matter.
Can you imagine if the Utah Jazz complained to David Stern that the Chicago Bulls were using non-sanctioned sneakers during the NBA Finals? And then the NBA actually suspended Michael Jordan for 21 games? Without proof???
This is where we are now. An arbitrary ruling for a non-impactful, obscure offense could result in arguably the GOAT’s image being irreparably harmed. The commissioner of the league is literally comparing “The Golden Boy” to a PED user. And at the root of this entire persecution is that he wins. He wins more than any other quarterback ever to play the game.
Tom Brady’s punishment for being the best will never be a product of Deflategate, it is Deflategate.