Brady suspended 4 games, pats lose 1st rounder in 2016 and 4th in 2017

[t96]

Well what's worse domestic abuse or cheating in a game?

 

From a league discipline standpoint? Cheating by far. Let the law deal with off the field issues. And Hardy didn't actually do anything so that's not a valid question when comparing Hardy and Brady.

[frash.exe]

The Patriots draft like poo anyway, it's no real loss. They'll sign some old vets to fill in the gaps.

I thought the first round pick was a nice touch but they should also have their cap garnished and distributed to the rest of the league.

[NanuqoftheNorth]

I don't know if reducing the psi on some footballs made all that much difference, but it seems like a travesty of justice when the two equipment guys associated with this are suspended indefinitely, while the obvious initiator of the deflated balls gets off with a slap on the wrist.

 

What were the equipment guys to do? 

 

Equipment Managers: "Yeah, Tom we hear ya. You want less pressure in the footballs, but there are rules about this sort of thing.  We could get fired, so we're not going to do it." 

 

Tom:  Well if you don't do it guess what is going to happen?

 

These equipment guys were put in a no win situation and now they have lost their jobs.  Meanwhile the instigator gets a few more weeks off to attend some more celebrity functions with his supermodel wife.

[JawnyBlaze]

Consider this: Wasn't what the Falcons did in piping in noise way more of a competitive advantage for them than this was? Yeah, still waiting on them forfeiting a 1st-round pick too.

 

First of all, the Falcons don't have a history and culture of cheating.  Second of all, the Falcons owned up to the transgression.  That's what the punishment is for.  If Brady & co. hadn't lied about it they'd have gotten a slap on the wrist too.

 

[JawnyBlaze]

Brady got off REAL light, in my opinion.  The Pats got off somewhat light.

[scarface]

Obviously Brady has become so old and feeble that he can't grip a properly inflated ball.

[SCP]

Falcons should have received more punishment for pumping in fake sound

[heelsrule1988]

Dead @ Louisiana

[LinvilleGorge]

[JJman Returns]

No but we where cheated out of a super bowl win because of spygate its not about his looks think above your belt for a second

lol

[CoastalCat]

Look I hate the Patriots and Belichick and Brady and I'm not going to spend the time debating an excessive punishment against the villains of professional sports, but that is a patently absurd punishment. Have a clear head about this people.

So...do you have a team that you pull for? Do you not want them to have a shot at a Super Bowl? How would you feel if we never made the playoffs because the Bucs cheated and got the bid EVERY SINGLE YEAR?

If it were up to me, I'd give up the Panthers first round pick every year for a handful of rings.

[Darth Biscuit]

I'll be the first to admit I'm not really objective on this as I hate Brady and the Pats with a burning passion...

However, I agree with the punishment (being as objective as I can) for two reasons...

1) This is the second time the Pats have been caught breaking NFL rules to gain competitive advantage. Everyone is saying the deflating balls isn't a big deal, and in the grand scheme of all things NFL I agree... However cheating is cheating. Rules are in place to maintain order and balance among the teams and how do you determine what rule is more important than what other rule? Brady, by all appearances, asked these Pats employees to temper with the footballs beyond the NFL rules.

2) Brady not only lied about it (refer back to his initial presser and note he didn't say "I'm not a cheater" but rather "I don't think I cheated..." Quite a difference imo) he also refused to cooperate with the investigation. I think the punishment, esp his suspension is more about that then the actual violation.

Also, fug Tom Brady.... He's a lying, arrogant, dick hole. And now a convicted, disgraced cheater.

[teeray]

Good

[GRWatcher]

If any of you are more worked up about this sentence versus Greg hardy or think Greg got screwed in comparison then you just don't get it and I have nothing to say to you.

Seems fair/harsh imo, I honestly have a hard time getting pissed about the whole thing and think many teams have gamesmanship tactics to a degree, think the lying was the cherry.

 

 

Guys. You can't lie to Roger Goodell when he asks you about something or he will take you to the fuging cleaners. That's all there is to say about it.

Deflating balls and all that silliness is negligible. Roger has shown if you aren't forthcoming with him, you be fuged.

 

Here's an article presenting the argument that the punishment is excessive. Can't say I agree or disagree (actually, I don't care). But it presents good argument points. There's 2 areas I'd like to point out: the report says the Patriots did cooperate & the Panthers were caught tampering with the game balls in Minnesota.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/five-reasons-why-the-nfl-got-the-deflate-gate-punishment-dead-wrong-233900364.html

 

In the second paragraph of the NFL's statement on the punishment, it says "the failure to cooperate in the subsequent investigation" was a reason for the harsh penalty. Again, this is the NFL using an easily digestible phrase that people can parrot but doesn't hold up if you have read the report. In fact, the line "the Patriots provided substantial cooperation throughout the investigation" appears in Wells' report. Page 23, if you're interested.

 

And this. Which I did not know. We totally should've known the rules. Does this mean that the next time the Panthers tamper with game balls the result is much harsher than a warning?

Last season, the Carolina Panthers and Minnesota Vikings were caught, on a cold day, using sideline heaters to warm up footballs. That's against the rules. You can argue that it's not the same level as deflating footballs in a bathroom, but it has the same effect: something outside of the rules to make the football easier to grip and catch. The Panthers and Vikings were ... warned. That's it.

Now, even if you don't think it's the same level crime, it is at least similar in nature, and the difference between no punishment at all and what the Patriots got shows the NFL wanted to make an example out of New England. The NFL was pandering to the crowd, whether that was Pats-hating fans of 31 Pats-hating owners.