#DeflateGate (Court of Appeals Reinstates Suspension)

[Roy H.]

Andrew Brandt expects a 4 game suspension.  http://mmqb.si.com/2015/05/07/wells-report-deflategate-patriots-andrew-brandt/

That's what I'm predicting.  At least half of the suspension will be for the failure to cooperate with the investigation.

There's no way this can stand. I'll be surprised if he misses a game.

Why can't it stand?

Because the punishment is entirely incongruous to the alleged violation, and because the report completely fails to establish that Brady orchestrated anything. Yeah, he gave his staffers signed gear, and talked to them after the accusations were levied. Which part of that would be unusual or incriminating, again?

Any major suspension here would be lip service  by the league, and will be inherently unable to stand to NFLPA appeal.

Since when has the league cared about incongruity?  They suspend guys for 10+ games for stuff that didn't even take place on the field.  Here, the finding of rule breaking occurred on the field.  It doesn't matter if you like the findings or not; they are what they are, and they seem to have been fairly reached.  Plus, there's no doubt that Brady didn't cooperate with the investigation, which is in and of itself a violation of the rules.

[Celtics4ever]

It gets worse, Oberman  wants him suspended for a year.  Not that it means anything.

http://www.rantsports.com/videos/?video_id=34589&league=1&utm_campaign=RantSportsFB&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral

If that happened and I was Tom Brady, I would retire a champion

[Moranis]

Andrew Brandt expects a 4 game suspension.  http://mmqb.si.com/2015/05/07/wells-report-deflategate-patriots-andrew-brandt/

That's what I'm predicting.  At least half of the suspension will be for the failure to cooperate with the investigation.

There's no way this can stand. I'll be surprised if he misses a game.

Why can't it stand?

Because the punishment is entirely incongruous to the alleged violation, and because the report completely fails to establish that Brady orchestrated anything. Yeah, he gave his staffers signed gear, and talked to them after the accusations were levied. Which part of that would be unusual or incriminating, again?

Any major suspension here would be lip service  by the league, and will be inherently unable to stand to NFLPA appeal.

Since when has the league cared about incongruity?  They suspend guys for 10+ games for stuff that didn't even take place on the field.  Here, the finding of rule breaking occurred on the field.  It doesn't matter if you like the findings or not; they are what they are, and they seem to have been fairly reached.  Plus, there's no doubt that Brady didn't cooperate with the investigation, which is in and of itself a violation of the rules.

Yeah, I think it will be 8 actually wouldn't be surprised at 4 or 6 though.  I can't see more than 8 and would honestly be a bit surprised if it was less than 4.  I think they league is going to send a very clear message that rule breaking will not be tolerated.  Especially long term rule breaking with intent, especially from a franchise that always treads the line between legal and illegal.  Couple that with Brady's failure to cooperate, and I'm going with 8 games. 

[Donoghus]

This was the hottest of hot sports takes I saw the other day.  Can't say I'm too surprised.  If there much doubt why he's not employed by CBS anymore?

shannon sharpe @ShannonSharpe  ·  May 6
Brady must be suspended for minimum of 2-4 gms, Belichick gets 1 yr and tm loses 1st rd draft pick 2016-17. Tm gets fined the max.

[KG Living Legend]

 I think some people here are forgetting that Brady is the face of e NFL, 8 game's is literally bad for business.

[kozlodoev]

Since when has the league cared about incongruity?  They suspend guys for 10+ games for stuff that didn't even take place on the field.  Here, the finding of rule breaking occurred on the field.  It doesn't matter if you like the findings or not; they are what they are, and they seem to have been fairly reached.  Plus, there's no doubt that Brady didn't cooperate with the investigation, which is in and of itself a violation of the rules.

They don't seem to be fairly reached at all. If they were fairly reached, they'd conclude that even though Patriots balls were below spec at halftime, this didn't seem to have affected game performance. They did exactly this when they investigated the disappearance of the K1 ball. It's within the same report.

As far as how the findings relate to Brady, all you have with respect to his alleged involvement is hearsay. As for cooperating with the investigation and equipment violations, I give you this story from 2012:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-11-07/sports/sns-rt-us-nfl-chargers-finebre8a705v-20121107_1_towels-san-diego-chargers-nfl

[celticsclay]

there are now whispers it could be a lifetime ban without eligibility for the hall of fame.

[D.o.s.]

there are now whispers it could be a lifetime ban without eligibility for the hall of fame.

And he's going to be dragged over hot coals while being whipped.

[Celtics4ever]

, all you have with respect to his alleged involvement is hearsay.

  This is not court, you seem to have trouble grasping that this is the NFL with their own rules.   There is no due process, they have an internal investigation and the commissioner rules. 

Just ask, how Ray Rice, how lawsuit against them went.   They have a code of conduct you break it and they can hammer you, not handing over the phone is a violation.

[Donoghus]

, all you have with respect to his alleged involvement is hearsay.

  This is not court, you seem to have trouble grasping that this is the NFL with their own rules.   There is no due process, they have an internal investigation and the commissioner rules. 

Just ask, how Ray Rice, how lawsuit against them went.   They have a code of conduct you break it and they can hammer you, not handing over the phone is a violation.

Yeah, the NFL pretty much is at their own liberty when it comes to suspensions & fines it renders.  It certainly hasn't let what's occurred in court hinder how they handle issues. 

The cooperation thing is what the NFL will ultimately use as its crutch for rendering punishment on Brady.  Although, I'm not so sure the punishment will be as severe as some others have suggested. 

[kozlodoev]

there are now whispers it could be a lifetime ban without eligibility for the hall of fame.

And he's going to be dragged over hot coals while being whipped.

Then tarred, feathered, and quartered on the Boston Common. 

[kozlodoev]

, all you have with respect to his alleged involvement is hearsay.

  This is not court, you seem to have trouble grasping that this is the NFL with their own rules.   There is no due process, they have an internal investigation and the commissioner rules. 

Just ask, how Ray Rice, how lawsuit against them went.   They have a code of conduct you break it and they can hammer you, not handing over the phone is a violation.

Yeah, the NFL pretty much is at their own liberty when it comes to suspensions & fines it renders.  It certainly hasn't let what's occurred in court hinder how they handle issues. 

The cooperation thing is what the NFL will ultimately use as its crutch for rendering punishment on Brady.  Although, I'm not so sure the punishment will be as severe as some others have suggested.

The league can do what they want. The question is how much they'll be able to get by the NFLPA.

[D.o.s.]

there are now whispers it could be a lifetime ban without eligibility for the hall of fame.

And he's going to be dragged over hot coals while being whipped.

Then tarred, feathered, and quartered on the Boston Common. 

And will henceforth be known as Tom "Cheater McCheatyson Not As Good As Peyton Manning" Brady in all official NFL literature.

[Eja117]

I'm guessing 8 games, but wouldn't be surprised with 4 or 6.  I think more than 8 or less than 4 are very unlikely to happen.

Rothlisburger got 4 to 6 for raping a woman. So for Tom to generally know about 2 other guys probably doing something....yup. 8 games for sure. That's our NFL

[Eja117]

Andrew Brandt expects a 4 game suspension.  http://mmqb.si.com/2015/05/07/wells-report-deflategate-patriots-andrew-brandt/

That's what I'm predicting.  At least half of the suspension will be for the failure to cooperate with the investigation.

There's no way this can stand. I'll be surprised if he misses a game.

Why can't it stand?

Because the punishment is entirely incongruous to the alleged violation, and because the report completely fails to establish that Brady orchestrated anything. Yeah, he gave his staffers signed gear, and talked to them after the accusations were levied. Which part of that would be unusual or incriminating, again?

Any major suspension here would be lip service  by the league, and will be inherently unable to stand to NFLPA appeal.

Since when has the league cared about incongruity?  They suspend guys for 10+ games for stuff that didn't even take place on the field.  Here, the finding of rule breaking occurred on the field.  It doesn't matter if you like the findings or not; they are what they are, and they seem to have been fairly reached.  Plus, there's no doubt that Brady didn't cooperate with the investigation, which is in and of itself a violation of the rules.

He sat with them for 8 hours I thought. That is definitely a form of cooperation