#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.

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

He lied to them and refused to turn over his phone / emails. 

I hear the "suspending Brady would harm the image of the game argument".  I don't buy it.  The league suspended an MVP for a year.  Plus, I think Goddell's ego comes into play here:  the league spent $5 million on an investigation, and Brady attempted to undercut that investigation.  There will be consequences.

[Donoghus]

I don't blame Brady for giving up his cell phone one bit.  The problem is that the NFL is gonna nail him for that under the "lack of cooperation" argument. 

If the ultimate result of the report is "more probable than not" with no real tangible evidence, I'm just not sure the league would nail the guy to the wall with 4 or 8 game suspensions.  Certainly not a season suspension.  Also, this is a gamesmanship issue overblown by a media crapstorm heavy built with circumstantial evidence and not a violent act against another human being (or dog).

[kozlodoev]

He lied to them and refused to turn over his phone / emails.

He did? I'm curious where you got this, since despite interviewing Brady for 8 hours, the report barely mentions what he said during that time (hashtag SeemsLegit).

[knuckleballer]

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

He lied to them and refused to turn over his phone / emails. 

I hear the "suspending Brady would harm the image of the game argument".  I don't buy it.  The league suspended an MVP for a year.  Plus, I think Goddell's ego comes into play here:  the league spent $5 million on an investigation, and Brady attempted to undercut that investigation.  There will be consequences.

What lie did he tell and where is it written that he is required to hand over his e-mails and texts?
What piece of evidence indicates he knew balls were being tampered with?  What piece of evidence even states with any confidence the balls were tampered with at all?  I have a tough time getting past this statement by Exponent, “In sum, the data did not provide a basis for us to determine with absolute certainty whether there was or was not tampering as the analysis of such data ultimately is dependent upon assumptions and information that is not certain.”  They don't even know if the balls were even tampered with. 

They're trying to prosecute people when they don't even know if a crime actually occured.  Maybe it's my bias, but I find that bizarre.

[mkogav]

David Stern must be getting a kick out of how poorly Goodell handled this whole thing.... and everything else.

Mk

[KG Living Legend]

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

Eja, once again you the man. Thanks for putting it all in perspective. Call Brady's law firm and use that as exhibit a in Tom's defense. A plus eja...

[Roy H.]

He lied to them and refused to turn over his phone / emails.

He did? I'm curious where you got this, since despite interviewing Brady for 8 hours, the report barely mentions what he said during that time (hashtag SeemsLegit).

He denied knowing the deflator, which clearly wasn't true.

[kraidstar]

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

He lied to them and refused to turn over his phone / emails. 

I hear the "suspending Brady would harm the image of the game argument".  I don't buy it.  The league suspended an MVP for a year.  Plus, I think Goddell's ego comes into play here:  the league spent $5 million on an investigation, and Brady attempted to undercut that investigation.  There will be consequences.

the last time the pats cooperated with an investigation, they lost a first-round draft pick. and that was just for shooting film from an illegal position.

goodell let that situation spiral out of control, and the pats took a hammering for a pretty minor offense.

fast-forward eight years, and goodell is on the hot seat, and needs a scapegoat to crucify to cover for his other mistakes.

what incentive is there for the pats to cooperate at all?

the san diego chargers were passing around a towel with stickum on it a couple years ago, and REFUSED TO HAND THE TOWEL OVER. all they got was a fine. and the media barely even covered it.

this is a witch hunt.

[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.

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

He lied to them and refused to turn over his phone / emails. 

I hear the "suspending Brady would harm the image of the game argument".  I don't buy it.  The league suspended an MVP for a year.  Plus, I think Goddell's ego comes into play here:  the league spent $5 million on an investigation, and Brady attempted to undercut that investigation.  There will be consequences.

What lie did he tell and where is it written that he is required to hand over his e-mails and texts?
What piece of evidence indicates he knew balls were being tampered with?  What piece of evidence even states with any confidence the balls were tampered with at all?  I have a tough time getting past this statement by Exponent, “In sum, the data did not provide a basis for us to determine with absolute certainty whether there was or was not tampering as the analysis of such data ultimately is dependent upon assumptions and information that is not certain.”  They don't even know if the balls were even tampered with. 

They're trying to prosecute people when they don't even know if a crime actually occured.  Maybe it's my bias, but I find that bizarre.

You understand that even "beyond reasonable doubt" isn't "100% certainty", right?  Under the standard the NFL and players agreed to, guilt was found.

The NFL rule book states that players and teams have to cooperate with investigations.

[knuckleballer]

He lied to them and refused to turn over his phone / emails.

He did? I'm curious where you got this, since despite interviewing Brady for 8 hours, the report barely mentions what he said during that time (hashtag SeemsLegit).

He denied knowing the deflator, which clearly wasn't true.

You don't know that's not true.  The guy only works home game days, that's 8 days a year as the officials locker room attendant when Brady clearly has other things on his mind.

[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

He lied to them and refused to turn over his phone / emails. 

I hear the "suspending Brady would harm the image of the game argument".  I don't buy it.  The league suspended an MVP for a year.  Plus, I think Goddell's ego comes into play here:  the league spent $5 million on an investigation, and Brady attempted to undercut that investigation.  There will be consequences.

I guess I get that he doesn't have a right to plead the 5th without consequences, it's just that if they say he was generally aware of other guys probably breaking rules I guess they have to say since he sat with them for 8 hours and didn't give them all his stuff on demand like they're his father or something that means he sorta most likely probably pretty much didn't cooperate the way he was really supposed to. This is like the teacher that think they've caught a kid in the act of something, but didn't really and they just punish them anyway despite the kid saying he didn't do it. The grade A student by the way. The Honor Society kid. Way to go NFL.

[knuckleballer]

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

He lied to them and refused to turn over his phone / emails. 

I hear the "suspending Brady would harm the image of the game argument".  I don't buy it.  The league suspended an MVP for a year.  Plus, I think Goddell's ego comes into play here:  the league spent $5 million on an investigation, and Brady attempted to undercut that investigation.  There will be consequences.

What lie did he tell and where is it written that he is required to hand over his e-mails and texts?
What piece of evidence indicates he knew balls were being tampered with?  What piece of evidence even states with any confidence the balls were tampered with at all?  I have a tough time getting past this statement by Exponent, “In sum, the data did not provide a basis for us to determine with absolute certainty whether there was or was not tampering as the analysis of such data ultimately is dependent upon assumptions and information that is not certain.”  They don't even know if the balls were even tampered with. 

They're trying to prosecute people when they don't even know if a crime actually occured.  Maybe it's my bias, but I find that bizarre.

You understand that even "beyond reasonable doubt" isn't "100% certainty", right?  Under the standard the NFL and players agreed to, guilt was found.

The NFL rule book states that players and teams have to cooperate with investigations.

It does not state that Brady has to hand over his e-mails and texts.  And while the report finds guilt, there are so many flaws that you could write a book about them.

[KG Living Legend]

 About the cell phone, chances are more probable than not that he has naughty slash nude photos of the most famous models of all time, his wife. I would rather upset Roger dodger, than my uber rich ultra hot wife. Who dare disagree.

[knuckleballer]

About the cell phone, chances are more probable than not that he has naughty slash nude photos of the most famous models of all time, his wife. I would rather upset Roger dodger, than my uber rich ultra hot wife. Who dare disagree.

If Brady or his wife take their kids to a park, it is all over the tabloids, not even just American tabloids.  There's no way he should have given over his texts and e-mails when the NFL was leaking info like a sieve.  It's not like he was being investigated for a crime and there is no reliable evidence that the balls were even tampered with at all.

[kozlodoev]

He lied to them and refused to turn over his phone / emails.

He did? I'm curious where you got this, since despite interviewing Brady for 8 hours, the report barely mentions what he said during that time (hashtag SeemsLegit).

He denied knowing the deflator, which clearly wasn't true.

Other than what Jastremski says, there is in fact little evidence in the report that he did.