#Deflategate becomes #Bradygate? Patriots won’t appeal team punishment
Next up: Brady’s appeal
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft announced in a press conference today that he will not appeal the punishment the NFL handed down in the wake of the “Deflategate” scandal.
Kraft stated that his decision was based on the idea that he could either “end (this controversy) or extend it.” He called the discipline “unreasonable and unprecedented,” but tempered his comments by saying, “[w]e have concentrated the power of adjudication of problems with the office of the commissioner. Though I might disagree with what the commissioner has decided, I do have respect for him … that’s he’s doing the best in the best of the 32… I’m gonna accept — reluctantly… At no time should the agenda of one team outweigh the collective 32.”
Following an independent investigation, the Patriots were fined $1 million and lost their first round draft pick for 2016 and fourth round pick for 2017. Additionally, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was suspended for the first four games of the 2016-2017 season. The allegations and evidence uncovered during the investigation were recently released in The Wells Report, which we covered earlier this month.
The Patriots’ decision to accept the full team punishment does not preclude Tom Brady from appealing his punishments. George Atallah, Assistant Executive Director of External Affairs at the NFL Players Association, made that clear on Twitter (and is currently getting eviscerated for it):
The Patriots may not appeal, but this will not impact the NFLPA appeal of the 4 game suspension of Tom Brady.
— George Atallah (@GeorgeAtallah) May 19, 2015
Because the politics of sports is almost as convoluted and top-down as the politics of politics, conspiracy theories already abound regarding today’s tail-between-the-legs response:
Knee-jerk cynical guess: League has given the Patriots a back-channel promise that they're going to cut Tom Brady's suspension on appeal.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) May 19, 2015
Is it a fair assumption? Maybe. The Patriots sunk an incredible amount of time, money, and energy into their response to the Wells Report; but even before the report was released, both players and officials alike were adamant that the allegations against the ball club were beyond ridiculous.
Brady will continue with his own private appeal, which signals to me that those involved already know exactly how this will end.
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Maybe. But Brady is the guilty party, since they could not connect it in any way to Belichick. Strange for a control freak coach who controls the thermostat and brands of soap and toilet paper in the visitors’ locker room to be “out of the loop” on important details like the game balls, but that’s where we are.
Please spare me the “where’s the evidence?” crap, Hillary. This isn’t a criminal trial and the NFL’s authority is set by the CBA and every player contract acknowledges it.
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Brady was the only one concerned about the inflation level.
Brady was the one who benefited from deflating.
Brady was the one who showered the guys who did it with swag, when he had never done anything like that for club employees in his career.
You can pretend he’s innocent if you need to. But don’t try to sell me on it. I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck, Chelsea.
Brady was the one who wouldn’t let the investigators read his texts to the equipment guys — even with his own attorney identifying and turning over the relevant texts.
That’s still the one that gets me.
“…Brady is the guilty party, since they could not connect it in any way to Belichick.”
That’s some logic, especially considering nothing in the Wells Report links Brady to any rules violations or any knowledge of same. The report made an unsubstantiated leap when it concluded Brady was “aware” of a rules violation (that there is some evidence may not even have happened – see http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/what-if-the-patriots-didn’t-cheat-against-the-colts/ar-BBjBRzN and http://wellsreportcontext.com/mackinnons-scientific-conclusion/.)
Prediction: Brady won’t serve a day of suspension.
Following a not-so independent investigation
FTFY
GOOD GAWD!!! Is this stupid story EVER going to go away??? Every time we turn on the news, every blog we go to, it’s there.
Who GAS about a bunch of overpaid grown men with over-inflated egos who make a living chasing a bag of air around, be it under-inflated or over-inflated?
I DON’T CARE. IT’S NOT IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO WARRANT ALL THIS ANGST AND DISCUSSION; IT NEVER WAS, AND IT NEVER WILL BE. IT SHOULD BE LIMITED TO SPORTS REPORTING FOR THOSE WHO THINK IT’S IMPORTANT ENOUGH TO READ ABOUT MONTH AFTER MONTH!!!
BASTA!! ENOUGH!!
What if Brady didn’t appeal? That would certainly kill a news cycle.
Rush predicted Goodell will cut the suspension to two games on appeal. That seems likely.
If the Seattle coach had tried a run at the goal line rather than that aborted pass, Brady’s flat balls wouldn’t have been a problem, except for those making fun about NE’s loss; Still, that would have been an alternative reality and thus totally unimportant except for the hot stove league.
Wait a minute! Hot Stove League for NFL off season stuff? Cool AC League perhaps!
Can we now regard the Seahawks as two-time Superbowl winners now? Threepeat in 2016?