MarcSullivaFan said:
I had an interesting Facebook discussion with three law school classmates about this--two management side labor lawyers and one Union-side guy. One is a Colts fan, one is a Lions fan, and one an Eagles fan.
All three agreed that there was probably some cheating going on, but that the punishment was way too harsh, and that the Wells report was a piece of crap. It was refreshing.
That's about where I am.
The Deflator is an absolute idiot. He should never be allowed near a communications device in the coming years. I have pretty much concluded there was something going on. I have a hunch that TB knew they were under mandate to get to as close to the line as possible. I'm less sure that he knew they would underinflate the balls, but would guess he might have. Scotch Verdict on that.
I have a bad feeling about the texts from TB. Assuming for the moment that Wells was ready to offer some accommodation, there was no reason to stonewall right there unless you had to. I do suspect the texts disclosed or redacted would have included TB in the web. These advisors aren't stupid. As bad as the fallout from the stonewalling might be, it was only the second worst option. Wells sniffed it out, which is why he emphasized it in the report. Still, a weaker reed to rely on, IMO.
I don't think there was an attempt to ensnare the NEPs, but it was likely one of those things where the innermost circles at the NFL recognized belatedly what they should have done, especially since Alexander was horribly sloppy in adhering to the suggestion that they keep an eye on this. Once Grigson got on his cell about underinflation, there was no turning back and it would be clear in retrospect that they should have recognized the possibility and called the NEPs beforehand. This was a major screw-up and should have mitigated the penalties. Good luck with that - the Ginger Hammer was dead set on regaining his manhood on this one. You've yet to hear a word of apology from those pricks.
100% BB was in the dark beforehand. Did he warn his staff to make sure they stayed within the lines? Who knows - probably not, but he might have been overly-cautious given the paranoia amongst other fans. But that's not BB's MO. Was he guilty by omission? Only if you apply the strictest standards.
Should Kraft et al. have also recognized this? If they were more cautious and lawyer driven, sure - the employment lawyers here can apply some of there thoughts, applied by analogy to this situation. I suspect (a) that RK is a crap-shooter; and (b) tha they're anything but lawyer driven. I also think they began to believe the organization was bullet-proof. All of this contributed to the refusal to make McNally available. I don't want to exhume that argument; I simply want to ask if the NEP organization went trhrough training on how NFL rules applied to their jobs. Maybe so, but if not, they should have. I guess this falls into lack of oversight.
For most organizations with no rap sheet, this would be a slap on the wrist. The noise about the taping and the general resentment and hate generated by the NEP success and an arrogant fan base (Hands up here) pushed Goodell and Vincent over the top. Even Pats haters now recognize this, but there's no do-over on elements of these penalties.
There's a lot of hind sight in this on my part. I tried to weed it out, but I do think there's a fair amount of responsibility that falls on the NEPs as well as the NFL.