#DFG: Canceling the Noise

[NatetheGreat]

inevitable, unless the Patriots stop winning. That's the nature of sports; there's nothing special about the Patriots, per se.

 
I disagree. The Spurs have been by far the most successful NBA team of the last 15 years, and don't face nearly the same level of resentment from opposing teams or fans. A certain level of animosity will always come with winning, but that doesn't mean successful teams are incapable of shaping their public image in any way. The Patriots and BB in particular like to operate as though popularity is irrelevant and results are all that matter, but when severe unpopularity is translating directly into on-field consequences I'm not sure how well that holds up. I don't think the Patriots are ever going to be well-liked, but I do think that going forward the battle for public perception has a good chance of effecting not only legacies and endorsement opportunities but also on-field performance via the severity of penalties handed down to them. In Roger Goodell, they luckily face one of the few antagonists in football arguably even more hated than Belichick. That said, I still think that it would be counterproductive for the Pats to double-down on the mentality of "fuck everybody". Play to win as many games as possible, obviously, but beyond that I don't see any point to directing ire at other players that by all rights should be directed at RG and the league office.

 

[DJnVa]

Isn't that one of the problems with not allowing McNally come back for interview? It would be reasonable to want to interview in order to provide context.

 
I thought the story was that McNally didn't want to come back because he was ambushed by the media at his house and the Patriots simply didn't force him.

 

[soxhop411]

Fox News ‏@FoxNews  7m7 minutes ago
Brett Favre: "I don't think by any stretch that, in my opinion, that [#TomBrady] was cheating." #Greta

 

[NatetheGreat]

 
Fox News ‏@FoxNews  7m7 minutes ago
Brett Favre: "I don't think by any stretch that, in my opinion, that [#TomBrady] was cheating." #Greta
 

 
On the one hand, I do think hearing what other quarterbacks think of all this is good (though a current player would be better), on the other, I'm not sure how much weight Favre carries as a character witness at this point.

 

[DJnVa]

 
Fox News ‏@FoxNews  7m7 minutes ago
Brett Favre: "I don't think by any stretch that, in my opinion, that [#TomBrady] was cheating." #Greta
 

 
Didn't you also post this exact same tweet in the "Good guys" thread?
 
Don't do that.

 

[WayBackVazquez]

Conflict checks have been going out at firms all over NYC.  The NFL has done a good job of tainting the waters.

I know, um, a pretty good litigation firm that just picked up a very small matter from the league a few weeks ago. I was surprised, because I don't recall the firm getting any previous NFL work.

 

[theapportioner]

Conflict checks have been going out at firms all over NYC.  The NFL has done a good job of tainting the waters.

 
 

I know, um, a pretty good litigation firm that just picked up a very small matter from the league a few weeks ago. I was surprised, because I don't recall the firm getting any previous NFL work.

 
That's crazy. Is this common practice among prominent corporations in NYC?

 

[Return of the Dewey]

 
 
 
That's crazy. Is this common practice among prominent corporations in NYC?

Absolutely...and not just in NYC.

 

[Revkeith]

 
Fox News ‏@FoxNews  7m7 minutes ago
Brett Favre: "I don't think by any stretch that, in my opinion, that [#TomBrady] was cheating." #Greta
 

 
Given that Favre was totally uncooperative during the dick-pic fallout, this isn't a surprise. Probably not a big Goodell fan.

 

[Otis Foster]

 
Other people's wishful thinking.  I know Boies has a top reputation, and his firm gets some of the best of the best, but the man's record isn't all that impressive (he does take on tough cases, in his defense).  I'd rather have Sullivan.

 
I hope you have lots of data to back that up, old sport. Personal preference is one thing, but purported statements of fact can't skinny by in summary form.
 
One legitimate concern is the number of cases he takes on. However, no-one expects him to be marking exhibits and he has a deep staff.

 

[Marciano490]

 
I hope you have lots of data to back that up, old sport. Personal preference is one thing, but purported statements of fact can't skinny by in summary form.
 
One legitimate concern is the number of cases he takes on. However, no-one expects him to be marking exhibits and he has a deep staff.

Boies runs a bare bones staff. They've done well in recruiting the last few years, but lots of their early partners and more senior associates are friends of David, not top level people or graduates willing or needing to take a flier on a new firm.

 

[RIFan]

The blame for not producing McNally is placed on the Patriots, but I would imagine it's equally likely that McNally told them he had enough of the shit show and was done talking. The Patriots counsel may have either misstated why they couldn't speak with him or given him cover.

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

 
 
 
That's crazy. Is this common practice among prominent corporations in NYC?

 
It's pretty unseemly in this case.  If I were a partner asked to work on the Brady matter and the firm had just picked up a matter for the NFL recently, and the NFL refused to give a waiver, I would carry that memory for a very very long time.  Remember, we're not talking here about firms that have a real hope that they are going to be getting significant work from the NFL in the future, but instead you're talking about firm that has been used by the NFL to block it from a very good piece of work and then is being unreasonable about giving a conflict waiver.  The NFL is a very powerful organization, to be sure, but some of the law firms we're talking about here that Brady would be going to are not the kind that you want to cross or use by conflicting them out on a bullshit one-off, no matter who you are.

 

[TomRicardo]

The blame for not producing McNally is placed on the Patriots, but I would imagine it's equally likely that McNally told them he had enough of the shit show and was done talking. The Patriots counsel may have either misstated why they couldn't speak with him or given him cover.

 
Actually McNally refused to have in person interview and requested a phone interview because someone from the league leaked his home address to ESPN and he didn't want reporters coming to his house again.
 
Edit - I wonder why Brady didn't want to share his phone with the league ...

 

[Ed Hillel]

 
Actually McNally refused to have in person interview and requested a phone interview because someone from the league leaked his home address to ESPN and he didn't want reporters coming to his house again.
 
Edit - I wonder why Brady didn't want to share his phone with the league ...

Another thing with the phone...can you imagine what he said about Goodell and the league in private? I'm assuming those would be considered within the scope for Wells, and there's no way Roger doesn't set his eyes on those.

 

[Tokyo Sox]

If he can get the $1mm knocked down or eliminated, he should donate $1mm anyway to various women's shelters and charities that help victims of domestic violence, while issuing a statement about, "We'll continue to do our best to adhere to league rules, but would like to finally move on from how much air is in the footballs, to something that the league should really care about."

And if he can't get it knocked down, he should refuse to pay it to the league, but insist instead upon paying it to a similar charity of the league's choosing.

 

[Otis Foster]

Boies runs a bare bones staff. They've done well in recruiting the last few years, but lots of their early partners and more senior associates are friends of David, not top level people or graduates willing or needing to take a flier on a new firm.

Are we discussing outcomes or critiquing staff.? Serious question. Quite clearly, Boies can't and won't match salaries or perks with Cravath, for instance. That may be reflected in staff, but it doesn't correlate directly with outcomes.

Maybe we should save further discussion on this topic for spitballing or off-line discussions.

 

[Ferm Sheller]

Don't know where else to put this, but is that Michael Silver's real personality or is he perpetually playing "the wacky next door neighbor" character in a subpar sitcom?

 

[Ferm Sheller]

"Patriots Fans Reactions" coming up on NFLN. They are trolling

 

[bosox188]

 
Actually McNally refused to have in person interview and requested a phone interview because someone from the league leaked his home address to ESPN and he didn't want reporters coming to his house again.
 
Edit - I wonder why Brady didn't want to share his phone with the league ...

 
From the PFT story:
 

 
Per a league source, McNally was willing to be questioned again by phone, but the NFL declined the offer. For a variety of reasons — including the fact that he’d been ambushed at his home by ESPN’s Kelly Naqi based on a perceived leak from her husband, a former league-office employee who now works for the Jaguars — McNally didn’t want to submit to yet another face-to-face interview.

 
Kelly Naqi is the same one who leaked the story about the Patriots employee who "tried to introduce an unapproved ball into the game." You know, the one who left out the very crucial detail that it was an NFL official who had been stealing game balls who handed the ball to said Patriots employee.
 
The bullshit continues to pile up.

 

[geoduck no quahog]

Please save yourself and don't watch NFLN.
 
There is so much ignorance displayed there by "journalists" - they make Jerry Springer or Geraldo Rivera seem qualified in comparison.
 
It's one thing to have an opinion. It's another to either ignore or twist facts to suit your opinion. That goes both ways, except I really haven't heard anyone twist facts to defend the Patriots...only vice versa.
 
Jesus, the fucking (out of context) texting quotes are printed for everyone to read. Do they think no one reads them? Do they have to actually spout things that were never actually texted?
 
I'm not off football, but I'm certainly off sports networks that do anything but show games and shut up.

 

[troparra]

I still don't get why McNally was involved at all if he wasn't doing something illegal. Wasn't it JJ'S job to prepare the balls? Couldn't he let the air out himself and get them to 12.5?

Now you're talking like a Wells report investigator. You don't know why McNally is involved with the balls, so he must be cheating. Once you make that leap, all the texts seem nefarious indeed.
Of course, McNally and JJ have made it clear that Brady is a pain in the ass about this, probably a control freak too. Maybe JJ was unreliable at making sure the refs got balls that were exactly at 12.5, and as a result Brady made sure McNally took care of it. That's why he's the "deflator" because that's all he does with the balls.
I don't know, makes as much sense as anything else in the report if not more.

 

[scotian1]

Nothing can be gained at this time by watching NFLN.

 

[DourDoerr]

How hampered is Kraft by Spygate though?  Presumably, Goodell did him an enormous favor by burning the tapes, thereby encouraging years of ridicule for the act.  If Kraft comes hard, does Goodell leak the goods/tell the truth?  I assumed when Kraft first said he would accept punishment that he was acknowledging the debt.
 
Some of Kraft's new reaction could be pure theatre (but I hope not).

 

[RIFan]

 
Actually McNally refused to have in person interview and requested a phone interview because someone from the league leaked his home address to ESPN and he didn't want reporters coming to his house again.
 
Edit - I wonder why Brady didn't want to share his phone with the league ...

But yet this was the primary (only) reason they dropped the hammer on the organization. The Patriots cannot compel an employee to take part in something of this sort other than to discipline them.

 

[ScubaSteveAvery]

What would the tapes show that we don't already know? The Patriots filmed signals from a position in the stadium that was not allowed.

The tapes aren't secret either. They were played on loop for the press.

 

[Ed Hillel]

What would the tapes show that we don't already know?

Cameras pointing right back at them?

 

[Ed Hillel]

Speaking of coverups, what did Von Miller get for trying to bribe the lab worker to replace his drug sample? Two games? I guess not handing over a private cell phone is worse.

 

[( . ) ( . ) and (_!_)]

 
Actually McNally refused to have in person interview and requested a phone interview because someone from the league leaked his home address to ESPN and he didn't want reporters coming to his house again.
 
Edit - I wonder why Brady didn't want to share his phone with the league ...

Someone is lying because the Wells reports goes out of its way to point out that the pats not only refused the interview but also refused to even make McNally aware that a second interview was requested. That in no way squares with McNally asking to do it by phone

 

[bosox188]

I think everyone could use a little comic relief. David Portnoy and his Barstool Sports Boston guys staged a sit-in at the NFL offices today.
 
http://www.barstoolsports.com/boston/icymi-full-periscope-video-from-todays-nfl-hq-sit-in/

 

[DJnVa]

What would the tapes show that we don't already know? The Patriots filmed signals from a position in the stadium that was not allowed.

 
The "secret" tapes which apparently showed other teams doing the same thing.
 
Unbeknownst to Goodell, BB has copies stashed in the Vatican Archives. 

 

[PedroKsBambino]

Are we discussing outcomes or critiquing staff.? Serious question. Quite clearly, Boies can't and won't match salaries or perks with Cravath, for instance. That may be reflected in staff, but it doesn't correlate directly with outcomes.

Maybe we should save further discussion on this topic for spitballing or off-line discussions.

 
For whatever it is worth, I know several people who have encountered Boies who each said that he is personally a spectacular lawyer, and also that they wouldn't hire the firm for a matter right now (or in recent past) because he is regularly overextended and they don't have enough quality depth to make it work.  
 
I'm sure they have other great lawyers, and at least most of them just aren't quite Boies.  Your mileage may vary, obviously.  

 

[dcmissle]

Are we discussing outcomes or critiquing staff.? Serious question. Quite clearly, Boies can't and won't match salaries or perks with Cravath, for instance. That may be reflected in staff, but it doesn't correlate directly with outcomes.

Maybe we should save further discussion on this topic for spitballing or off-line discussions.

Boies Schiller lawyers from top to bottom earn a fuckton of money and work like maniacs. It may be a miserable place to work but they don't have any trouble competing for talent.

 

[Red Right Ankle]

Lawyers:
 
Please shut the fuck up about Boies.
 
Sincerely,
 
The Rest of the Thread

 

[Shelterdog]

Lawyers:
 
Please shut the fuck up about Boies.
 
Sincerely,
 
The Rest of the Thread

 
TheStoryofYourRedAnkles:
 
We have you surrounded.  You're all alone. Everyone else is a lawyer.
 
Sincerely,
 
The rest of the thread.

 

[ifmanis5]

 
Michael McCann ‏@McCannSportsLaw  17m17 minutes ago
How can Tom Brady and Patriots challenge their #DeflateGate punishments? My @SInow legal take: http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/05/12/deflategate-tom-brady-new-england-patriots-legal-options …
 
Cant quote it all. But this is a really good read
 
Edit: still reading
 

That was very good, thanks.

 

[notfar]

Dear Staties,

I'm not really down with cops abusing their power, but just this once it is okay. Please arrest Goodell for traveling 2 MPH over the speed limit when he comes to the banner ceremony. A bogus resisting arrest charge would be nice too.

 

[MuppetAsteriskTalk]

Cameras pointing right back at them?

 
 
If there was ever any truth to that explanation, now is the time for Kraft to allow Belichick to go on record about it. 

 

[Hoya81]

Dear Staties,

I'm not really down with cops abusing their power, but just this once it is okay. Please arrest Goodell for traveling 2 MPH over the speed limit when he comes to the banner ceremony. A bogus resisting arrest charge would be nice too.

I imagine Goodell will not visit Gillette Stadium again.

 

[Ralphwiggum]

How hampered is Kraft by Spygate though?  Presumably, Goodell did him an enormous favor by burning the tapes, thereby encouraging years of ridicule for the act.  If Kraft comes hard, does Goodell leak the goods/tell the truth?  I assumed when Kraft first said he would accept punishment that he was acknowledging the debt.
 
Some of Kraft's new reaction could be pure theatre (but I hope not).

Jesus Fucking Christ.

Spygate has to be the simplest thing ever that more people are mistaken about.

 

[PedroKsBambino]

I imagine Goodell will not visit Gillette Stadium again.

 
At least not without a ticket.

 

[MuppetAsteriskTalk]

 
At least not without a ticket.

 
And a contingent of bodyguards.

 

[AB in DC]

 
Congratulations, this is the worst post on the subject in the entire forum, including by Jets fans.  Every word and every paragraph is dripping with idiocy.  I'm not calling you an idiot, but I've seen no evidence to the contrary.
 
Why don't you start that Kraft on the hot seat thread though, and query who's going to put him there.  Got a few billion dollars and V. Stiviano's cousin lurking somewhere?  Or, should we fans just vote him out?

 
You thought I was serious about that "on the seat" reference?  Talk about idiocy.
 
 
The point is, this deification of Robert Kraft has got to stop.  Kraft screwed up, big time.  The old saying about "pick your battles" has never been more apt.  He chose (or allowed his lawyer) to pick probably the worst possible battle in this whole mess.  Maybe a second interview wouldn't have made things better, but it certainly couldn't have made this any worse than it already is.

 

[Otis Foster]

Let me get this straight - 43 MM$ man Goodell may threaten to disclose that in return for Kraft's league support, he did in fact intentionally destroy tapes, which if extant, would show even more damaging behavior by them or other teams? And this threatened disclosure is keeping RK at bay?
 
Roger Goodell, the savoir of integrity for the game and respect for the rules? The very pillar of uprightness?
 
Quel horreur, mon ami!!!   Ça a fait scandale!!!
 
If it's keeping RK at bay, it's because he's still doubled over with laughter at how inept his buddy Rog is. How in even our most irrational moments can we conjecture that Rog would somehow preserve his NFL position and bludgeon the NEP with that disclosure?

 

[PedroKsBambino]

 
The point is, this deification of Robert Kraft has got to stop.  Kraft screwed up, big time.  The old saying about "pick your battles" has never been more apt.  He chose (or allowed his lawyer) to pick probably the worst possible battle in this whole mess.  Maybe a second interview wouldn't have made things better, but it certainly couldn't have made this any worse than it already is.

 
Yeah, what has he ever won anyway?  No reason to think he knows what he is doing.

 

[SemperFidelisSox]

I know what you've all been wondering. What impact will Tom Brady's suspensions have on fantasy football? Don't worry, NFL Network has it covered.

 

[Comfortably Lomb]

I know what you've all been wondering. What impact will Tom Brady's suspensions have on fantasy football? Don't worry, NFL Network has it covered.

 
Are they going to go all the way and talk about the impact on Vegas?

 

[Ferm Sheller]

I love how they talk like it's a done deal that he's going to be out even one game

 

[Myt1]

 
You thought I was serious about that "on the seat" reference?  Talk about idiocy.
 
 
The point is, this deification of Robert Kraft has got to stop.  Kraft screwed up, big time.  The old saying about "pick your battles" has never been more apt.  He chose (or allowed his lawyer) to pick probably the worst possible battle in this whole mess.  Maybe a second interview wouldn't have made things better, but it certainly couldn't have made this any worse than it already is.

Sure it could have.

 

[LuckyBen]

You thought I was serious about that "on the seat" reference?  Talk about idiocy.
 
 
The point is, this deification of Robert Kraft has got to stop.  Kraft screwed up, big time.  The old saying about "pick your battles" has never been more apt.  He chose (or allowed his lawyer) to pick probably the worst possible battle in this whole mess.  Maybe a second interview wouldn't have made things better, but it certainly couldn't have made this any worse than it already is.

The only thing Kraft screwed up, was siding with that dick during the Rice debacle. All other aspects, you are choosing to listen to Wells narrative. Godspeed