#DFG: Canceling the Noise

Is there any level of suspension that you would advise Tom to accept?


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grsharky7

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I think it will be interesting to see where the narrative goes today.  It seems like every time the NFL leaks details and new developments come out of the spin machine the mouth breathers of the media jump all over it.  The real journalists will start digging and looking at the details and then see what it all really means.  Hopefully the Sally Jenkins of the world get their two cents out there today and continue to poke holes in the NFL's story.
 

Bleedred

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Not that it's a surprise, but Brady is getting killed this morning on the talk shows.  SAS on ABC, some NY Times reporter on CBS.   Statements like "there is no way you can look at Tom Brady without thinking he cheated because otherwise, he never would have destroyed that phone."   I only watched for about 15 seconds and had to change, because once again, no facts about the actual case were discussed.
 

Average Reds

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j44thor said:
Regarding the phone destruction, Brady also has a pretty compelling reason given his privacy has already been significantly invaded in the past with the Barstool scandal.  I'm sure Brady is hypersensitive to anything getting out into the public that he might not want after that episode, especially since nothing was done to Barstool/Portnoy as a result.
 
Intentionally not posting the details about the scandal, you can find it for yourself if you want to.
 
You know, I never heard about this before.  After googling it, I have changed my perspective almost completely.
 
The NFL is leaking like a sieve.  If I were Brady I think I would have destroyed my phone too.  But I would also be prepared to fight back when the NFL used that fact to make me look bad.
 

lambeau

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It's still hard for me to comprehend the series of events: Yee and Tom must have met for hours March 5 to prep for the March 6 Wells meeting; after they meet, Tom destroys the phone,against Yee's advice or with concurrence.
They don't tell Wells the phone doesn't exist, but Kessler later decides he can't participate in this charade; they claim the destruction was normal practice, not in contemplation of the Wells meeting, which is preposterous.
The real relevance, Iguess, as DCM and Florio have pointed out, is whether Doty will feel Tom comes to him with clean hands. Yee jeopardized this .
 
The good news is that Kessler seems to think (from the NFLPA statement) that this whole kangaroo court is not covered by the CBA--they never negotiated ball prep, so only teams can be disciplined, not players. He seems
to think this is being shoehorned into 'conduct detrimental', but doesn't belong there.So phones are irrelevant. And if anything, let's talk gauges, recording measurements, temperature--the whole lack of any proper procedure.
I think he can get  to the science being a joke because "with no procedures in place until two days ago to test air pressure in footballs" you have only ridiculously flawed and incomplete data which show nothing. Goodell
relied heavily on the Princeton professor, but he only agreed with Exponent as long as their assumptions (eg the time of measurements) are accepted--and their assumptions were retrofitted to their conclusions. All is not lost.
 

jsinger121

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TB12 responds
 
 
 






 
Tom Brady
7 mins · 






I am very disappointed by the NFL’s decision to uphold the 4 game suspension against me. I did nothing wrong, and no one in the Patriots organization did either.
Despite submitting to hours of testimony over the past 6 months, it is disappointing that the Commissioner upheld my suspension based upon a standard that it was “probable” that I was “generally aware” of misconduct. The fact is that neither I, nor any equipment person, did anything of which we have been accused. He dismissed my hours of testimony and it is disappointing that he found it unreliable.

I also disagree with yesterdays narrative surrounding my cellphone. I replaced my broken Samsung phone with a new iPhone 6 AFTER my attorneys made it clear to the NFL that my actual phone device would not be subjected to investigation under ANY circumstances. As a member of a union, I was under no obligation to set a new precedent going forward, nor was I made aware at any time during Mr. Wells investigation, that failing to subject my cell phone to investigation would result in ANY discipline.
Most importantly, I have never written, texted, emailed to anybody at anytime, anything related to football air pressure before this issue was raised at the AFC Championship game in January. To suggest that I destroyed a phone to avoid giving the NFL information it requested is completely wrong.
To try and reconcile the record and fully cooperate with the investigation after I was disciplined in May, we turned over detailed pages of cell phone records and all of the emails that Mr. Wells requested. We even contacted the phone company to see if there was any possible way we could retrieve any/all of the actual text messages from my old phone. In short, we exhausted every possibility to give the NFL everything we could and offered to go thru the identity for every text and phone call during the relevant time. Regardless, the NFL knows that Mr. Wells already had ALL relevant communications with Patriots personnel that either Mr. Wells saw or that I was questioned about in my appeal hearing. There is no “smoking gun” and this controversy is manufactured to distract from the fact they have zero evidence of wrongdoing.
I authorized the NFLPA to make a settlement offer to the NFL so that we could avoid going to court and put this inconsequential issue behind us as we move forward into this season. The discipline was upheld without any counter offer. I respect the Commissioners authority, but he also has to respect the CBA and my rights as a private citizen. I will not allow my unfair discipline to become a precedent for other NFL players without a fight.
Lastly, I am overwhelmed and humbled by the support of family, friends and our fans who have supported me since the false accusations were made after the AFC Championship game. I look forward to the opportunity to resume playing with my teammates and winning more games for the New England Patriots.




 
 
 

BroodsSexton

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Destroying the phone is dumb, for all the reasons stated.  But at this point (in federal court), isn't this case more about the power dynamic between NFL and NFLPA, rather than Brady's guilt or innocence?  
 
If that's the case, then it may just not matter that much. I suppose the defense's argument is that NFL didn't have a right to the phone, so Brady can do whatever the hell he wants with it, and there shouldn't be an adverse inference, and it's only the massive overreaching by NFL in the first instance that even creates this conversation. If I'm defense counsel I'm focusing the judge on the larger issues at stake here. I don't think that a judge is going to make a decision solely based on the destroyed phone. NFL will hammer it over and over as a theme, and NFLPA will try to sidestep it and say it's not the point.
 
EDIT--Brady's statement follows this line.
 

jsinger121

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BroodsSexton said:
Destroying the phone is dumb, for all the reasons stated.  But at this point (in federal court), isn't this case more about the power dynamic between NFL and NFLPA, rather than Brady's guilt or innocence?  
 
If that's the case, then it may just not matter that much. I suppose the defense's argument is that NFL didn't have a right to the phone, so Brady can do whatever the hell he wants with it, and there shouldn't be an adverse inference, and it's only the massive overreaching by NFL in the first instance that even creates this conversation. If I'm defense counsel I'm focusing the judge on the larger issues at stake here. I don't think that a judge is going to make a decision solely based on the destroyed phone. NFL will hammer it over and over as a theme, and NFLPA will try to sidestep it and say it's not the point.
 
That will be an argument along with the fact that Troy Vincent had no authority to hand out discipline to begin with.
 

MarcSullivaFan

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Hoo-hoo-hoo hoosier land.
Someone raised the question above about the preservation of the data vs. preservation of the phone itself. From the perspective of preserving data in anticipation of litigation, the appropriate step is to have a third party vendor make a forensic copy of everything on the phone. This removes the risk of the phone being lost or destroyed or the custodian deleting things.

That said, even with a forensic copy in hand, it's still a terrible idea to destroy or wipe the phone itself. One of the things I learned early in my career doing employment litigation is that you always want to wear the white hat, so to speak. That doesn't mean you turn over the data, but at least you have it in case the judge or government agency decides that you need to at some later date.

In other words, preserving the phone and its data would not have prevented Brady from taking the principled position that he had no duty to hand it over. Destroying it forever had zero upside, both from a legal perspective and a PR perspective.

Based on the facts alleged by the NFL (timing of destruction, no destruction of previous phone) I would be convinced that he was hiding something. Now, that doesn't mean he was hiding something relevant to this inquiry, or that was truly incriminating, but there's no way to know. For example, he might have sent someone a text indicating that he was suspicious of McNally, or expressing regret that he put so much pressure on those guys to get it right. He may have been angry and said things implicating other QBs in the league, and was worried later that he would get them in trouble. He may have made ill-advised jokes before he realized how seriously the NFL was taking this. Or he may not have understood how the data collection and review process would work, and was worried that the league would get everything on his phone, including embarrassing personal information. It strikes me as the act of a panicked lay person who should have sought the advice of counsel. Ugh.
 

TheoShmeo

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I've been hoping Tom would settle all along, mainly so he could de-risk the 4 game max and out of a healthy respect for the Law of Unintended Consequences.

No one had the cell phone revelation in mind -- except those who knew about it -- but like it or not, it will be a hard thing to overcome. Both in court and in the minds of the public. The CHB was predictable this morning but he said what I assume a lot of people are thinking.

I don't know if Tom is lying. The evidence is not conclusive. And the penalty remains preposterous as a result and given the penalties in other cases. And nothing about this makes Goodell any less contemptible or his handling of it any better. He sucks and should die in a fire.

But this is why people are often advised to settle by their advisors, even when they believe they are innocent and did nothing wrong. Settlement allows you to control the outcome. There is a lot of value in that even while it would have come with some heavy costs.

Maybe Tom will get the last laugh. Maybe a court will be offended by the process points. The NFL has risks in litigation, too. But even with a win in court, Tom is going to have to deal with this shit storm for a good long time, and how this plays out is not something he can control.
 

cornwalls@6

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If there is any press availability for him today with camp opening, hope TB also delivers that statement on camera. Think that would give it additional gravitas. No Q & A with the legal proceedings pending, of course. But really think he needs to put his actual voice to this now.
 

westneat

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So if I'm reading this correctly, they DID get access to Brady's cellphone. Just not the one he used after Nov 6. 
 
So they had the phone he used for over half the season and clearly found NOTHING. 
 

Steve Dillard

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I replaced my broken Samsung phone with a new iPhone 6 AFTER my attorneys made it clear to the NFL that my actual phone device would not be subjected to investigation under ANY circumstances. As a member of a union, I was under no obligation to set a new precedent going forward, nor was I made aware at any time during Mr. Wells investigation, that failing to subject my cell phone to investigation would result in ANY discipline.
 
 
This may be the saving grace, as he is being punished for an offense over which he was not given any notice.   He cooperated with the deflate investigation.  When the "non-cooperation" was raised, he already had destroyed the phone (no ability to cooperate more).  It appears that during the appeal, Brady's lawyers took Brady through the issue specifically, eliciting testimony about phone, along with proof that he could not cooperate more (he tried to retrieve data from phone company), Goddel turns it on him into an offense, in and of itself.  That is why it was suddenly "new" info for Goddel -- Brady's lawyers were trying to diffuse the "non-cooperation" issue.  Of course, Goddel then turns it and stole the narrative by portraying this a destruction just before the Wells inquiry.
 
Brady had no notice that the destruction was now a separate offense.   Goddel's lawyers cleverly stated that the destruction is (1) a separate "non-coopeartion" but also (2) consciousness of guilt/spoliation that establishes the underlying offense.
 
It is possible that the lack of notice prior to the investigation (Wells), and certainly at the appeal stage (June) violates the NFL's duty to outline the offense on which he is being charged.
 

Gambler7

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RedOctober3829 said:
It seems like no matter what Brady gave them that Roger wasn't going to believe it was credible. The only thing they would believe from Brady is his admission of guilt.
Read the 20 page release from Goodell yesterday. In summary, this is essentially what it says. 
 
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Walpole
This to me is a very reasonable and fair assessment of the current state of things. The leaks and the ruling weren't a ruling but rather a preemptive strike by the NFL with the sole purpose in mind to give themselves the best chance in federal court. The way folks like CHB just automatically accept this narrative without question is pathetic. Even if Brady is 100% guilty how any impartial media member can defend how the NFL has handled this is beyond me.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/jason-la-canfora/25252638/bradys-true-crime-taking-goodell-for-a-fool-in-deflategate-mess
 

pappymojo

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garlan5 said:
what facts did I miss?  I'm on vacation and haven't been doing much reading on it other than he's claiming he destroyed the phone as a normal practice even though it was on the same day or near the same time frame they requested his phone for the investigation. 
That is what the NFL is claiming Brady is claiming.
 

ivanvamp

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RedOctober3829 said:
It seems like no matter what Brady gave them that Roger wasn't going to believe it was credible. The only thing they would believe from Brady is his admission of guilt.
 
This.  I realize it's not "convenient" for Goodell, but it certainly appears that Brady offered him all their electronic records, just not in the easiest way possible.  Goodell completely dismissed everything Brady said as being not credible.  
 
The testimony of a man whose integrity had never been remotely questioned before is "not credible"?  
 
You're right, Red - the only thing Goodell would have accepted is a flat-out admission of guilt.
 

pappymojo

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garlan5 said:
I"m not really trying to be "convinced" nor am I trying to "convince" anyone.  I guess I"m just trying to say I don't see any info out there that supports Brady's innocence. Why are no media outlets or reporters standing up in his defense. Everything I hear as a casual Brady fan seem so damaging to his credibility.
Posted by someone who admits to not reading the thread.
 

mostman

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Walpole Joe said:
This to me is a very reasonable and fair assessment of the current state of things. The leaks and the ruling weren't a ruling but rather a preemptive strike by the NFL with the sole purpose in mind to give themselves the best chance in federal court. The way folks like CHB just automatically accept this narrative without question is pathetic. Even if Brady is 100% guilty how any impartial media member can defend how the NFL has handled this is beyond me.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/jason-la-canfora/25252638/bradys-true-crime-taking-goodell-for-a-fool-in-deflategate-mess
"[Says] one NFL exec, 'we all know he did it!''"

Followed by, "But where's the proof?"

That's delicious.
 

ivanvamp

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I wanted last year's Super Bowl title so incredibly bad, especially after the deflate nonsense first came out.  But now?  Now I want this one more than anything.
 
I want Brady to stand at the podium holding another Lombardi and accepting another SB MVP from Goodell.  I want him to take the trophy and not even acknowledge Goodell's existence.  
 
Or better yet, take it, and make a very short speech with thinly veiled references to Goodell, talking about how sweet this one is.
 

SeoulSoxFan

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Not sure what's dumber. Goodell's insistence on propping his control on Brady's reputation, or MacMullan asking TB to drop it just because everyone's "had enough". 
 

cornwalls@6

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ivanvamp said:
This.  I realize it's not "convenient" for Goodell, but it certainly appears that Brady offered him all their electronic records, just not in the easiest way possible.  Goodell completely dismissed everything Brady said as being not credible.  
 
The testimony of a man whose integrity had never been remotely questioned before is "not credible"?  
 
You're right, Red - the only thing Goodell would have accepted is a flat-out admission of guilt.
ivanvamp said:
This.  I realize it's not "convenient" for Goodell, but it certainly appears that Brady offered him all their electronic records, just not in the easiest way possible.  Goodell completely dismissed everything Brady said as being not credible.  
 
The testimony of a man whose integrity had never been remotely questioned before is "not credible"?  
 
You're right, Red - the only thing Goodell would have accepted is a flat-out admission of guilt.
The more this goes on, the more it feels like this is all a reaction the Ray Rice Fiasco. Goodell was determined to become the sheriff again, and it was just a matter of an issue coming along that would allow him to flex his muscles. If TB had just genuflected to his authority, he probably gets a game, or even just a large fine. Rog gets to look tough initially, then wise and fair. TB however, rightly, does not see his role as being a vehicle for Goodell's image repair. Fight this through to whatever the court of last resort is, possible distraction to the 2015 season be damned.
 

( . ) ( . ) and (_!_)

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garlan5 said:
I"m not really trying to be "convinced" nor am I trying to "convince" anyone.  I guess I"m just trying to say I don't see any info out there that supports Brady's innocence. Why are no media outlets or reporters standing up in his defense. Everything I hear as a casual Brady fan seem so damaging to his credibility.
 
Are you willfully ignorant of the AEI report or just choosing to discount it?  I'm not trying to be snarky, I'm legitimately curious in understanding why you seem to have no recollection whatsoever of the biggest, most persuasive piece of independent evidence in this entire saga. 
 

Valek123

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As this has been for almost the entire duration this event is about the NFL vs the NFLPA and Powerell trying to continue to expand his influence and authority around the CBA.  It's unfortunate and should have never reached this point, I can only imagine the courts will somehow uphold this because it truly can't possibly get anymore surreal.  I hope the Jackie MacMullan's of the world if someday they are accused of doing something they feel they had no part in take all punishment and don't fight back and let their reputation and their entire careers work get tossed aside.  She is either writing to the masses at this point or has lost all brain function to not see why anyone in his shoes would EXHAUST all legal options to clear his name.
 
I've truly never seen anything, any event or any other process go so far off the rails as this one, I have no comparison, no logic path to explore - this is a horribly written show and is feeling more and more like pretty much every season of 24.  My only hope is Brady(Jack) in the end gets his retribution.
 

Tyrone Biggums

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Walpole Joe's Neighbor said:
This to me is a very reasonable and fair assessment of the current state of things. The leaks and the ruling weren't a ruling but rather a preemptive strike by the NFL with the sole purpose in mind to give themselves the best chance in federal court. The way folks like CHB just automatically accept this narrative without question is pathetic. Even if Brady is 100% guilty how any impartial media member can defend how the NFL has handled this is beyond me.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/jason-la-canfora/25252638/bradys-true-crime-taking-goodell-for-a-fool-in-deflategate-mess
No one with half a brain gives CHB clicks anymore. He's been bitter since "The Curse" was broken and he lost two thirds of his royalities. Between him and Borges anything that slants to the negative on the Pats you can bet that you'll see a gleeful column to support their agendas.

I would like to see a column from either one of those two about the NFLs handling on domestic violence or deer antler spray. But that won't happen because again it wasn't done by a player on the Patriots.

If one thing comes out of this it should be that Goodell is removed from hearings on the next CBA. Call me a homer all you want but I tend to believe Brady more than an organization that has lied and attempted to cover up serious issues over the last few years. Maybe the NFL/Ravens/Colts/Brunell/Polian are correct and Brady did tell Dorito Dink to do it. But the way the NFL handled this and the inconsistent evidence gives me pause to believe the popular narrative.
 

rodderick

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I feel like a lot of people are approaching this believing it has been proven that those footballs were deflated by human intervention. The main question isn't "did Brady know?", it's "did they deflate the footballs?".
 

Punchado

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So now that Brady's statement is out I think we can assume that there are two possible truths here -- that Tom Brady, who has never been accused of being dishonest in any way over his entire career has chosen to dig in so deeply on a lie with the hope that whatever conspiracy he has organized between himself, his entire organization and two complete knuckleheads will hold in order to keep the world from knowing that he asked his equipment guys to deflate the footballs in order to gain him zero competitive advantage OR that Robert Goodell is a major fucking asshole.  
 
 
When the Brady team read that phone thing in the appeal statement they must have lost their shit.  
 

DJnVa

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garlan5 said:
I guess I"m just trying to say I don't see any info out there that supports Brady's innocence.
 
Yeah, how about any supporting his guilt Ace.
 
 

Omar's Wacky Neighbor

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Leaving in a bit to the studio :)
Mark Brunell was just on M&M:  what a bitter, bitter man.  (Brady is guilty because that's not how I, Mark Brunell, would have reacted to the accusation.)
 
(Preemptive defense:  all my pre-sets had gone to commercial as I was pulling into my parking space, so I was spinning the dial so I didnt have to hear Kars For Kids yet again)
 

Tyrone Biggums

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Omar said:
Mark Brunell was just on M&M:  what a bitter, bitter man.  (Brady is guilty because that's not how I, Mark Brunell, would have reacted to the accusation.)
Brunell should stick to things he's good at like giving financial advice
 

rodderick

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I wonder why people always go to Mark fucking Brunell to give his two cents on this subject. I never heard anyone call on him to comment about anything else, but when it's "shit on Brady" time, there he is. The media is so transparent with this bullshit.
 

Stu Nahan

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Punchado said:
So now that Brady's statement is out I think we can assume that there are two possible truths here -- that Tom Brady, who has never been accused of being dishonest in any way over his entire career has chosen to dig in so deeply on a lie with the hope that whatever conspiracy he has organized between himself, his entire organization and two complete knuckleheads will hold in order to keep the world from knowing that he asked his equipment guys to deflate the footballs in order to gain him zero competitive advantage OR that Robert Goodell is a major fucking asshole.
Throw in lied to his owner, coach, teammates, union, and fans. I'm still really comfortable about it being the latter not the former.
 

ivanvamp

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Jul 18, 2005
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Punchado said:
So now that Brady's statement is out I think we can assume that there are two possible truths here -- that Tom Brady, who has never been accused of being dishonest in any way over his entire career has chosen to dig in so deeply on a lie with the hope that whatever conspiracy he has organized between himself, his entire organization and two complete knuckleheads will hold in order to keep the world from knowing that he asked his equipment guys to deflate the footballs in order to gain him zero competitive advantage OR that Robert Goodell is a major fucking asshole.  
 
 
When the Brady team read that phone thing in the appeal statement they must have lost their shit.  
 
This is a perfect example of how power works.  
 
On the one hand we have a player with an (up til now) impeccable reputation.  The leading spokesman for the NFL over the past 15 years.  Perhaps the greatest player the game has ever seen, a man who has done nothing but good things for the league and his team.  Never a bad thing said about him or suspected about him.  Ever.  He has the science in his corner.  There is no actual evidence of any wrongdoing.  He has credible explanations for everything.
 
But he is a player with very little power.
 
On the other hand we have a commissioner who is a buffoon, whose integrity HAS been questioned on many occasions.  Who has mishandled so many issues it's hard to keep count.  Who has been tarred and feathered by a previous commissioner for his handling of the Saints' bounty gate scandal.  Who was eviscerated by everyone involved over the Ray Rice issue.  Who has been chastised for inconsistency, for doublespeak, for going outside the rulebook and historical precedent on other occasions.  
 
But he has all the power as commissioner.
 
And right now, as of this moment, the buffoon with no integrity but all the power is winning over the man who has integrity but no power.  
 
That's how power works.
 
I hope the court understands this and does the right thing.
 

DJnVa

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Again, if Brady were actually guilty it doesn't seem very smart of him to give all the info needed (names and phone records of everyone he contacted) to the other side. He may have assumed no one would flip and that the NFL wouldn't do the legwork, but he had no way to know. That seems like a dangerous gamble to take.
 
 
I think the court challenge will hinge on Goodell saying he wanted to hear from Brady, see what evidence he presented and then essentially giving him a time limit.
 
 
And don't go to ESPN for anything, they are Pravda on this, starting from the jump with Mort's tweet.
 

DJnVa

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So, have we confirmed that the NFL had the previous phone that wasn't destroyed? And there was no smoking gun on that either? Or are they just saying it wasn't destroyed and they didn't look at it?
 

riboflav

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I suppose Brady still destroyed his broken Samsung phone by throwing it out or whatever, so no chance at claiming defamation as mentioned upthread. 
 

Norm Siebern

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This entire affair to me is and has all along been about power. Goodell is furious that Brady does not genuflect.

Captain Herbert Sorrell of Band of Brothers fame is the real life and cinematic equivalent. If only Lt. Winters will take the punishment, then Sorrell will assert his power. But nope, Winters did nothing wrong and says "let's take this to court." A petty man in a position of power whose power is challenged. We have all probably encountered this in our own lives at work. That is what thus is all about.
 

NortheasternPJ

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rodderick said:
I wonder why people always go to Mark fucking Brunell to give his two cents on this subject. I never heard anyone call on him to comment about anything else, but when it's "shit on Brady" time, there he is. The media is so transparent with this bullshit.
Chris Simms should be showing up any moment now.
 

bluefenderstrat

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Imagine the money and resources that are being wasted on this.   It's disturbing.   And yet here I am, sucked right into it, and I'll be glued to the set for every Patriots game this season, and ratings nationwide will be off the charts.
 

Kdelle

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westneat said:

 
So if I'm reading this correctly, they DID get access to Brady's cellphone. Just not the one he used after Nov 6. 
 
So they had the phone he used for over half the season and clearly found NOTHING.
So if I am reading this correctly, was a precedent set by handing over the earlier phone? Why would the NFLPA allow that? Or was Maryman not hired by the NFL?
 

pappymojo

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nighthob said:
It apparently isn't a big deal because near the beginning of the Wells report the rules for ball preparation are listed, and then much later the procedures the Colts use/used are detailed. Which are a violation of the rules.
A question for the lawyers...
 
If what nighthob wrote is true, can this be brought up in the court case. 

For example, get Wells/Goodell up on the stand.  First ask him about his role as an independent investigator or arbiter.  Ask him to read the rule.  Ask him to clarify who the rule applies to (teams and team personnel vs. players).  Point out that the rule in question did not apply to Brady.  Ask him to read the section about how the Colts handled the balls.  Ask if the conduct of the Colts was in violation of the rule.  Ask why there was no penalty or investigation against the Colts (team or personnel) why a very large penalty was applied against Brady (a player)  Use this line of debate to suggest a missing (edit) level of impartiality between Goodell, the NFL, Wells and the Colts.  Ask for all communications between these three parties (the NFL (including Goodell), the Colts and the Wells investigators). 
 
Is this still just a wet dream for me?
 

Crazy Puppy

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Kdelle said:
So if I am reading this correctly, was a precedent set by handing over the earlier phone? Why would the NFLPA allow that? Or was Maryman not hired by the NFL?
 
It says on p. 12 of the appeal decision that Maryman is a "forensic expert hired by TB to review his phone for the appeal."
 
May 30, 2009
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in my pants...
Punchado said:
So now that Brady's statement is out I think we can assume that there are two possible truths here -- that Tom Brady, who has never been accused of being dishonest in any way over his entire career has chosen to dig in so deeply on a lie with the hope that whatever conspiracy he has organized between himself, his entire organization and two complete knuckleheads will hold in order to keep the world from knowing that he asked his equipment guys to deflate the footballs in order to gain him zero competitive advantage OR that Robert Goodell is a major fucking asshole.  
 
 
When the Brady team read that phone thing in the appeal statement they must have lost their shit.  
As being the closest thing around here I think most if not all of us know of to someone of Brady's stature, could I ask- do you or other people you are familiar with have similar procedure when replacing a phone?  I'm not asking specifics, just if what Brady does is that out of the ordinary among people who TMZ et al. are actively stalking.
 

Sportsbstn

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This is exactly what I was hoping Brady would do yesterday when I suggested he needs to break his silence. Not sure why anyone would think he couldn't do this.

It is a strongly worded statement categorically denying any wrongdoing of any kind, and that's the most you can expect him to say at this point.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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I'll never understand why an organization that basically prints money is so eager to foster such a spiteful relationship with its employees that will inevitably make said money-printing infinitely more complicated when the time comes to negotiate.

I'll be so worn out by this shit come 2020 that I very well may be rooting for a significant work stoppage to take the league down several pegs.
 

Omar's Wacky Neighbor

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Leaving in a bit to the studio :)
It was pointed out months ago, but I came across this again yesterday while taking online module's for my soccer ref's certification:
 
the FIFA/USSF specified air pressure in a soccer ball must be in the range of 8.5 and 15.6 PSI.  IOW, (almost) double the low end, can still be a legal ball.