Tom Brady suspended 4 games. Pats fined one million dollars & loses draft choices.

[Elwood P Dowd]

Just heard on radio. More details coming out.

[hifiguy]

1. Brady's suspension will likely be busted down to two games.

The rest will probably stick, though.

[Gothmog]

2. Brady refused to cooperate with investigation and so this may be on the light side

[joeybee12]

20. Not true...he spoke with them...

Just wasn't going to trun over his phone for this made-up scandal.

[MohRokTah]

22. HE refused to turn over emails and texts.

Even after they told him doing so would give him immunity from punishment.

Enjoy your team of cheaters.

[daleanime]

55. They offered him immunity.....

and he still refused?


Have to wonder what else he didn't want found out.

[MohRokTah]

61. Absolute proof that he's a dirty cheat.

This way he has a modicum of plausible deniability.

IT keeps his brand clean enough for endorsement money.

[daleanime]

75. Money, didn't think of that....

[hughee99]

166. They didn't offer him immunity. n/t

[hughee99]

76. They offered him immunity from punishment?

I didn't see that anywhere. There was no mention of it in the report. Link please

[MohRokTah]

77. HEard it on the CNN report. eom

[hughee99]

87. Ah, I was wondering because the word immunity doesn't appear anywhere in the Wells report.

Nor in any story about Deflategate, Brady, the Patriots, the Superbowl, the Wells report, on CNN or anywhere else. I'd be interested in reading more about this, but google has not been my friend so far. This would seem to be very big news that outlets would pick up on almost immediately. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before this part of the story becomes widely reported.

[hughee99]

167. Are you sure you heard it on CNN?

It's a front page story over there and even their own story doesn't mention it... or any other media outlet anywhere in the world, or any pajama blogger, or conspiracy theorist.

[Gothmog]

107. Failure to turn over the phone is grounds for suspension

Normally you do not get to specify the degree of cooperation you give to an investigation. Brady refused to turn over e-mails and phones and that refusal is sufficient to justify the suspension.

If Brady sues to undo the suspensions, he will have to turn over his phone and e-mails as part of the discovery process

[DiverDave]

137. Made up scandle?

They CHEATED, and got caught.
Now I know you think it aint a big deal, but cheating is cheating.
They oughta jerk the sb win.

But they are YOUR cheaters, right?

Just one question, what would have been your reaction had Seattle won
with a cheat?

You would have screamed your head off.

[joeybee12]

138. You have no idea what you're talking about...

If you read the report carefully, including the footnotes, there's no way the investigators knew which gauge was used prior to the game...they went with the one that showed discrepancy at halftime, had they used the other one, there would have been no discrepancy...not sure why I'm explaining...you clearly don't care about facts...I'll just ignore you.

[DiverDave]

143. Does it hurt to to tie

yourself into knots to explain cheating?

Go away homer.

[sendero]

150. Made up scandal..

... my ass.

[ScreamingMeemie]

3. And now, we look forward to the impending court battle.

[AngryAmish]

33. Arbitration.

Labor arbitratiin for Brady, AAA for team.

[ScreamingMeemie]

36. I fully expect it to end up in front of a judge.

[AngryAmish]

39. Through what mechanism?

[DemocratSinceBirth]

81. Don't players submit themselves to binding arbitration?

The arbitration clause can be pierced/breached but arbitration comes with the presumption of correctness so it's a huge hurdle.

[AngryAmish]

85. yup. Labor law 101.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

89. It can be pierced...

So can the "corporate shield"



But it's a huge legal burden....

[HooptieWagon]

63. No. They can appeal to the Commishener.

He's the one who handed down the penalty, so there's no reason to assume he'll relent. His word is final, I don't think Pats can take it to court, courts have never been involved in internal discipline.

[hughee99]

99. How quickly we forget...

Federal judge David Doty has ruled in favor of the NFLPA's motion to end Vikings running back Adrian Peterson's indefinite suspension. The ruling vacates a previous ruling by arbitrator Harold Henderson, who upheld Peterson's suspension back in December.

This is less than 3 months ago.
http://deadspin.com/adrian-peterson-wins-suspension-appeal-is-officially-r-1688221031

[Elwood P Dowd]

4. Think I heard they lost a 1st round and 4th round pick. Brady suspension was

without pay. Going to cost him a few million.

[Doctor_J]

11. And his wife's retiring. gonna be a lean Christmas at the bundchen house this year

[yeoman6987]

30. ROTFLMAO

You are so funny. I needed that belly laugh. You are simply awesome!

[wendylaroux]

84. HAAAAA!

hopefully they can get help from family members

[malthaussen]

93. We could, like, start a GoFundMe for the family... n/t

[kairos12]

109. Wife leaves the cat walk. Brady does the perp walk.

[MohRokTah]

17. He made more on the Superbowl than he will lose. eom

[rpannier]

116. 1st in 2016, 4th in 2017 nt

[MohRokTah]

5. Cheaters win the Superbowl.

[joeybee12]

14. Actually, the better team...adios

Ignore.

[MohRokTah]

21. Actually, the cheaters all season long.

Without the cheat they may have never made it to the playoffs.

Enjoy your team of cheaters.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

23. He put like ten people on ignore...

What would possess someone to believe he is right and almost the rest of the entire world is wrong?

[MohRokTah]

26. There's a reason they're called "fans"

"Fan" is short for "fanatic".

[Skittles]

127. idiocy could explain it

[alphafemale]

168. lmao. The Cheatriot apologists are amusing nt

[BillZBubb]

45. I'm not a Patriots fan, but you post is BS.

The Patriots would have made the playoffs even if their opponents cheated. They are a very good football team.

[MohRokTah]

49. If they're so good, why do they cheat? eom

[Poiuyt]

62. The Patriots are like Richard Nixon

The odds of Nixon winning in '72 were overwhelming, but he still felt the need to cheat.

[MyOwnPeace]

68. Good one!

You have to wonder what causes these insecurities with seemingly secure and talented people?

[BillZBubb]

64. Silly question. You presuppose that they do cheat in any meaningful way.

Here's a little nugget for you: ALL the teams cheat in one way or another. We've just had the Browns and the Falcons caught cheating. Teams routinely talk to agents of players on other teams, which is a no-no. It is an open secret. Everyone is trying to get an edge.

The Patriots didn't cheat in the Super Bowl and they won. They are a very good team.

[MohRokTah]

65. They got cheating and are being punished for it.

They're cheaters.

I'm sure if the Bears actually cheated they may do a bit better.

Cheaters won the Superbowl. Can't be considered champs because they had to cheat to win.

[awoke_in_2003]

128. The Bears?

If those idiots cheated they would make things harder for themselves

[opiate69]

71. No presupposition needed.

They've been busted and subsequently punished on several occasions for cheating. And most people outgrow the "Waah! He did it too!" defense in elementary school.

[BillZBubb]

79. They got "busted" for spygate which was a crock. It was commonly done by other teams.

They made an example of the Patriots. OK. Bountygate was a crock and they made an example out of the Saints. Capgate was a crock and they made an example out of the Redskins.

This isn't a "he did it too" argument. Anyone with basic comprehension skills would know that. The fact is, the Patriots aren't unique. Their "cheating" is about as pedestrian as can be. Do we say the Falcons, Browns, Broncos, Redskins, Saints, Cowboys...etc are "cheaters" because they got busted by the NFL?

[R B Garr]

73. OMG, the texts from the "Deflator" alone show how much there was

a collective mindset about cheating. SpyGate...

Seriously, just watch ESPN now -- brutal.

[R B Garr]

43. The Patriots have won 4 Super Bowls by a 13-point margin spread

out over those 4 games with Tom Brady. All it takes is a little cheating to push them over that "win" edge, which is what has happened. There is no template that comes with successful cheating -- all you need is to cheat enough to give you an advantage which you can convert to "scoreboard."

People spend tons of money on season tickets. Nowhere are they obligated to take a back seat to the Patriots or their fans so Tom can have his fairy tale come true.

[Travis_0004]

69. They beat the colts 45-7. Not quite a close game.

[R B Garr]

78. The Colts are only ONE game. Besides, cheating is designed to give an edge.

Every team has a high scoring game, so that has nothing to do with them cheating over a period of years which landed them in the Super Bowl.

[Marrah_G]

80. Joey- not worth arguing with them

haters gonna hate.

[opiate69]

91. And.....

?w=780

[bvar22]

95. LOL.

Good One!

[R B Garr]

111. LMAO!

That's funny.

[Hobo]

161. It's the second time..........there seems to be a pattern...

So put me on ignore too, it still doesn't change the fact they have been caught twice now.......



Hobo

[hrmjustin]

6. Good.

[joeybee12]

16. Thanks for letting me know what you think...

Makes it easy for me to know who to ignore.

[hrmjustin]

19. Your going to ignore me over a football game?

Take care!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

25. Please see post 23

Our friend is in desperate need of an intervention for his own good.

[hrmjustin]

27. I have to admit i am taken aback and sad about this. I like joeybee.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

29. So did I

Over a football team???


WoW

[hrmjustin]

35. It is what it is.

it is a Shame.

[KamaAina]

54. You should have heard him after the Wells Report came out!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

59. That's when he put me on ignore

[mythology]

34. At least he's learned as before he got a bunch of hides for calling us idiots as he

announced he was ignoring us.

[hrmjustin]

37. That is a shame. i like joeybee.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

51. It used to be a violation of the TOS to tell posters you were putting them on "ignore"/NT

[magical thyme]

110. it's not as long as you then actually put them on ignore

personally, I think it's the polite thing to do. otherwise they may end up babbling to themselves.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

169. Not really...

Because before they put you on "ignore" they insult you and then you can't respond or they don't see it...It's tantamount to punching somebody and running away.

[magical thyme]

171. no I don't.

I explain why I'm putting them on ignore, and then do it.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

172. Not you, the poster who has put over a dozen posters on ignore since Deflategate broke./NT

[awoke_in_2003]

129. I think it's all BS

But even if this happened to my team (Steelers) I don't think I could get so wound up about it.

[Reter]

151. Did you expect anything less from a spoiled Patriots fan?

They run from every argument.

[PeaceNikki]

7. lol

[Doctor_J]

8. one thing I would like to know

Why do teams bring and use their own footballs? The league should provide two dozen for each game, shuffled in and out at random. Can you old timers imagine unitas and Starr in this kind of idiocy?

[ScreamingMeemie]

10. AND, if it's going to be a deal, the league/refs alone, should touch them until live in game.

Totally agree.

[KamaAina]

13. Brady and Peyton Manning lobbied successfully for the change a few years ago.

Not sure what the stated rational was, though.

Of note: Peyton played for the Colts at the time. They're the ones who created all this ruckus in the first place. And guess what? 3 out of 4 of their balls were underinflated, too!

[BillZBubb]

52. 3 out of 4 Indy balls tested were also underinflated, but the lynch mob ignores that.

Something just isn't right about this whole thing. If all the Indy balls tested had been in spec, then the Patriots being underinflated should raise a flag. Since both teams' footballs were low it would be rational to suspect error measurement, not manipulation by one side or the other.

[DanTex]

114. That was addressed in the report.

The Indy balls lost a slight amount of pressure due to the temperatures. The Patriots balls all lost much more pressure than any of the Colts balls, and much more than could plausibly be explained by any physical effect.

[Aerows]

15. That's what I want to know. n/t

[joeybee12]

9. You do realize the balls weren't even tampered with, don't you?

That the ref can't say which gauge he used at the beginning of the game and depending on which one was used and which was tested at half-time, then it could be that no footballs were not within the legal limit....it's a footnote on page 116...also, I think you heard someone speculating...

[MohRokTah]

24. That's not what the findings were. eom

[opiate69]

31. lmao!

[misterhighwasted]

44. ROLF!! HAAAHA " so you can cry while you cry"

[opiate69]

57. Cracks me up every time I see it lol

[BrotherIvan]

94. I don't even follow American football and that shit is hilarious

[Skittles]

130. BWAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAA

[LanternWaste]

12. For some reason, this makes me giggle.

For some reason, this makes me giggle. Almost as giggle-worthy as the inevitable defense of a local sports franchise.

[Terra Alta]

18. Seems fair enough

Brady and the Pats will likely appeal, though.

[onecaliberal]

28. Weak tea.

So much for cheaters never win. They should be stripped of the title. The NFL is a joke.

[yeoman6987]

40. I love this

You think they were to lienient and I think they got screwed over and hope they win on appeal and nothing comes of it. I just find it so cool that two people with very same politics could see a football team punishment so differently. I think it is neat.

[JI7]

32. maybe they should just end the sport entirely

[BeyondGeography]

41. And reduce the incidence of CTE nationwide?

Nah.

[AngryAmish]

38. The patriots have never win a Super Bowl without cheating.

To paraphrase the ballboy, fucking asterisks coming.

[misterhighwasted]

42. FOX NEWZ SAYS "It's Unduly Harsh." "Difficult to ascertain

..how Roger Goodell came up with such a decision."

"It's shocking!" Says FOX

[leftofcool]

46. Wow! Cheating really does pay.

[joeybee12]

90. Thanks

It doesn't, but don't let that bother you. Ignore.

[nadinbrzezinski]

47. Huge news for sports fans everywhere

After that, a collective MEH!

[scscholar]

48. Who cares?

Why would anyone care about this? No one cares. No one gives a damn about a bunch of millionaires that cheat and whine. They constantly cheat and whine. We're tired of hearing about this. They've been shoving this story down our throats for months! When will they ever stop? Are they going to ever stop?

[stonecutter357]

120. you seem concerned

[Ron Green]

124. The problem is that lots of people care.

Not only the sleeping masses, but lots of people here on DU, as you can see in this thread.

Many will tell you that following pro sports is a perfectly natural pursuit, and maybe it is, or was before sportsbiz and product endorsement and tax-funded stadia and fantasy football and multimillion dollar contracts and wife-beating soap opera stories. And underinflated balls.

[AngryAmish]

50. What happens when the pats play a super bowl without cheating?

[BillZBubb]

53. Uh, they just beat Seattle in the Super Bowl.

Did they cheat in that game?

[AngryAmish]

56. Cheated to get there.

Asterisk city, ---...

[BillZBubb]

67. Not a very intelligent response by you.

You asked what happens when they PLAY in a Super Bowl. They played Seattle fair and square and won.

Trying to change the subject when you know your original post was BS is pathetic.

[AngryAmish]

83. So, your position is that the previous SB victories are irredeemably tainted...

but this one is legit. Somehow, handwaive.


Okaly Dokaly.

[R B Garr]

66. How did they know the exact last play---SpyGate?

They've been caught doing that before!

But who knows how much they cheated to get there. It's all being "called into question" according to the news reports now.

[BillZBubb]

72. Get out the tin foil hats!

They didn't "know" the last play. They played good defense and the safety played the attempted slant perfectly.

[R B Garr]

74. Okay. But SpyGate WAS, in fact, another of their cheating scandals, so they lose

any credibility and have invited this on themselves.

[lumberjack_jeff]

70. Pete Carroll beat Seattle. On edit: seriously? I wasted my 30,000th post on that?

[BillZBubb]

82. Well if you want to affix blame that way, Russell Wilson beat Seattle.

On that play any competent QB would have seen the throw wasn't there and gotten rid of the ball. That was on Wilson, not the play caller.

[R B Garr]

162. They've had the lowest fumble rate, which goes back to the deflated balls, so

yes, cheated to get there. It's all in question now.

[joeybee12]

86. Thanks for the post

Ignore

[AngryAmish]

88. ...

[FlatBaroque]

123. GO MOOKIE!

[awoke_in_2003]

132. Tom Brady is a punk

Might as well get in on the ignore-a-thon

[rufus dog]

121. I appreciate that Bears team but fucking despise that clip

Second dumbest Super Bowl call ever. Give the ball to Walter.

[GusBob]

133. That was an insult to one of the classiest guys ever to carry the ball

And I'm a Packers fan. Payton was one of my all-time favorite players. And he ran all over us . I met the fridge in a Vegas bar. He was too ummm large to even walk

[luvspeas]

58. Oh yeah! Hey! and Kim Kardashian's butt got a little bigger today!

How does she do it?

I don't care about Tom Brady's balls.

[underpants]

60. Appeal down to 2 games

[Hubert Flottz]

96. Tom Brady's Balls!

I hope the Pats win the next Super Bowl.

The NFL is like Washington...sold out to the highest bidders.

[bvar22]

97. If Brady's balls are deflated,

....can he still have sex?

[MANative]

98. Outrageously excessive for the "crime" they couldn't prove. n/t

[joeybee12]

100. Expect an appeal and an actual independent mediator will

vacate all the penalties...in a just world, Goodeel and pagano and their hoodlums will be fired.

[MANative]

105. Brady's agent has already slammed the penalty and said they will appeal.

Utterly no basis for this crap. That said, I would love to see what Jimmy can do. One game, max, and even that's too much. The fine is also completely ridiculous.

[joeybee12]

108. I'm already celebrating next year's Super Bowl...

Never poke a sleeping giant. Anger over an injustice is a great motivator.

[R B Garr]

119. They barely made it by this Super Bowl, except for a lucky turn of events.

Otherwise, they were losing.

They barely win in their Super Bowl appearances anyway except for cheating.

[joeybee12]

125. Keep on hating because that's all you got...

Ignore.

[MANative]

149. I anticipate that it will be a sight to behold! ;)

[R B Garr]

113. You're in the minority. ESPN and MSNBC all saying they deserved more, AND

this permanently tarnishes their fakely obtained, so-called "legacy," which has pretty much self-described anyway.

[MANative]

152. Here's all I have to say about that...

[link:http://yourteamcheats.com/| The Pats aren't even in the top half of the league.

[R B Garr]

159. Except they're all over the news about fines and suspensions.

That's the reality, not some article on the internet, lol.

[MANative]

165. They're all over the news because they're Super Bowl champs and perpetual targets for...

attention. Think NY Yankees of the '90s. Same dynamic. The fact that they aren't even in the top half of the league is still true. Deal with it. Ignore.

[R B Garr]

170. They didn't make the news that much in Southern California.

Not really. We saw highlights of Tom Brady during the season, and of course the highlights show the good parts. Then when I saw him in nationwide performances like the Super Bowls, meh. He only has a 13-point margin of victory spread out over 4 games. Hardly impressive or dominant and now it appears only possible because of the edge he got because of the deflated balls.

No one I know cared about the Patriots. I don't see any Patriots fans around my parts. The point being that we were fairly impartial and unaffected by any of the cheating scandals because of the distance.

It wasn't until I was trolled by a Patriots fan here on this website just seconds after Seattle handed them the Super Bowl that I now see the level of contempt that the Patriots and their fans can garner and why this is happening.

They make themselves targets by the cheating and then gloating about it. Fuck the Patriots.

[Omaha Steve]

101. More than I expected from the NFL!

[awoke_in_2003]

134. Watch it Steve, you might get ignored

[Omaha Steve]

136. When OS speaks...

All the Cavers are listening.

[GusBob]

157. Who puts OS on ignore?

And wtf why?

Welcome to the club. We should start a DU group: people on JB's ignore list. And block him

[joeybee12]

140. Actually, you just did.

[awoke_in_2003]

146. Woo hoo. nt

[Omaha Steve]

147. I'm glad I didn't say anything nasty

I haven't been following this thread. I assume if you do see this your a Patriots fan?

[joeybee12]

141. I'll miss your animal posts...

But applauding a fake scandal and a set-up really is beyond the pale.

[Omaha Steve]

144. Why fake?

We don't have an NFL team in all Nebraska.

[rufus dog]

158. You used to!

Then the Cornhuskers joined the Big10 and had to stop paying players!

Couldn't resist that fat pitch. If it make you mad Joey will put me on ignore.


Edit
Too late
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6658403

[Cryptoad]

102. More people give a shit about this than know that there is an election next year...

[Thespian2]

103. I love pro football...

a few days each week, I can watch millionaires beating the shit out of each other...

[maindawg]

104. They have a video

Of the ball boys taking the bag of balls into a bathroom.
They have some texts and they have evidence that Tom Brady was in cahoots with these ball persons/equipment managers to deflate the footballs in every game they played. In some of those games,
the one point games, you have to wonder ..................
Systematic cheating.

MF er should have been banned along with Belicheat.

Love that they lost 1 round pick

They should have to give the ball boys a million dollars they are the victims/scapegoats /poor people who ultimately lost their jobs.

[joeybee12]

106. I love that you have most of that wrong...haters gonna hate...

Ignore

[Reter]

156. People who excessively ignore are wimps to cowardly to battle

You ignored like 15 people over friggin' football. In before the ignore.

[rpannier]

115. I feel a little sorry for the Colts

His first game back will be against Indianapolis
Brady and the Patriots will likely take most, if not all, of their anger out in that game

[dsc]

117. Here is what bothers me

On the sports page of my local paper a high school in my district had to forfeit the last game of the season, a game they won, because they violated a rule. The rule was a rule banning the playing of four games in a week. His JV team played another school's varsity team, and this wound up being counted as a varsity game. This is despite the coach of that team asking if they could play the game and being told yes. Now, this didn't help his team win that game in any way whatsoever, nor was it designed to do so. So this team loses the game, the Patriots get to keep their win. On what planet is that fair

[R B Garr]

160. Great post. It's not fair, and they should be required to forfeit. The media pushes

manufactured story lines and heroes, and this Patriot debacle is coming back to bite them in very embarrassing ways.

I liked your example about the younger people being held to a higher standard than the grown men. It's very sad.

[YOHABLO]

118. Why should I care?

[stonecutter357]

122. good

Tom Brady

[Skittles]

126. as a non-sports fan may I say

that Brady guy is one smarmy piece of shit - whether or not he cheated

OMG waiting on pins and needles to see if Joey Ignores me

[awoke_in_2003]

135. ...

[bigtree]

131. ha!

[DrDan]

139. sounds fair - that draft choice could be the big hit

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

142. And right after Mother's Day

[LeftyMom]

145. Cheating in the playoffs is a shorter suspension than smoking weed on your own time,

but longer than knocking a woman out cold and spitting on her unconscious body (non-video penalty.)

The conduct policy NFL makes no goddamn sense. Goodell could be replaced by Clever Hans the counting horse and a ginger toupee, and I'm factoring in the fact that horse has been dead for a hundred years.

[Omaha Steve]

153. Some teams are in weed legal states

Seems that should come into play.

[Reter]

148. Good

Hope this riles up his fans, because the only thing worse than a NE fan (Pats and Red Sox) is a Philly fan.

[PeteSelman]

154. Utterly ridiculous.

Might be the stupidest thing ever done in sports.

[Skittles]

163. careful; Joeybee may lick your toes

yes INDEED

[PeteSelman]

164. Well, everything has its price.

It might be extraordinarily high in this case but there is a price.

[cherokeeprogressive]

155. Serves him right! Fucker dissed President Obama.