Patriots Accused Of Deflating Footballs

[BwareDWare94 723]

NFL Investigating Whether Patriots Played Game With Properly Inflated Vince Wilfork

PHOTO FINISH • Sports • Football • NFL Football • ISSUE 51•03 • Jan 20, 2015

 

Edited January 21, 2015 by BwareDWare94

[ATL_Predator+ 1,196]

I don't deny the realness of this story...however.

 

1. The Patriots are far and away the better team against the Colts...even if they did 'cheat' it's not like they needed any help.

 

2. It's shitty because anytime NE makes a SB..some shit mysteriously comes out about them. It's getting kinda consistent and I'm starting to think the media just hates NE because of how they are run like the evil empire or some shit.

 

3. So the penalty is going to be them losing some first round draft picks? Big fucking deal. The Patriots get their best players in the mid/late rounds anyway.

 

Stupid Story. Stupid punishment.

[oochymp 2,393]

Interesting how much this will cost them. This seems a little less intense than the other cheating scandals but certainly worth thoroughly investigating. Something like a 4th or 5th rounder being lost would sound about right.

I think it'll be worse than a 4th/5th rounder if only for deterrence, this is too easy for a team to do and some might think it's worth a 4th/5th rounder, but if they lose multiple early picks then that changes, you've also got a team with a history

 

on a lighter note, I'm not sure which response I like better, Wilfork's "I don't touch footballs, I tackle people" or McAfee's:

https://twitter.com/PatMcAfeeShow/status/557764170318614530

[Vin+ 3,121]

Let's break this shit down though...

 

Game balls are checked out and examined by the officials in pre-game. Soooooo, did the officials completely whiff on the inspection? Nah, guessing BB or another Pats higher up ordered the game balls to be under inflated after the inspection took place. Fully realizing that the game was going to have wind and rain conditions, fully realizing they were going to attack the Colts with a ground-based attack especially due to the weather, fully realizing that they've beaten an Andrew Luck team by like 3+ TDs in all previous meetings. BRILLIANT!!! Also, these supposed under inflated balls were taken out at halftime when the Pats led by 10. So they went on a 28-0 run in the 2nd half with those regular inflated balls. BRILLIANT!!!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcfPi59d1BM

 

Could be one of the dumbest scandals I've seen in the NFL. Just something cute to hang over the Pats' head going into the SB, though. Won't really matter though because Seattle's gonna get that whoopin', regardless.

 

Feels good man.

 

You didn't need to cheat, yet you did it anyway. How awesome is that?

[JetsFan4Life 542]

And why, Bware, did the Colts not belong? Getting real tired of your continued overexaggerations lol.

 

They whooped the Broncos and the Bungles. Perhaps the Ravens were a better team to play in the AFCCG, but that would be it.

 

It was 45-7. Pretty obvious the Colts didn't belong on the same field as the Patriots.

Edited January 21, 2015 by JetsFan4Life

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

Firstly let me say that I really don't care about this too much... The Patriots were obviously better than the Colts, they were going to win regardless.

But in general... Rules are rules for a reason. It kind of goes into what Oochy was saying, but if you have rules where it actually pays to break them, then the punishment isn't harsh enough. You need to deter and steer people away from 'cheating' in any form. Right now the benefits and 'cheating' (not specifically talking Patriots) far outweighs the potential punishments, and that is the problem.

It also sucks because it's going to take the story away from the Patriots being far and away the best team in the AFC this year. The story is going to be all about them and their 'cheating'. The only good thing that comes from this is that maybe the media will stop talking about our epic choke job.

[Sacks98 28]

Not that i condone cheating but it makes no sense to me why he would risk cheating against the Colts a team he has dominated recently.

Edited January 21, 2015 by Sacks98

[McTater 28]

Idk how deflated balls had that big of an impact. They're maybe easier to catch, but to me lose some grip. And if the Patriots lose draft picks it makes me believe the nfl is more bs than I thought.

[Sarge+ 3,436]

My question is, why would the league give teams possession of the balls that will be used during games? Teams have been messing the footballs for years before and during games, and everyone knows it. Yet the league continues to give them the footballs! I'm not condoning cheating. But I am saying that the NFL has to take the L in two areas: 1. Having a better procedure about how game balls are handled and 2. Dishing out bigger punishments.

 

If we can all be honest with each other, I think we can all agree that every team probably bends the rules from time to time. The question is, what are they doing, and what will happen to them when they get caught? Again I am not saying cheating is OK, but what I am saying is that the league has some work to do.

[BucD+ 648]

https://vine.co/v/OIehalvqO3A

[Thanatos 2,847]

 

It was 45-7. Pretty obvious the Colts didn't belong on the same field as the Patriots.

 

Bware said they didn't belong in the championship game. So who did?

[oochymp 2,393]

yeah, the Patriots have been the best team in the AFC by a long shot for a while, especially as Denver trailed off late, that's not news to anyone

[Shotgun 442]

I don't understand why people are bringing up the score of the game. The issue is the cheating, not whether or not the cheating was needed. If they were playing a better team that kept things close the balls would have still been altered.

 

 

I'm more into what someone's intentions are rather than the end result. If they were doing this knowing it was breaking the rules and thinking it would give them an advantage, then they deserve whatever penalty they get.

 

With that said I also wouldn't mind if rules were loosened within reason in regards to this. It's not like teams don't already scuff up balls to help QB'S with grip. After this came out plenty of putting are admitting to it, including Brad Johnson saying he paid someone $7,500 to alter 100 Superbowl balls when the Bucs went.

[oochymp 2,393]

I don't understand why people are bringing up the score of the game.

because the first question with any cheating incident is how much impact did it have on the game, and it does have some impact on the punishment, which in theory could include forfeiture of the game in question, which would obviously be absurd in this case based on the score of the game

[әightninә. 39]

You guys are acting like the Colts were blown out from the beginning. The Pats were only up 10 at the half, after the Colts had a BRUTAL first half... and then followed it up with an even worse second half.

[theMileHighGuy 656]

Let's break this shit down though...

 

Game balls are checked out and examined by the officials in pre-game. Soooooo, did the officials completely whiff on the inspection? Nah, guessing BB or another Pats higher up ordered the game balls to be under inflated after the inspection took place. Fully realizing that the game was going to have wind and rain conditions, fully realizing they were going to attack the Colts with a ground-based attack especially due to the weather, fully realizing that they've beaten an Andrew Luck team by like 3+ TDs in all previous meetings. BRILLIANT!!! Also, these supposed under inflated balls were taken out at halftime when the Pats led by 10. So they went on a 28-0 run in the 2nd half with those regular inflated balls. BRILLIANT!!!

 

Could be one of the dumbest scandals I've seen in the NFL. Just something cute to hang over the Pats' head going into the SB, though. Won't really matter though because Seattle's gonna get that whoopin', regardless.

 

Feels good man.

 

The Seahawks are my least favorite team in the NFL, and suddenly, I want them to win.

[BLUE 1,026]

Posted by Mike Florio on January 21, 2015, 3:54 PM EST

It took a couple of days, but #DeflateGate is officially a full-blown NFL controversy, inflating ratings and page views throughout the sports media.

 

Adding to the intrigue is the vague notion that other quarterbacks have doctored footballs. Former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Brad Johnson has admitted paying ball boys to scuff up footballs before the 37th installment of the NFL’s premier event — although he insists he violated no rules. Now, a former Heisman winner who never quite made it at the pro level contends that most quarterbacks do something to the football.

 

“Every team tampers with the footballs,” Matt Leinart said on Twitter. “Ask any Qb In the league, this is ridiculous!!”

 

Leinart then carved out one exception: “Actually my guy @kurt13warner didn’t tamper w the footballs because he wore gloves,” Leinart said. “Used to irritate me..So correction, almost all QBs!”

 

Kevin Clark of the Wall Street Journal, who’s currently in Mobile, Alabama for the first significant pre-draft event, supports the notion that tampering is commonplace by noting that “NFL head coaches here at Senior Bowl seem downright offended that people think this deflation stuff is a big deal.”

 

While the rules are the rules (brilliant!), the question of whether the rules regarding ball inflation/deflation are commonly ignored become as relevant to the final analysis of #DeflateGate as does the Patriots’ past transgression from 2007. If, that is, the NFL concludes that 11 of 12 footballs used by New England in the first half of the AFC title game were two pounds per square inch below the minimum due to deliberate misconduct.

 

Source: ProFootballTalk

[Vin+ 3,121]

You know who doesn't tamper with footballs? The Colts.

[Maverick 791]

Ban Hoodie from the Super Bowl.

[Vin+ 3,121]

 

FOX Sports' Jay Glazer reports the Ravens tipped off the Colts about the Patriots' alleged practice of deflating footballs.

The NFL reportedly planned to test the Patriots' footballs at halftime, entering the AFC Championship game. There is still debate about whether a team would truly benefit from deflated footballs among players and NFL types. Either way, it's clear opponents have noticed a difference in the air inflating balls the Patriots have played with. The NFL's investigation is "ongoing."

Source: FOX Sports

[Favre4Ever+ 4,476]

Aaron Rodgers says he likes them as inflated as they can get, gives him a better grip with his bigger hands. He also says he gets pissed off because NFL Officials will actually deflate them themselves from the point he likes them... Does Tom Brady have small hands?

[Bucman 891]

Every team cheats. Patriots are just made the poster boy each time

[Attyla the Hawk 197]

Seems this would be a pretty simple fix really.

 

Simply allow the teams to do whatever they want with the balls (scuff/mud whatever). Then have them submit them to the refs. Have a league official then distribute the balls to the officials on the field instead of a team staffer.

 

The real issue/liability is the distribution of the balls once checked for legality to the custody of the teams. If you eliminate that step -- and leave the checking/custody of the balls with league officials -- then you have no issue with it.

 

Ultimately, the softer balls are easier to grip. Also easier to catch. For a team that wants to employ plays where you have linemen catching passes -- that could be a real benefit. Those balls, when inflated properly are like rocks. If you're a player who isn't there because of your catching acumen, that can make a huge difference.

 

While personally, I find it entirely disingenuous that Brady didn't know they were under inflated -- it seems like a form of cheating that is tacitly accepted by the league. If it were that important a rule to ensure it's being followed, then simple steps could/should have been enacted by the league.

 

In the end, it really strikes me as a procedural issue that would be stupid easy to resolve. Just flip the custody chain from league to team and replace it with team to league.

 

My guess is, that's what will happen. Maybe even in time for the SB.

Edited January 22, 2015 by Attyla the Hawk

[DBR96A 87]

For what it's worth, Art Rooney said that while he expects the NFL to deal with this violation of the rules accordingly, he doesn't consider it to be a serious violation.

[McTater 28]

Every team cheats. Patriots are just made the poster boy each time

 

It's not cheating unless you get caught.