Brady suspension for 4 games upheld

When I get there this weekend, I'm making a future bet on the Pats to go all the way. Revenge and anger will play into their season performance.

 

The Pats can find reasons to 'motivate' even when there aren't any.

I'd say that the losses to their secondary and loss of QB for 4 games are bigger negatives than any chip on the shoulder is a positive.

 

I just heard this on the radio... haven't yet heard any of the commentary. I must say I'm surprised... I'm a Brady and Pats fan to an extent. I thought it would be reduced to a couple games. The NFL (Goodell) definitely got themselves or should I say found themselves in a no win situation here. How to deal with the leagues marquee team and marquee player on that team? I hope Brady sues and I hope he wins!

 

Has the Over-Under on the total wins for the season proposition bet changed yet?
I think the line was 10.5 games.

 

I have heard on sports-radio / tv the complaints to the league office came as early as October as to the pressure of the balls in Patriot games. If true it is simply another example of a lack of leadership / decision making on the part of the sitting commissioner. Also he appealed more than a month ago. It takes that long to determine you will uphold the consequences?
The man makes 44 million a year. Seems he could do a bit better.

But I am with Joe as to his reasoning for success; revenge. They could be 2-2 upon his return but barring the ever important injury to the key player, Brady will be on the field when it counts; in the play-offs. They seem magical when single elimination kicks in.

 

Makes sense to me. Give someone a 2 or 3 game suspension for drugs. Give Brady 4 games.:confused2:

 

Well, he needed to accomplish 3 things. Arrive at a decision. Provide support for the decision that he believes will survive legal challenge. And not have the news of his decision drown out any other story that the NFL wanted out there, or be so big as to be a distraction.

The first couple take some time, and perhaps some legal consultation. The third can lead you to stick it in a drawer until it is a sleepy weekday in the midst of summer vacations, 3 days from the baseball trade deadlines, and in the week before NFL training camps begin in earnest.

 

For performance enhancing drugs, I believe the minimum suspension is 4 games.

Recreational drugs falls into the same nether region as other criminal acts like domestic violence, where the first debate should be whether the league should be involved at all, and which in no way shape or form should be compared to penalties relating to cheating or integrity of the game offences.

 

Just heard on the radio that the league and the player's association/brady actually came close to a deal; brady would have agreed to a one game suspension if the league would seal the records. Sounds fishy

 

Smash your cell phone=4 games

Smash your girlfriends head=2 games

shaking my effing head

 

So sick of that comparison.

Smashing your girlfriends head is a crime. The nation has laws to prevent and punish such behaviour. They have police and courts to handle it. They do not leave the punishment up to the boyfriend's employer.

The NFL initially gave Rice 2 games. The criminial justice system gave him counselling and then dropped the charges, Everyone whines about how little Goodell did without noticing that it was the NJ legal system, NOT GOODELL, who was empowered and responsible to protect Rice's girlfriend. Domestic violence (and other personal conduct) suspensions are about PR. The league suspends them to pretend to care, and to absolve the owners so that the only recourse isn't to fire them or ignore it. The penalties are representative of the damage to the brand and what they can reasonably negotiate with the union, not representative of the seriousness of the offense. Because the offense itself takes place outside of working hours and outside of league facilities, and the only reason the league can butt in at all is because of the wording of the contract.

Simply cheating at football isn't a criminal matter at all. But it is 100% within both the league's authority, and the league's responsibility to detect, stop and punish. The police and courts won't help.

Its like telling someone who gave $300 to disaster relief "oh, starving people are only worth $300, but a new phone is worth $600". Actually, its worse than that. Compare competitive violation penalties with other competitive violation penalties. Goodell as the failed moral crusader is a completely separate issue.

 

I personally don't feel that the PSI preference in a football should be considered cheating. It has been proven that a deflated football does not actually give a Qb an advantage at all. This whole deflategate scandal has just been a media driven firestorm and should have been a $25,000 fine like it states in the rulebook for a equipment violation
However, Tom Brady should have cooperated with the investigation. I think that's where the bulk of the suspension is coming from. A farts worth of air in a football is not something that should destroy the legacy of one of the best Qbs to ever play the game.

 

They'll still crush my sad sack Jaguars in Week 3.

 

It's going to be hilarious when the NFL starts checking the PSI at halftime at Buffalo, Green Bay etc and finding the balls way under-inflated. Same holds true in Miami, Jacksonville etc when they're measured 2 psi too high at half time.

I'm a Pats fan. Brady screwed up. Is there enough hard evidence? Probably not. Why did he destroy his phone? He's a moron. He didn't need to do that at all. All of the 'discriminating' text can be found on the other cell phones, and were. Could the NFL subpoena his phone? No. He should have just did the same thing as all the players who were involved in the bounty-gate thing when asked to hand over their phones. Tell the commish to shove it.

I hope he takes the NFL to court. The case will get laughed out especially with all the holes in the Wells report.

 

This is the funniest part. An espn commentator made the joke that it's like he thinks all them there words and stuff are stored in the phone and if wells got ahold of his phone, he could maybe like shake it and all the words would fall out and make him guiltily.

 

The players union will file a lawsuit in federal court system to appeal this decision which will allow Brady to play for a couple of years while the case is tangled up in the court system. He may very well be retired before it's settled.

Also I don't believe in the revenge factor at the professional level. If may work for a game or two, but all NFL players play to win every week - one team cannot "out emotion" the other, Talent wins and teams play to their potential - the emotional factor (in general) does not impact the outcome of NFL games. Pats win their typical 10-12 games, but a repeat is unlikely due to the balance of the league.

 

That works in high school and college, but not in the NFL. If the Pats win it again, its due to the supreme level of coaching and game-planning that they have had for the last decade. Revenge makes for a great storyline, but the bottom line is that the Pats would be fortunate to make it back to the big dance this year. Many of the top tier teams have improved and the Pats (who were obviously fortunate to win last year) are the same team but older and slightly slower.

Nick

 

On a side note, it will be fun to see Garoppolo light it up in the Pats offense during Brady's absence. Matt Cassel made the pro bowl, having not started a game at USC or in the NFL. Brady has benefitted greatly from being on a great team for many years, and I think we overstate his abilities. Tom Brady, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars would likely have had 0 pro bowls, 0 super bowls and many more interceptions thrown.

Not to knock the guy, but he has had the keys to the Cadillac for many years. The Pats, as much as I dislike them, are the best coached and most prepared team in football every week. (See Montana->Young->Bono->Grbac as well)

Nick

 

You just hit it on the head. Goodell is using him an an example (right or wrong) that ALL players are expected to cooperate fully with the league office. But lets be honest, this isn't the first time the Pat's have been accused of using an unfair advantage against an opposing team (everyone remember the video taping incident). Goodell has a 9 billion dollar business to protect. Personally I think Brady and the Pats going to court is a bad idea, going on the stand and being required to testify under oath can only hurt Tom Brady, not to mention if you lie there's the risk of a perjury charge. Goodell is the Jesus, and as any Lebowski fan knows. Nobody Fucks with the Jesus.

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