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Is Tom Brady A Liar And Cheat?

Joecool

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http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/06/us/nfl-deflategate-report/

CNN)—The evidence listed in Wednesday's "Deflategate" report is eye-catching:

-- Text messages between a part-time New England Patriots employee and an equipment assistant with talk of cash, free shoes and autographs.

-- The part-time employee -- a locker room attendant responsible for 12 footballs before the AFC title game -- spending 100 seconds in a bathroom after game officials had approved the balls for play.

-- Measurements taken at halftime after a team that is losing tips off the league about footballs that appear to be too soft.

-- The Patriots' star quarterback and the equipment assistant suddenly exchanging phone calls in the days just after news of underinflated footballs blew up.

Those are the key points in the 139-page NFL-commissioned report given to the league's brass.



The Patriots beat the Colts 45-7 in the January 18 AFC title game and went on to win the Super Bowl. Controversy swirled after the Colts raised concerns that the footballs used solely by the Patriots' offense in the first half were underinflated.


Report points finger at QB Tom Brady


The report, prepared by attorney Ted Wells, found that "it is more probable than not" that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was "at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities" of locker room attendant Jim McNally and equipment assistant John Jastremski, who has been with the team since 2001.

The report also found that "it is more probable than not" that McNally and Jastremski "participated in a deliberate effort to release air from Patriots game balls after the balls were examined by the referee" in violation of NFL rules in the AFC Championship.

"Based on the evidence, it also is our view that it is more probable than not that Tom Brady ... was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities ... involving the release of air from Patriots game balls," Wells wrote.
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He will get a fine and two of three game suspension; some tarnish on his reputation;but he will still be a first ballot Hall of Famer.
 
dudalb said:
He will get a fine and two of three game suspension; some tarnish on his reputation;but he will still be a first ballot Hall of Famer.
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I would be very surprised, and happy, if he were to get any suspension.
 
Below is a text sent by Jim McNally (the Patriots employee who delivers the game balls to the referees before Patriot home games) to John Jastremski (the Patriots equipment manager who was responsible for preparation of the balls). This text was sent following an October 2014 Thursday night game against the New York Jets. Brady complained about the feel of the footballs during the game.
Tom sucks...im going to make that next ball a [deleted] ballon.
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In defense of Tom, as any former kid who played organized sports can tell you, trying to get away with cheating and then lying about it if caught is part of organized sports. :)
 
Why is the inflation of the ball so tightly regulated? Given the league appears to want superstar quarterbacks, why wouldn't they just let them set the ball to their desired feel (or at least a greater range that simply keeps the ball from looking soft on TV)? I can only assume there is either a performance aspect or an appearance aspect that I don't know about.
 
BowlOfRed said:
Why is the inflation of the ball so tightly regulated? Given the league appears to want superstar quarterbacks, why wouldn't they just let them set the ball to their desired feel (or at least a greater range that simply keeps the ball from looking soft on TV)? I can only assume there is either a performance aspect or an appearance aspect that I don't know about.
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Not sure but Tom Brady himself lobbied for the rules as it stands now. Mostly for teams to use their own footballs.

The easy solution is both teams use the same footballs.
 
Nakani said:
What is "generally aware"? Is that a polite way of saying he was too stupid to figure it out?
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It means he knew and more than likely is the reason for the deflated balls.
The ball handlers would have no reason to deflate the footballs.

It's only circumstantial evidence, but in this case, it's strong evidence.

Say you saw a guy leaving a room with a gun. The room only has one door. You open the door and there's a dead guy who was shot. The guy leaving the room is a suspect. You only have circumstantial evidence because nobody actually saw or filmed the incident.

But can you convict? Yeah, I believe you can.
 
Nakani said:
What is "generally aware"? Is that a polite way of saying he was too stupid to figure it out?
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I expect there was some wink-wing, nudge-nudge going on, as opposed to any explicit instructions from Brady. Along the lines of "Hey, THIS ball feels really good but THIS OTHER ball is too hard. Oh BTW, how'd you like some signed jerseys for your kids?"
 
newyorkguy said:
Below is a text sent by Jim McNally (the Patriots employee who delivers the game balls to the referees before Patriot home games) to John Jastremski (the Patriots equipment manager who was responsible for preparation of the balls).
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Based on their texts, those two guys weren't too happy with Brady. Is this because they feared they'd get caught?
 
The Shrike said:
Based on their texts, those two guys weren't too happy with Brady. Is this because they feared they'd get caught?
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I read it as they knew he was a prick (as pointed out by 16.5) and would leave them out to dry if it all went pear shaped.

And part of the reason the case is all circumstantial is that Brady would not turn over any messages from his phone. In a criminal trial he wouldn't have that choice, but in a league investigation they didn't exert any pressure to get anything other than nominal cooperation from him.
 
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What I don't understand...both teams use the same ball..or set of balls, so any advantage received would be seen by both teams...negating each other. Unless there was some covert plan for the Pats to only get use them.

ETA: Oops....just read this:

At the behest of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, the league in 2006 started allowing teams to bring their own footballs to games. Quarterbacks break in these balls how they see fit.
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Macgyver1968 said:
What I don't understand...both teams use the same ball..or set of balls, so any advantage received would be seen by both teams...negating each other. Unless there was some covert plan for the Pats to only get use them.

ETA: Oops....just read this:
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Exactly. As I understand it, this "bring your own footballs" rule was primarily instigated to cater to the whims of superstar QBs, who were getting as precious about the exact footballs they were throwing (even though they're all ostensibly exactly the same) as (e.g.) golfers get about their clubs or snooker(/pool) players get about their cues.


Aside from that, I think that for Brady the main problem for his legacy is not that he very probably had direct knowledge or (and complicity in) the cheating itself, but that he had the brazen chutzpah to deny it outright - even scoffing at the suggestion. As I wrote before, that's clearly what did Lance Armstrong the most damage - most people would be hard-pressed to explain just how Armstrong cheated (and/or what competitive advantage he gained, and/or whether or not everyone else was cheating similarly too (and they probably were)). People remember the aggressive and arrogant way that Armstrong lied about the matter. And I strongly suspect that this is what people will remember about Brady too.
 
Dr. Keith said:
I read it as they knew he was a prick (as pointed out by 16.5) and would leave them out to dry if it all went pear shaped.

And part of the reason the case is all circumstantial is that Brady would not turn over any messages from his phone. In a criminal trial he wouldn't have that choice, but in a league investigation they didn't exert any pressure to get anything other than nominal cooperation from him.
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I think that the content of the text messages, especially when married with other evidence of timings and meetings, points to the conclusion that Brady a) almost certainly knew that the deflation was being systematically done, b) almost certainly condoned it, and c) almost certainly instigated or sanctioned it.

It's obvious that the report cannot state as a fact that Brady is culpable of any or all of these things, since there's no cast-iron evidence that would meet the burden of proof to a "beyond reasonable doubt" standard. But I have little doubt that the "balance of probabilities" standard has been met, and this is why the report felt able to state that Brady probably knew.

Put it another way: Brady is a multi-millionaire (possibly even a billionaire by now) with a reputation and legacy to protect, and ready access to the country's best legal minds. There's little doubt in my mind that Brady would be suing the report's authors if he felt he could win in a civil court - and the report's authors (and their legal advisers) clearly knew this before writing and issuing the report.
 
LondonJohn said:
Aside from that, I think that for Brady the main problem for his legacy is not that he very probably had direct knowledge or (and complicity in) the cheating itself, but that he had the brazen chutzpah to deny it outright - even scoffing at the suggestion. As I wrote before, that's clearly what did Lance Armstrong the most damage - most people would be hard-pressed to explain just how Armstrong cheated (and/or what competitive advantage he gained, and/or whether or not everyone else was cheating similarly too (and they probably were)). People remember the aggressive and arrogant way that Armstrong lied about the matter. And I strongly suspect that this is what people will remember about Brady too.
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So true. It's not the crime, it's the coverupdenial.
 
What's the proper punishment? I can't imagine he'd be punished more than someone who actually did something criminal, like beat his girlfriend. Isn't the punishment for cheating in this way set at a $25,000 fine, can there even be a suspension imposed, since the cheating actions were actually performed by other members of the team staff, not Tom Brady himself?
 
Considering her previous vociferous support for her husband on other matters, I can't help but wonder what Tom Brady's wife thought of his under-inflated balls.





What?
 
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