DISCLAIMER: to be open and honest with all of you, I hate the patriots, and by the end of this thread, you'll know why. That being said, I'll try to check my bias for this thread and look forward to insightful discussion from American football enthusiasts. Also, with great effort, I will avoid making any jokes about Tom Brady and his soft balls.... So....,the playoffs are done and the Super Bowl is just around the corner, but, instead of talking about the two excellent teams who will be competing, all the talk is around how the patriots cheated to get to this point. For the sake of this thread, i will rehash what most of us already know, as it will give a framework for discussion. 1. Regulation psi for footballs is around 13 psi. 2. Each team in a football game supplies 12 of their own footballs to play with (THE SAME BALL IS NOT USED FOR BOTH TEAMS) 3. After a colt got his hands on a ball and thought it felt under inflated, the balls were tested post game. 11 of the 12 patriots balls were found to be 2.2 pounds under regulation pressure. 4. The patriots have a record of cheating in the past (see spy gate) Alright. The above points aren't speculation. They are facts. What should be done about it? I know pats fans will cry "sour grapes" here and stick their tongues out at the rest of us, but, really, such trolling does little to address a now tarnished legacy. Why is an under inflated football important? Under inflated footballs are easier to hold and throw, and easier to catch. Its clearly an advantage, which is why there are regulations on such things. The same applies to baseball and "corked" bats. So, what would have happened if Tom Brady was throwing a legal football instead of a dirty cheater football? We will never know now will we....... I assume that the patriots would have won anyway, even of they were playing by the rules, because they are a very good team, but, that's not the point, and sports can't be built on assumptions. Sports is built on the premise of being fair and promoting excellence, which is why its frustrating to see crap like this go on. This pats could have had a legacy built on excellence. They've gone to the Super Bowl 6 times in 14 years. Had they done so honestly that would have been been amazing, but the spy gate and deflate gate paint a different picture entirely. What's worse, I saw toms interview online and he was entirely dismissive of the deflated balls. He said he had no idea that they were deflated and has no idea how that happened, and its nit important anyway. I'm going to attack this on numerous levels. 1. Numerous past and present QBs have come out and stated that Tom is lying. 2. An athlete that performs at the level that these professionals do KNOW their equipment. Sammy Sosa knew the difference between a Corked bat and a regular bat, and Tom Brady knows the difference between a regulation football and an under inflated one. He makes his living knowing his equipment. Don't tell me he had no clue. He's not that stupid, and neither are us sports fans. 3. Toms reaction to being accused of cheating reveals he's a liar. He didn't get angry when he was accused of cheating. He was arrogant and dismissive, which is generally the reaction of a guilty person. Accuse an Innocent person of cheating and watch them get angry. Accuse a guilty person of cheating and watch their reaction. Its remarkably different. Time name is being dragged through the mud, but, did he try to "get to the bottom" of things? Is he showing signs of outrage or anger? No. I will admit this last point is speculation in my part, so, take it for what you will, but, "I had no idea my football was not properly inflated" rings as hollow as "I had no idea that bat was corked" or "I had no idea those injections I was taking were horse steroids". Gimme a break. So, what is going to happen???? I will stare into my moosey crystal ball and tell you. 1. The patriots will go to the Super Bowl and will have an easy win. Seattle beat the packers but they didn't look very good doing it. 3.5 of their 4 quarters were terrible. You cannot win a Super Bowl if you play like crap. 2. Patriots fans will cheer as Brady lifts the trophy up. The rest of the nation will roll its eyes, as the victory will be a hollow one, tarnished by a cheating scandal. 3. Several weeks after the Super Bowl, the equipment manager, after quietly taking a substantial bribe, will fall on his sword and say he deflated the balls with out telling Brady, thus protecting the patriots super star from scandal. The game will move on, and almost everyone will know that a lame coverup will have happened, and that in real life, cheaters frequently win. What do I think SHOULD happen? I think the pats should still go to the Super Bowl, but I think Brady should be suspended from that game. Brady is responsible for the inspection of equipment, and Brady is the one who ordered the tampering of the footballs to happen. (Equipment managers do what they are told. To believe otherwise is to be willfully ignorant). This scandal is toms scandal, and he's the one who should pay the price. In football, the Super Bowl is the only thing that matters. Everything else is irrelevant. It galls me that one team blatantly cheats, gets caught at it, and lies about it, then gets to go to the Super Bowl any way with either zero repercussions, or at worst, loss of a few draft picks. As all adults know, and most kids need to learn, life isn't fair, but, at the end of the day, even when the pats take the Lombardy trophy home, they will be doing so with a tarnish reputation. It won't be a clean win, and to most people, your integrity is everything. The pats may win the prize, but they have lost the respect that comes with it. people wonder why the patriots are so despised in the league......... No one respects liars and cheaters, so there is your answer. Anyhow, those are my moosey rantings for the day. What are your thoughts on this topic?
If they had a problem they should of addressed it durring the game....not after they got blown out the waters
I do believe this needs an investigation. However this should not be a reason the Colts or colts fans use as to why they lost. I say this being a colts fan myself
I disagree that the Pats should go on. This isn't just Brady's booboo. There are many players who should be able to know the difference. Center, RVs, RBs, TBs, and QBs. When youre in the heat of the moment and there are potentially 8 mounds of flesh weighing in at an average of 300lbs each lumbering towards you- you think of getting rid of the ball- not how fumny it feels. I dont blame the opp QB for not realizing
I do agree that it was terrible of the Patriots to do it. Although Tom Brady should not be penalized until there is factual physical proof that he played a part in it. It would be ridiculous and a new low for the NFL to suspend an potentially innocent player from the Super Bowl. They should investigate it, find out who was responsible for it and punish them.
I watch a lil NFL now and again, mainly cause I like all sports. One thing I know about sports is, that almost all drugs are banned from all sports, as they are seen as a sports enhancement and can affect the outcome of the sport. Having read the post, which as always by moose is very interesting, I can only come to the conclusion, that if this in fact did happen, then it's the same as taking drugs. Pats used the deflated balls to enhance their chances of winning the game. What should be done. Well 1 of 2 things: 1: replay the game with fully inflated balls or 2: disqualify the Pats and give the game to losing team
Disqualify Patriots from eligibility to the super bowl Cancel the game Automatically give bowl trophy to Seahawks Make an example out of the patriots that the NFL doesnt allow cheats to play in championship games However, the NFL is made up of prison thugs, so nothing will be done
You follow exactly what the media wants you to know. Look at the fine print. When Brady inspects his balls, and says thats the one he wants, he expects that. They're inflated properly then. When the snap happens, and he has the ball in his hand, is he supposed to sit their and feel his balls to tell they're exactly at 12.5-13 PSI right there? Doubtful. Look at a logistical stand point. When could they have ever deflated these with nobody seeing? Certainly not on the sidelines with thousands of people seeing it. Go ahead, call the pats cheaters for demolishing the colts by over 30 points, because no deflated balls could've ever done that. If this was a different team nobody would give a ****. Butthurt be butthurt. Pats gave 24 game balls, not just 12 btw. And played with 12 balls that were 'ref approved' ...again, in the second half. Played better in the second half too. Keep crying Pats haters. You just mad that you aint us. Too lazy to keep proving my point that you're all pissy and this is ridiculous. So enjoy the butt hurt feels.
Slayerbob Balls are officially inspected 2.5 hours before the game. You don't think that someone could discretely drop the air pressure on those balls? Really? Needles are small. Its honestly easy to do, and since inspection of the balls post game showed that 11 of the 12 were tampered with, your point seems invalid
Delphin: each team supplies its own balls die the game, so Luck and Brady were throwing different pig skins
No one has to be there to let air out of the balls. All it takes is a tampered air gauge, set to read a few PSI higher than it actually is. Note- id like to know if those 11 balls hold air overnight. It could have been a faulty air hole.
The footballs are inspected and weighed pre-game so if they were under inflated it would have to happen post inspection. In addition when a new game ball comes in it is given to the officials. If the balls were under inflated why didn't the officials notice? At the start of every play the officials place the balls at the line of scrimmages. The playoff refs are the best officials from the year that are hand picked for the playoffs. I would have thought if they were under inflated the officials should have noticed as well since they handle the ball every play.