This is an excellent point. However, officials are people and as such, are subject to bad calls and missing things. Sometimes officials miss facemasking calls, or early starts. This difference between a blown call and this situation, however, is that, like an astute forumer pointed out, playing with an illegal football is akin to playing with performance enhancing drugs, which is why its so important
Not knowing anything much about it but surely both teams played with the same balls (no pun intended) and therefore had the same advantage/disadvantage?
I don't think PEDs and and underinflated football are too close. As a college football player I think the a flatter ball is easier to throw and run with but catching is still the same. The colts lost 45-7?didn't watch the game. I don't think the footballs affected the outcome of the game. The patriots might suffer because of prior issues but I'm not sure its a big problem, but rules are rules.
Dammit Moose. Now you have my mind running about Soft Ball jokes. That being said, The Patriots are my second team. Not anymore though. Deflated balls (hehe) are more than enough cause to be disqualified. I don't know that the Colts should go, as that would make it far too easy for the Seahawks to win. But if we let Brady and the rest of the Patriots get away with it, what kind of example is the NFL making there? A clear sign that cheating is allowed?
Your facts are wrong, we know only one ball was 2 pounds under the rest could have been that or just a few ounces. Fact the Patriots played the 2nd half with Indys balls and out scored them by 28 points. Fact two, they needed to check Indys balls as well which they did not. Fact 3 the colt player who caught the Interception said he did NOT realize it was deflated (see nfl.com). Get your facts straight before posting BS. With this all said and as a Pats fan, I will be very 'deflated' if it is proved to be true.
If the Refs may have not noticed the balls were under inflated when touching the ball every play, especially PLAYOFF refs, why cant tom brady? Nobody thought anything of it.
Well I agree that the refs are are people too and that there is human error. I also agree that using an under inflated ball is an advantage. However, the officials are responsible for the integrity of the game on the field. On each sideline their is an official who is designated to check equipment before players return to the field. Teams often change out their cleats based on the weather conditions And the cleats are check and approved by the officials before players return to the field. In baseball, if there is a question the officials regularly check bats and balls and so does the NFL supposedly. I will share I am a former NFL player and I agree that there is a certain responsibility of the team to make sure the balls were properly inflated. But with that being said the on field integrity of the game should be managed by the NFL and it's officials. This was reported mid game and even the camera crew at one point showed a shot of the equipment manager getting new balls. Everyone in the NFL office knew there was an issue but no one chose to act. At that point the refs should have asked for new balls and had them checked at half time. The sole blame on this should not rest with the Pats alone.
I agree You cant put all blame on the Pats, nor Tom Brady (which a lot are trying to do). The NFL hasnt even talked directly to Tom Brady about this. Shouldn't that have been the next thing they do after their findings??
An investigation will defiantly be warranted to sort this out. Of course the team will try to cover it up, but given all the heat that's been laid on the NFL this year they are cracking down and I believe they are gonna "try" to get to the bottom of it. This was definately no accident, given the inspection process. The question is what was the weight of footballs prior to game? Who all were involved (refs,head coach,qb coach,qb...etc) I can see the ball boy tampering with them but only if told to do so. Someone will have to break and spill it all for this investigation to go anywhere. If some are found guilty will they handle it like the Saints bounty scandal possibly suspending the head coach, Tom Brady since he is the captain, and others who may have been involved, doubtful, but maybe. Tom Brady is a professional football player...guaranteed future Hall of Famer, him not knowing the balls were tampered with are out the window. But I think their may be a gray area here for Brady, correct me if I'm wrong, its not his job to weight the footballs, although he does inspect thim, isn't it ultimately his job to choose the footballs that he feels more comfortable using?
NFL wants this to just go away, which is why they won't talk to brady. The leave has been battered by scandal this year, from players who knock their girlfriends out in elevators, to others who beat their little kids until they bleed from their scrotum. The last thing the Rodger goodell wants now is yet another scandal right before a Super Bowl.
It may be dealt with in the off season, with the possibility of a fine or a lost draft pick or some such thing, or, most likely, the equipment manager will get a payoff and take a dive for Brady
I really think people are making it out to be a bigger deal than it needs to be for the deflate gate. I think Brady might have noticed during the game but in no way did it have that much effect. When you get out there and play I really don't think about the ball too much. Yeah I agree moose though. This was the last thing the NFL needed.
Lol the word "allegedly" needs to be used alot more until investigation is done. In my mind though if you handle a foot all as much as brady does one would think he may note a difference during the game. He said in an interview that he picks and chooses the balls himself and wants them at 12.5 psi which is league minimum. Just wierd I suppose. Can't wait to see what happens. Whatever it may be
Though the patriots under-inflated there footballs, there is no way shape or form the colts could of beat them in that game. Instead I would like to stress a different argument, why? Why do you need to cheat? Over and over again that grease-ball Bill Belichick has shown that when presented the opportunity he will cheat: 1.) Spygate: in the 2007 season Bill Belichick directly oversaw the illegal filming of jets practice to give them an un-fare advantage of knowing the playbook 2.) Deflategate: (There were other minor scandals in between) The second major scandal in belichicks career to which all making valid points on this thread already know. Punishments: -The owner of the Patriots should be forced to pay a 1 million dollar fine -Both Brady and Belichick barred from the HOF do to their key roles in all scandals -Belichick Suspended indefinitely (this may be appealed after a season) -Brady Suspended from the first 6 games of next season (may be appealed after 3) There is no doubt in anyone's mind the patriots would of won the game against the colts, however it's a why? Why did you need to cheat? There is no reasonable explanation.
The balls were inspected prior to game time and were deemed "legal". They were Inspected after the game and 11 of them were found to be "illegal" I cannot suspend enough disbelief to make Brady the victim in all of this. Someone tampered with the balls. Do we really think that Brady is as clean as the wind driven snow and had no idea what happened? This is the crap sandwich that every cheating athlete feeds us. Barry bonds had in idea that the injections he was taking were steroids! (Shocker) Sosa had no idea he was hitting towering home runs in baseball games with a corked bat! (Who knew) Lance Armstrong was just a determined guy who kicked cancers ass and was made Into a super star when the chemo killed all the bad cells in his body and left him with only the best and most amazing super cells in his body. Illegal drugs? Awwww hell naw.. And Tom Brady had no idea who ordered those balls to be tampered with to give him an edge. Heck, he couldn't hardly tell him self. He's practically a priest. See a pattern?
Bill Belichick was fined $500000 himself for spy gate.The patriots $250k and a first round draft pick. He didn't even know about the footballs nor do I think he cared. That's not his job. Read his interview. This nothing like what Sean Payton did with Saints to harm someone. Sean Payton was lucky to get a 1 year suspension. Intentionally hurting people for money is out of the league compared to under inflated footballs.
You think those are appropriate punishments for deflated footballs that didnt even effect the outcome of the game? Are you serious? especially after a man beat his fiance and got a two game suspension to start, later expelled, then won his appeal? Stop posting on this thread.
You compare apples and oranges. The players who beat their wives and kids did need a harsher punishment. I agree. So, because the league screwed those calls up, they need to keep screwing up calls by ignoring this? Also, you're right in regards to the fact that even with out the cheating, the pats would have won the game, but your point seems to be that, because the outcome would have been the same, the cheating isn't important. That's where we part ways. Regardless of the outcome.... Rules matter. Integrity matters. Apparently patriots fans don't care about either of those points