Goodell upholds Brady's four game suspension

[Everlong]

Now the real drama begins, cus you KNOW Brady is taking this to court. His camp has already said they would.

This is gonna be juicy.

[GNR]

I still think the whole fuss over a bunch of deflated footballs is really stupid, but that's just me.

[DBSoT]

Goodell is so amazingly inconsistent on his suspensions that it amazes me he ever got the NFL commissioner job in the first place. Then again, he does work for the owners so it makes sense. With that being said, what was Brady thinking when he destroyed his phone? Did he not think that would come off a bit suspicious?

[War Daddy]

But Leveon Bell gets his sentence reduced to 2 games.

Reaaaaal fucking cute.

[Everlong]

"I am very disappointed by the NFL’s decision to uphold the 4 game suspension against me. I did nothing wrong, and no one in the Patriots organization did either.

Despite submitting to hours of testimony over the past 6 months, it is disappointing that the Commissioner upheld my suspension based upon a standard that it was “probable” that I was “generally aware” of misconduct. The fact is that neither I, nor any equipment person, did anything of which we have been accused. He dismissed my hours of testimony and it is disappointing that he found it unreliable.

I also disagree with yesterdays narrative surrounding my cellphone. I replaced my broken Samsung phone with a new iPhone 6 AFTER my attorneys made it clear to the NFL that my actual phone device would not be subjected to investigation under ANY circumstances. As a member of a union, I was under no obligation to set a new precedent going forward, nor was I made aware at any time during Mr. Wells investigation, that failing to subject my cell phone to investigation would result in ANY discipline.

Most importantly, I have never written, texted, emailed to anybody at anytime, anything related to football air pressure before this issue was raised at the AFC Championship game in January. To suggest that I destroyed a phone to avoid giving the NFL information it requested is completely wrong. To try and reconcile the record and fully cooperate with the investigation after I was disciplined in May, we turned over detailed pages of cell phone records and all of the emails that Mr. Wells requested. We even contacted the phone company to see if there was any possible way we could retrieve any/all of the actual text messages from my old phone. In short, we exhausted every possibility to give the NFL everything we could and offered to go thru the identity for every text and phone call during the relevant time. Regardless, the NFL knows that Mr. Wells already had ALL relevant communications with Patriots personnel that either Mr. Wells saw or that I was questioned about in my appeal hearing. There is no “smoking gun” and this controversy is manufactured to distract from the fact they have zero evidence of wrongdoing.

I authorized the NFLPA to make a settlement offer to the NFL so that we could avoid going to court and put this inconsequential issue behind us as we move forward into this season. The discipline was upheld without any counter offer. I respect the Commissioners authority, but he also has to respect the CBA and my rights as a private citizen. I will not allow my unfair discipline to become a precedent for other NFL players without a fight.

Lastly, I am overwhelmed and humbled by the support of family, friends and our fans who have supported me since the false accusations were made after the AFC Championship game. I look forward to the opportunity to resume playing with my teammates and winning more games for the New England Patriots."


Brady's statement

[Everlong]

Patriots owner Robert Kraft went back on the attack against the NFL and apologized to fans for accepting the league’s punishment by commissioner Roger Goodell.

“The decision handed down by the league yesterday, is unfathomable to me,” Kraft said during an impromptu six minute appearance at the scheduled press conference for Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. “It is routine for discipline in the NFL to be reduced upon appeal. In the vast majority of these cases, there’s tangible and hard evidence for the infraction for which the discipline is being imposed and still the initial penalty gets reduced. Six months removed from the AFC Championship game, the league still has no hard evidence of anybody doing anything to tamper with the PSI levels of footballs.

“I continue to believe and unequivocally support Tom Brady. I first and foremost need to apologize to our fans, because I truly believe what I did in May, given the actual evidence of the situation and the league’s history on discipline matters, would make it much easier for the league to exonerate Tom Brady.

“Unfortunately, I was wrong.”

Kraft said he regrets accepting the NFL’s punishment levied on the team that included a $1 million fine and a two draft picks.

“I was willing to accept the harshest penalty in the history of the NFL for an alleged ball violation because I believed it would help exonerate Tom [Brady],” Kraft said. “… Once again, I want to apologize to the fans of the New England Patriots and to Tom Brady, I was wrong to put my faith in the league. Given the facts, evidence, and laws of science that underscore this entire situation, it is completely incomprehensible to me that the league continues to take steps to disparage one of its all-time great players, and a man for whom I have the utmost respect....

“I have come to the conclusion that this was never about doing what was fair and just. Back in May, I had to make a difficult decision that I now regret. I tried to do what I thought was right. I chose not to take legal action. I wanted to return the focus to football.”

In accepting the league’s penalty, Kraft had hoped it would help exonerate Brady.

“I acted in good faith and was optimistic that by taking the actions I took the league would have what they wanted,” Kraft said. “I was willing to accept the harshest penalty in the history of the NFL for an alleged ball violation because I believed it would help exonerate Tom. I have often said, ‘If you want to get a deal done, sometimes you have to get the lawyers out of the room.’ I had hoped that Tom Brady’s appeal to the league would provide Roger Goodell the necessary explanation to overturn his suspension. Now, the league has taken the matter to court, which is a tactic that only a lawyer would recommend.”

Kraft, who said this would be the last time he would speak on the matter this season, reflected back on how the league has handled the saga that has dragged on for six months.

“The league’s handling of this entire process has been extremely frustrating and disconcerting,” Kraft said. “I will never understand why an initial erroneous report regarding the PSI level of footballs was leaked by a source from the NFL a few days after the AFC championship game, [and] was never corrected by those who had the correct information. For four months, that report cast aspersions and shaped public opinion.”

Kraft took specific offense to how the story of Brady getting a new phone was communicated in Tuesday’s ruling by Goodell.

“Yesterday’s decision by commissioner was released in a similar manner, under an erroneous headline that read, ‘Tom Brady destroyed his cellphone.’” Kraft said. “This headline was designed to capture headlines across the country and obscure evidence regarding the tampering of air pressure in footballs. It intentionally implied nefarious behavior and minimized the acknowledgement that Tom provided the history of every number he texted during that relevant time frame. And we had already provided the league with every cellphone of every non-NFLPA that they requested, including head coach Bill Belichick.”

Anyone who is a fan of football should be appalled and terrified by the way Goodell and the NFL have handled this entire situation.

[UTK]

Oh the Players' Association have been waiting for the perfect case to bring Goodell to court, and they have it now.

[Everlong]

Wow, huge bomb dropped today. It's been revealed that the source of the leak of Mortensen's false report, in which he wrote that 11 of 12 balls were deflated by 2 pounds of air each (a report which turned out to be COMPLETELY FALSE), was Mike Kensil, the NFL's VP of Game Operations.

Why is this big news? Basically, this guy has a history of animosity towards the Pats and Belichick (he was the Jets president when Belichick resigned as HC after a couple days to take the Patriots job). He deliberately supplied false information which shaped public and media perception and cast the pats as liars and cheaters (a narrative the general public was happy to accept) and in doing so caused a $5 million dollar investigation and this entire debacle.

The more and more that comes out about this case, the more it looks like Tom Brady and the Patriots are getting completely railroaded and that there's a big league agenda behind all of this. And why would anyone trust the league at all at this point after the way they've completely bungled other big-time situations in the last couple years?

@Messiah @The Legend @DanielsonTHAGOAT @UTK @Philip Rivers what you all think about this?

[War Daddy]

Wow, huge bomb dropped today. It's been revealed that the source of the leak of Mortensen's false report, in which he wrote that 11 of 12 balls were deflated by 2 pounds of air each (a report which turned out to be COMPLETELY FALSE), was Mike Kensil, the NFL's VP of Game Operations.

Why is this big news? Basically, this guy has a history of animosity towards the Pats and Belichick (he was the Jets president when Belichick resigned as HC after a couple days to take the Patriots job). He deliberately supplied false information which shaped public and media perception and cast the pats as liars and cheaters (a narrative the general public was happy to accept) and in doing so caused a $5 million dollar investigation and this entire debacle.

The more and more that comes out about this case, the more it looks like Tom Brady and the Patriots are getting completely railroaded and that there's a big league agenda behind all of this. And why would anyone trust the league at all at this point after the way they've completely bungled other big-time situations in the last couple years?

@Messiah @The Legend @DanielsonTHAGOAT @UTK @Philip Rivers what you all think about this?

Please tell me you have a link

[Everlong]

It was on radio this morning, I'll look for articles too.

[GNR]

What a joke.

[UTK]

I don't get how this wasn't revealed during the investigation.

[Everlong]

It's going to be an absolute joke if court doesn't rule in Brady's favor. This has been an immense miscarriage of justice the entire way through, and with every passing week the NFL's case against Brady and the Pats crumbles even more. Goodell's legitimacy is about as low as it's ever been, and that's saying something.

[Everlong]

http://wellsreportcontext.com/league-fa ... formation/

Patriots posted up emails showing their frustrations with the league while all this bullshit was going on.

The people running the NFL are fucking corrupt and should be ashamed of themselves.

[Everlong]

To people who think this is about deflating footballs still, you're nuts. There are multiple precedents that will be set if Brady's suspension is upheld, none of which are good for teams or players:

1) Suspension for not handing over a cellphone during / obstructing an NFL / Independent investigation (never been done before. People have flat out lied in preliminary questioning and not been suspended)

2) Suspension for being generally aware that someone else is doing something illegal (never been done before. See; Bountygate, all of defense was "generally aware" and few were punished)

3) Ability of the NFL to pull Attorney Client Privilege on an independent investigation and hide the investigative files from the team/player (in both Bountygate and Rice, the players/teams were given access to investigative files)

[Locke]

I don't get how this wasn't revealed during the investigation.

[Everlong]

The NFL removed Mike Kensil from its operations website, very quietly. And yet ESPN and other major sports media still refuse to report on this issue.

[The Legend]

I still believe everything I've believed every spot along this path. Tom Brady and the New England Patriots have no one to blame for their punishments and their problems than themselves. They are the ones that willing developed a scheme to circumvent the rules. Why would the Patriots need a ball boy to take the balls to a locked room after the referee inspection if they weren't planning on doing something illegal?

Also, I don't really care about what the rule was that they violated. If it's in the rule book, it's there for a reason and that reason is to make sure no team gains a competitive advantage over any other team no matter how big or small.

Then here's where it becomes important, in anything it's not the act itself that gets you in the most trouble in the end, but the cover up. The Patriots should have stood up when this whole thing started and just been honest: "We broke the rules, we cheated the game, the league and all the other teams. We are dirty rotten cheaters and we promise to follow every letter of every law of every rule the NFL hands to us from now on."

If they say that they probably do just get a fine for the team and Brady, their reputation deservedly gets dragged through the mud for the off-season, but by the start of the next season we move on.

Instead they decide to act like the guiltiest, stupidest criminals trying to cover up their crime ever. They make jokes about deflating = weight loss, Brady "loses" his old phone so he can't turn it over to the league and gets a new one that in this day and age doesn't miraculously have his old text messages on it, they continuously claim they didn't do anything wrong even when the evidence mounted to the contrary.