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4-game unpaid suspension for Tom Brady.

$1 million fine on the Patriots.

Loss of first round draft in 2016, 4th round pick in 2017.


Yeeeeowch.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/12867594/punishments-handed-tom-brady-new-england-patriots-deflategate

Good. The only problem I have with this is that it's too light a punishment, and too little too late.

I gotta agree for the most part. Curious to see the impact on Brady's image.

Lol, seriously? How much does Brady make PER GAME?

Ludicrous. They not only caught the Patriots cheating (again) they have proof! And they once again skate by with nothing but a slap on the wrist? Totally insane.

Well, may not be to little... how strong is their 2nd string QB? 4 games without him could cost them a chance for the playoffs.

 Jimsolo wrote:
Lol, seriously? How much does Brady make PER GAME?

Ludicrous. They not only caught the Patriots cheating (again) they have proof! And they once again skate by with nothing but a slap on the wrist? Totally insane.

The million fine is on the team.

The lost earnings by Brady is closer to 2 million.

 curran12 wrote:
The lost earnings by Brady is closer to 2 million.

How will he eat the poor bastard?

 Ahtman wrote:

 curran12 wrote:
The lost earnings by Brady is closer to 2 million.

How will he eat the poor bastard?

Hey, don't mistake me for sympathy. Brady deserves what he got (though imo the team needs more of a punishment), I'm just saying what the facts are.

 djones520 wrote:
Well, may not be to little... how strong is their 2nd string QB? 4 games without him could cost them a chance for the playoffs.

Funny thing about team games though... there's 10 other offensive players out on the field at the same time. As Giselle so "eloquently" ranted about after the Pats got beat by the Giants in the Superbowl "Tom Can't throw the ball to himself!"

Yes, Brady makes a difference to that team, but he isn't THE team.

2nd string QB was a no starter (till now) and only like 27 throws overall in game time I believe I heard mention.

I love being right... My dad and I were just talking about this at dinner last night and he swore up and down that Brady wasn't going to get suspended.

Also:

He'll appeal it and it will get reduced.

The report is kind of a joke, but the 'burden of proof' is light per the CBA, so it is what it is!

The Patriots will be fine, and they'll make the playoffs.

A first round bye might be in slight jeopardy.

At the end of the day, no big whoop.

Unless, of course, you don't live in New England - then I suppose this is some sort of national holiday!

If the NFL is lucky it'll get arbitrated to 2 games. If they're unlucky it will be thrown out because they have zero proof he had anything to do with the incident in question.

Did he probably? Sure. Can't prove it, though.

The monetary fines are a meaningless whisper on the wrist. They're not even a slap.

The draft picks mean a little more, but the patriots always hit in the late rounds.

 Ahtman wrote:

 curran12 wrote:
The lost earnings by Brady is closer to 2 million.

How will he eat the poor bastard?

He's going to eat a poor bastard?!?!?!

 djones520 wrote:
Well, may not be to little... how strong is their 2nd string QB? 4 games without him could cost them a chance for the playoffs.

Yeah, it might cost them the playoffs this year. They already won the super bowl last year, and missing the playoffs to get a super bowl win is a price most people would probably be willing to pay. The penalty they should have suffered is the loss of their AFC championship game and super bowl wins. Take the trophies back, remove the wins from the record books, and let the 2014-2015 season have the permanent reminder of "no super bowl winner".

What!? Cheating? These aren't the New England Patriots I know.

So much made of so little.

My question is this...how much of an advantage did deflating the balls really give them?

Really enough for them to go to the superbowl?

GG

 Ahtman wrote:

 curran12 wrote:
The lost earnings by Brady is closer to 2 million.

How will he eat the poor bastard?

By taking a break from body shots off of Gisele Bündchen and having body ham-on-rye off of Gisele Bündchen.

 Peregrine wrote:

 djones520 wrote:
Well, may not be to little... how strong is their 2nd string QB? 4 games without him could cost them a chance for the playoffs.

Yeah, it might cost them the playoffs this year. They already won the super bowl last year, and missing the playoffs to get a super bowl win is a price most people would probably be willing to pay. The penalty they should have suffered is the loss of their AFC championship game and super bowl wins. Take the trophies back, remove the wins from the record books, and let the 2014-2015 season have the permanent reminder of "no super bowl winner".

Ha!

This is some of the most unintentionally hilarious stuff that you've ever written here on Dakka Dakka!

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and just go with...maybe you got caught in traffic today or something similar?

Whoo - that was a good one!

 generalgrog wrote:
My question is this...how much of an advantage did deflating the balls really give them?

Really enough for them to go to the superbowl?

But no one is really saying that's why they won the SB. If you and I are playing 40K and I'm cheating you, does my guilt depend on the game's result?

There's some evidence that indicates that the Pats fumbled at a rate far less than the league average. That can't ever be a conclusive thing, because of the nature of fumbles. But here's the thing -- if it didn't matter, then why instruct your equipment people to do it in secret and reward them for it? Clearly it mattered *to Brady*. Otherwise, why break league rules for nothing (even if only a minor rule)?

Still, the magnitude of the punishment (and I think it's very harsh for some underinflated footballs) is because of Spygate. In the eyes of the league, the Pats are repeat offenders. They got off incredibly lightly with Spygate, and were probably told not to let it happen again. And yet I *still* think they would have gotten off much more lightly had Brady owned it instead of lying through his teeth like he did. You kinda haveta throw the book at them at that point if you want to retain any credibility (and under Goodell the league has precious little of that left).

FWIW, I think Brady will get all 4 games. Look what's scheduled for game 5 -- a Sunday night game against Andrew Luck and the Colts. The NFL is only a place or two removed from pro wrestling with how this stuff is scripted.

Of the rules that can be broken, this isn't one I give 2 gaks about.

However, if he did it and covered it up, then he obviously did give a gak about it and should be punished.

4 games, appealed down to 2, plus 2 lost picks? I can live with that.

 Ahtman wrote:

 curran12 wrote:
The lost earnings by Brady is closer to 2 million.

How will he eat the poor bastard?

He'd be like:


And he goes home to:


He'd be alright.

Did anyone even read the wells report? Or just get the cliff notes from talking heads?

This is one of the single most rediculous witch hunts in professional sports history. The amount of ignorance of what was actually presented in the wells report is astounding to me. There is literally zero proof that Brady or anyone in the patriots organization did anything to tamper with the Footballs. In fact the wells report presents proof that Brady and the 2 guys in question (McNally and jastremski) tried to follow the rules to the letter of the law.

 Peregrine wrote:

 djones520 wrote:
Well, may not be to little... how strong is their 2nd string QB? 4 games without him could cost them a chance for the playoffs.

Yeah, it might cost them the playoffs this year. They already won the super bowl last year, and missing the playoffs to get a super bowl win is a price most people would probably be willing to pay. The penalty they should have suffered is the loss of their AFC championship game and super bowl wins. Take the trophies back, remove the wins from the record books, and let the 2014-2015 season have the permanent reminder of "no super bowl winner".

One of the FB groups I'm in, I also suggested the NFL remove the SB title from the Pats.... But, it shouldn't go to the Seahawks, because it was the 49th Lombardi Trophy, and we hate the 9ers so much we gave it to NE in the first place.


Instead, I think an amicable solution to everyone involved is to give the Lombardi Trophy to Cleveland since, outside of Hollywood and video games, it's the only way they're gonna win a championship!

I think in situations like this the trophy should default to the Packers for obvious reasons.

Relapse wrote:He's going to eat a poor bastard?!?!?!

I forgot a comma, but that version is even better really.

kronk wrote:By taking a break from body shots off of Gisele Bündchen and having body ham-on-rye off of Gisele Bündchen.

Every time someone acts like being married to Gisele is a bonus I remember the old adage about how no matter how good a woman looks someone, somewhere is tired of putting up with her.

I'm not really bothered about it. Its Bradley integrity at stake. One thing I cannot stand for. If they go on strike like MLB for more money.

Chancetragedy wrote:

This is one of the single most rediculous witch hunts in professional sports history. The amount of ignorance of what was actually presented in the wells report is astounding to me. There is literally zero proof that Brady or anyone in the patriots organization did anything to tamper with the Footballs. In fact the wells report presents proof that Brady and the 2 guys in question (McNally and jastremski) tried to follow the rules to the letter of the law.

Having played high school and college football I can honestly say that PSI for game balls is a major consideration for QBs, so there really is no question that it was adjusted by equipment personnel; it is just something that is done. The question is whether or not that adjustment broke an NFL rule.

For what its worth, I don't think Brady should have been suspended...I would have suspended Belichick.

 dogma wrote:
For what its worth, I don't think Brady should have been suspended...I would have suspended Belichick.

The way I see it, suspending Brady is the best way to punish the organization. The machine would run without Belichick just fine for a few games (and BB would probably find a way to circumvent the suspension anyway). A fine would have to be an ungodly amount of money for it to really sting. And the loss of draft picks does sting, but the hurt there comes 3 years down the road and not now. Losing Brady for a number of games hurts the Pats' SB chances THE year. And that's all they really care about in NE.

Again, I think the Pats would still have walked away with a slap on the wrist had Brady just owned it. It was awfully arrogant for him to think he could stroll to a podium wearing that hat and charm it all away.