Exclusive: Powerful institutions whether the U.S. government, the mainstream media or the NFL can run roughshod over individuals, twisting facts in whatever direction is desired. The current railroading of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is a cautionary case in point, writes Robert Parry.
By Robert Parry
What I have learned in 35 years as an investigative reporter at the national level is that high-profile investigations are almost always driven less by fact, reason or truth than by power. The Hollywood scenario of some entity-on-high intervening in the name of justice for a happy ending rarely happens in real life.
More typically the relative balance of power between the two sides dictates the outcome with clever lawyers or compliant bureaucrats twisting every word or action in whatever direction serves the interests of the more powerful master. Innocence can be turned into guilt and vice versa, usually with the mainstream news media falling into line and average people soon absorbing the conventional wisdom with smirks at the loser.
New England Patriot quarterback Tom Brady.
I have witnessed this pattern in matters of war or peace, the integrity of elections, and the treatment of individual citizens. Once power is applied to an investigation anyone who stands in the way can expect to get run over. Decent people are demonized and ostracized. Foreign leaders can become the target of “regime change.” Essentially anything goes, and Goliath usually wins.
That is why I am always highly suspicious when this process gets rolling, whether the goal is to pin some nefarious act on a despised foreign leader (Saddam Hussein is hiding WMD); to fix the outcome of an election (Al Gore is a sore loser); or to disparage an honest journalist (Gary Webb deserved what he got for accusing the CIA of dabbling with Nicaraguan Contra drug traffickers).
Often in such cases the conventional wisdom, which reflects the consensus view of the powerful, is dead wrong. Hussein didn’t have those caches of WMD; Gore was the rightful winner of the presidential election in 2000; and Webb was correct when he shed new light on the CIA’s Contra-cocaine connection. Yet all of them lost to the power of systemic distortion.
Similarly, there are troubling aspects to the NFL’s “Deflategate” witch hunt targeting New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. And there’s a cautionary warning here for all of us. It turns out that even celebrity doesn’t protect you from a process in which a more powerful entity, in this case the NFL and opposing teams envious of Brady’s success, can concoct a case almost literally out of thin air to destroy a person’s reputation and make it harder for the Patriots to prevail on the field in the future.
In this curious investigation, one of the most scandalous aspects has been the role of rival teams in pressuring NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to sustain his harsh penalties against Brady (a four-game suspension without pay) and against the Patriots (a $1 million fine and loss of first- and fourth-round draft picks).
Beyond the peculiar process of Goodell serving as judge, jury and appeals court, there has been the intrusion by the NFL’s Management Council in trying to influence the outcome, a factor cited by ESPN and acknowledged in Goodell’s own 20-page report. It would seem that at minimum Brady deserved a disciplinary process without the owners of rival teams weighing in.
Though this interference by team owners who have lost to the Patriots would seem to be an obvious conflict of interest and a threat to the integrity of the game, this behavior has passed virtually unnoticed, mentioned only briefly by some ESPN commentators. Yet, this tilting of the playing field might be the biggest scandal in the entire overblown affair, especially since the Management Council holds the strings to Goodell’s $35 million salary.
The Goodell Report
Like the previous Wells’ investigative report written under Goodell’s direction Goodell’s findings on Brady’s appeal brush aside the core fact that the science behind the assumption that the Patriots’ footballs were intentionally deflated was dubious at best. Even according to the opinion of the NFL-hired experts, all or virtually all the drop in air pressure could be explained by the cold weather alone during the AFC Championship game on Jan. 18, 2015.
And the NFL’s experts did not account for other relevant factors, such as the rainy weather and the different pre-game treatments of the Patriots footballs when compared with those of the Indianapolis Colts. A variety of outside scientists reviewed the Wells’ report and concluded that its assessment of the air-pressure readings was unreliable at best because of inadequate protocols in both pre-game measurements and the hasty checks made during halftime. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “NFL’s Deflategate Findings ‘Unreliable.’”]
(Ironically, if you relied on the air-pressure gauge that was judged more precise, the Colts played both the first half and second half of the AFC Championship game with underinflated footballs, while the Patriots did for only the first half. Yet, the Patriots were the ones punished.)
There remain other anomalies in Goodell’s report. For instance, Goodell writes that “there are several points that are not in dispute and important to this decision,” including that Brady “told the equipment staff that he wanted the footballs inflated at the lowest permissible level” and “instructed the equipment staff to present a copy of the rule to the game officials.”
Goodell continues: “On the day of the AFC Championship Game, Mr. [Jim] McNally [the team employee who carried the footballs to the referees] told referee Walt Anderson that Mr. Brady wanted the balls inflated to a pressure of 12.5 psi. He [McNally] told the investigators that ‘Tom always has me pass a message to the Official’s [sic] that he likes the balls at the minimum permissible PSI of 12.5.’”
In other words, it’s not in dispute that Brady went to considerable trouble to have the pressure per square inch set at the low end of the legal parameters and that it was McNally’s job to ensure that the referees complied with Brady’s preference to deflate the footballs to that level. This undisputed evidence in Goodell’s own report would suggest that Brady was acting within the rules. And why would someone go to all that trouble if the plan was to have the balls deflated surreptitiously afterwards?
Goodell also states as an unchallenged fact that the AFC Championship game was the only time when McNally took the footballs on his own to the field, writing: “Other referees said he [McNally] had not engaged in similar conduct in the games that they had worked at Gillette Stadium.” So, what kind of a scheme was this to secretly deflate footballs when it allegedly could only have been done once?
McNally also explained to investigators that the reason for the confusion about when he should carry the balls to the field resulted from the fact that the earlier NFC Championship game had gone into overtime delaying the start of the AFC game.
The NFC game ended abruptly causing confusion in the crowded referees’ suite of rooms about the need to get the balls down to the field, McNally explained. He said he used the bathroom on the way because there was a crowd in the referees’ room. He also couldn’t leave the field for the entire first half.
Though McNally had submitted to several interviews with NFL investigators and consistently denied any wrongdoing Goodell makes a big point in his report over the fact that the NFL’s Players Association didn’t bring McNally and locker room assistant John Jastremski down to New York City for Brady’s appeal hearing. Goodell noted that “The Management Council [consisting of rival owners] has argued that an adverse inference should be drawn from the NFLPA’s decision not to seek testimony from Mr. Jastremski and Mr. McNally.”
To this day, there remains no explicit evidence that the balls were deflated after they left the referees’ room. Indeed, the often-cited text messages between McNally and Jastremski referred not to the AFC Championship game but to a problem from a game against the New York Jets in October when the referees illegally over-inflated the footballs, prompting a complaint from Brady that Jastremski conveyed to McNally, whose job it was to make sure the referees deflated the balls to the level that Brady preferred.
All the banter in the texts between the two locker room guys, including McNally’s disparaging remarks about Brady, can be understood in the context of McNally reacting defensively to criticism that he had not gotten the referees to deflate the balls in the Jets game to the low end of the permissible levels or even below the high end of the permissible levels at 13.5 psi. Jastremski tested the balls after the game and found them over the legal limit with one at nearly 16 psi.
Goodell’s report makes no reference to the NFL’s sloppy protocols for ensuring that footballs are inflated properly, nor to the chaotic testing of the footballs during the halftime of the AFC Championship game when there was even disagreement over the sequencing of the measurements, a key issue given how fast balls naturally re-inflate when brought into a warm setting.
Much like the original Wells’ report, Goodell’s report slanted every conceivable fact in the direction of the prosecutors’ case against Brady.
The Destroyed Phone
The center of Goodell’s rejection of Brady’s appeal was the relatively new information that Brady had an assistant destroy an old cell phone that Brady replaced shortly before his interview with the Wells’ investigators. Though Brady’s side had already informed the NFL that he would not give them access to his phone and the NFL already had Brady’s text messages to Jastremski whose phone had been turned over, Goodell deployed this new fact as proof that Brady was intentionally hiding incriminating information.
Brady responded to Goodell’s ruling on Wednesday saying “I did nothing wrong, and no one in the Patriots organization did either. 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 yesterday’s 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. [Ted] 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 respect the Commissioners authority, but he also has to respect the CBA [the collective bargaining agreement with the players] 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.”
I have no way of knowing whether Brady is telling the truth or not. But my experience with powerful institutions is that they can massage information any way they want to make the innocent look guilty and the guilty innocent.
[For more on this topic, see Consortiumnews.com’s “Tom Brady and Theoretical Crime.”]
Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book, America’s Stolen Narrative, either in print here or as an e-book (from Amazon and barnesandnoble.com). You also can order Robert Parry’s trilogy on the Bush Family and its connections to various right-wing operatives for only $34. The trilogy includes America’s Stolen Narrative. For details on this offer, click here.
I have notice, since it has been deliberate on my part, not to crowd this store wite bs and only wanted to say at least two comments. I have seen many more people witherhe name Curios and that ticked me off. No did I not right those drive reactions, I would ask people please refrain from copying, plagerising, and putting out fade information. The last time I checked there were enough letter in the alphabet to come up with a new name. Read a book and areal from Tolstol or Dixkens if your cynapses are challenged. One person even spelt Curious wrong. Reach out to the world and then say something Germaine. Please.
Please, ENOUGH with the “poor, persecuted Tom Brady” articles. We get it, Mr. Parry, you are a Patriots fan. Brady is one of the best QB’s of all time, and will be in the Hall of Fame. That doesn’t mean he did not ask the equipment guys in New England to make sure the footballs were inflated to his liking. Why would he ask for the rule change, allowing each team to prepare their footballs instead of just the home team, in the first place? Why would he destroy his phone–yet keep the one he had before his “destoyed” Samsung phone with the 10,000 text messages? Why would he destroy it on or near the day the investigators asked for it, and not say anything about it for several months? The man probably has incriminating evidence on that phone that he did not want anyone to ever hear, because if he asked the equipment men to alter the footballs for the AFCCG, you KNOW he did it many other times. I know that Patriot nation is looking under every rock for some kind of “evidence” that the NFL is out to “get” Tom Brady, but that is ridiculous. The NFL does not need this kind of “publicity.” What would be the benefit, to “railroad” the face of the NFL. It makes no sense whatsoever, and Brady fighting this is simply going to stain his legacy, no matter what the judge in Manhattan decides. He is an arrogant, stubborn, and pompous man, who thinks he is above everyone else, and can do what he wants. I can’t believe relatively intelligent people are rushing to defend a man like this.
You’re not listening.
For those who think it’s important to copy and alter ones point. I only made 2 comments and afterwards there were 4 using my name for their own agenda. My suggestion: There are many letters in the alphabet and it should take long to come up with something else that would reflect your own opinion instead of a plagiarism if someone else. I can’t be that hard. If you can’t be original, please at least don’t steal. The last 4 have nothing to do with my opinion of what was said. Mr Parry and this site deserve better. Huff Post may be looking for trolls, I heard that’s popular. In the meantime, please give M Parry the best, or honest response and not tie up his site.
thank you, curious (the real one)
for those who use my name “curios” these are not my posting. I only posted 2 and for the person who couldn’t spell “curious
‘ please STOP eve if you learn how to spell it. most of the followup thread is not mine.. Please get you own name and leave the opinion to the one posting! thank you
Dr Parry, please delete the bogus pretentious fakes. thank you.
Unfortunately Mr. Brady is a big target and is made to be an example by the NFL. If he wasn’t the popular player he he — and didn’t have a beautiful supermodel wife– they would have probably forgotten about him. But no — they have to make an example of him. As far as getting rid of his phone — who hasn’t done that at some time? Mr. Brady — enjoy the time off with your lovely family and the heck with everything else! We can live vicariously through you!! Enjoy and don’t let the a$$holes get you down!!!!
An in-depth discussion of the legal issues and how they might play out can be found in this blog post by Steph Stradley. http://bit.ly/1KCFPl5 Although she is a Houston Texans fan she comes down on the side of Brady and the Patriots because of her concerns about the warped process through which the decision was reached. Per Stradley: “Why should fans other than Patriots fans care about this?
Legal process issues aren’t PR interesting but they are important whether you are talking about league discipline, the criminal justice system, or any other process that has a potential to harm people’s lives, jobs, reputations.
Goodell often talks about “getting this right†and the fundamental part of that should be, but isn’t, fair process.
In sum, if the league can use an unfair process in punishing both the Patriots and Tom Brady, they can do this to any team, player and fanbase. They already used a terrible process with Bountygate, but unless you were a Saints fan, you probably didn’t notice or care.
It’s very sad that the only way we can get objective journalism on this topic is from a website that nobody has ever heard of and nobody will ever read.
It is becoming very fashionable to stay away from the mainstream network “news”. Unless you just want to know what’re a they’re telling.
if anyone that doesn’t normally visit this site thinks what’s happening to Brady is messed up, they should read about the Ukraine and Mid-East events to see how US politicians are misleading the American public — costing the lives of Americans and many many others around the globe.
I’ll take the truth any day no matter how twisted or how it got so twisted. Without the truth, our decisions on certain matters are not truly valid while they may be based on lies and manipulative fairy tails.
Correction: “Unless you just want to know what lies they’re telling”
Cell phones —
Objective Journalism from a wisher of Narnia, and unicorns. Do you not think by the time thinks get through editors and the 6 corporations that own the US media, that objectivity is possible? this site he is one of the closer I’ve found, but nothing is objective in the true sense of the work, the best we can hope for is less interference by editors with their own agendas, and that is after they clear it with their ‘corporate suits’ if i may be controversial or sometimes too close to the truth.
This paper is one of the more ethical papers around and there are corp anger and suits try to reduce it’s influence as much as possible.
Keep believing and trying though, we need the dreamers.
Nobody really knows what the PSI situation was,on game day, and who did the manipulating..
.For all we know, the other team, or perhaps “others”, aware of Mr Brady’s “preference”…recalibrated the gauges…to OVER inflate the balls…and make it look like it met the threshold ! Knowing the tighter skin might effect his performance.
I ,for one, don’t know that “didn’t” happen. Does anyone?
Maybe whatever “foul play” took place…swung both ways ?
It certainly is possible, no?
No.The Colt org has integrity,at least gamewise.(not ownership,Irsay moved them out of Baltimore at night.)Until proven otherwise.
Nobody really knows what the PSI situation was,on game day, and who did the manipulating..
.For all we know, the other team, or perhaps “others”, aware of Mr Brady’s “preference”…recalibrated the gauges…to OVER inflate the balls…and make it look like it met the threshold ! Knowing the tighter skin might effect his performance.
I ,for one, don’t know that “didn’t” happen. Does anyone?
Maybe whatever “foul play” took place…swung both ways ?
In a game of “inches”, with billions on the line, it is always tough to say what decides the outcome and who the scofflaws are,….. No?
Yes they do
Wouldn’t the sensationalist ESPN & NY press just love to get their hands on Tom & Giselle’s private texts, emails, and voice messages? Roger Goodell (think Eddie Gadel) and his Kangaroo Kourt had ALL the communications between Brady and the “ball boys”; has Mr. Brady no right to privacy? The NFL Star Chamber has no subpoena power, and no rules of “fair play”. Gee, why is that?
The grossly overpaid and self-important, clueless swine that own and run the NFL can’t find in their billions enough to hire full-time refs instead of the Big-Time-Gambler-Bait part-timers that they have. If “Integrity of the Game” were important to the League, why are teams inflating their own footballs anyway? Do MLB teams prepare the baseballs that their own pitchers throw? Think about it.
The Patriots are ESPNs home team,like the Red Sox.They aren’t kangarooing anyone.It’s sad that football has become Americas new religion,and the players gods.Too many latch on to their home teams exploits as their own,and when that team loses misery ensues.Or when they win(actually they were handed this victory by Pete Mr.Cute Carroll.)glee and smiles,and belonging.
Brady doesn’t need to get that competitive edge,sadly,just like Arod didn’t need steroids.
But their salaries sure were helped,eh.Bud Selig loved Macguire and Sosa when they brought baseball back from the strike,and jettisoned them after the revelations.
And wait until they test football players for PEDS,We aint seen nothing yet.
“The Patriots are ESPNs home team,like the Red Sox.”
What the HELL are you talking about?
The last time I offered my opinion on this topic I was accused of bias, which reminded me how rabid NFL fans are. But that’s all ok. I won’t venture another reply, tying up this good, informative site.
I will not try to defend the NFL and Goodell in particular since I think he’s way overpaid for his contribution to the league. He’s basically running an organization that one could compare to Roman Gladiators than any thing else, due to their treatment of pro players over the years. When I saw him post game after a Stooper Bowl he sounded like GW and unable to string two sentences together. And if you think the argument over entitlement is an issue in our political realm, try taking a look at the requirements of the NFL brass at a Stooper Bowl. free this hotel x 3. free golf course and boot off the members just in case Roger needs a little tee time, free this, free that, etc look it up if you care, it’s quite spectacular and a great way to break the bank of the host. (because of bogus links I don’t offer any, but the facts are out there) But what should he care?
I find it humorous and a bit sad that we jump through so many hoops to defend a game, when there are nearly 100% injuries in players (and this is over a year). And what do most people care about these castoffs who no longer have a job because they were injured? The answer is, not much, sadly. And the argument I hear from a lot of people is ‘they are making millions!!’ etc. For those who are less informed, look at their guaranteed money vs. their contract and you will find a huge discrepancy. The only reason Brady has lasted so long is he had the rules changed (QB protection) for own his personal benefit.
I’ll fess up and mention that I have been around pro sports since ESPN was just a 4 letter word to the other networks, so I’ve been around for awhile and more than slightly jaded.
For those who care, and this does not involve Saddam and power plays by powerful people (although I understand the comparison) try this before you go out and just defend Brady:
– he deliberately changed the rules, along with Manning about protecting the QB and having their own balls to control/deflate at will since ’06. Look it up.
– research hand size, finger size in QBs and understand why he likes a smaller ball. This is not to say it’s wrong, but there is a reason for it after all.
– check out the fumble stats since that time of their running backs compared to the rest of the league and their stats prior to the changes. And also check out how these people performed (stat wise) after they left the ‘patroits’ and while you’re at it the reception stats.
– to say there is not a difference in under inflated pig skins is just silly. It’s obvious to anyone who has played the game and who will be honest with you.
– A question for Mr Parry and Mr Kraft is: if Brady and the organization would be so innocent, why did they punt the two lower level members off their team. Hum? They are the guilty ones who would manipulate footballs unbeknownst to Mr Brady? nonsense.
– the difference in getting home field advantage is huge in this league. To get there one doesn’t always have to cheat nor bend the rules, sometimes a person is more gifted than the others. I would love to see a stat where basketball players had to cheat just before they got the ball for their 3 point shot. I was at the game where the Bulls beat the Lakers at home in LA many years and MJ kissed the trophy. He didn’t have to manipulate anything, so why do the Pats? ( although he may have had 3 steps here and there not called) To pretend they don’t one must be a fan.
I do think there is enough credible evidence here that if it were to go to trial Mr Brady would be hard pressed to clarify how, and when, he destroyed evidence. I’m not a lawyer but I stayed at a ……..
– finally, and I have yet to hear someone even attempt to explain why not all of the balls were under inflated. I personally would ask the PAT kicker and kick off, punt specialist if there was a ball set to different inflation levels for their kick attempts, hence a ball or two which was not deflated. This in itself would be telling, but good luck finding out those details.
Just a tip from someone who has seen behind the curtain for many years, and my take is the deflation was deliberate (and not only related to one game), as was the Patriots sending in designated and undesignated receivers at the last second so even the Refs couldn’t tell who was legit or not (the Pat fans laugh at this like it’s good sportsmanship of course to bend the rules). To defend Brady, or the Pats is priceless…… but go ahead. I’ll stop now before I say too much more about Mr Goldenboy and his ‘upstanding’ honor system. I’m sure I am totally wrong and he didn’t trash his cellphone on the same day as the interview, and copped to that fact 4 months later. That is all very convenient don’t you think? No?
“I do think there is enough credible evidence here that if it were to go to trial Mr Brady would be hard pressed to clarify how, and when, he destroyed evidence. I’m not a lawyer but I stayed at a …….”
If this were treated like a criminal case, it would never have gone to trial at all because there’s no real evidence anybody ever deflated the footballs at all, let alone that Brady asked someone to do it. While you’re staying at the Holiday Inn Express, use their free wifi to look up “Corpus Delicti.” You can’t put someone on trial for a crime that probably was never committed in the first place.
You’ve been made a fool of by Goodell, Wells, and the sensationalist media, all blathering about actions that “sure make someone look guilty,” which is all designed to district you from the most critical information: THERE IS NO EVIDENCE THAT ANYBODY DEFLATED THE FOOTBALLS. It really is that simple. I mean for God’s sake, listen to yourself…making an issue of the two locker room attendants being terminated? Aside from the fact that you already know that was because the League forced them to be fired and unlike Brady they have no union to protect them, you’re basically saying the team went out of its way to do something that made them look guilty. Think about that.
Oh my God I just noticed you said Tom Brady got quarterback protection rules changed for his own benefit. Are you for real? Where are you getting all this nonsense from?
Research the ‘tuck rule’ and the change of ball control for the teams. It’s not that hard to find out this information.
I have been at the stadium and also in the officials area. If the attendant wanted to take a leak he could have used there’s. It’s not that hard. But instead he went to a lav saying he was using a urinal, which doesn’t happen to be in the room he went into. Thats’ one lie. He also said he was going straight to the field and that’s lie # 2. Since Brady trash his sell phone the day of his ‘interview’ we only have one side of the conversation on the attendants phones. Would he really call himself the ‘deflator’ and cuss Brady up and down, awhile asking for swag plus autographs if he didn’t feel he had some clout? really?
All I was offering was 30 years experience in that biz and I’ve seen many things over the years. I just think it should give you pause when you read the NFL paper they put out after the appeal. Please read it and don’t knee jerk react. think about it. You obviously don’t think his cell phone was evidence. That’s fine, argue it away. You don’t think he stalled and lied and didn’t admit he trashed his phone 4 months later than the investigating team asked for it. There are some special rules of conduct that all NFL players sign when they play. I would suggest you read this signed agreement before you ask ‘where, what, how?? etc’
Please read the NFL ruling on why they are keeping the 4 game suspension in place after his appeal, and then restate your opinion after you read the report. It’s not like he’s been framed……. but he sure made plenty of suspicious moves. Plus I know NFL players who have talked about this for years re: Brady. Take a few deep breathes and do some reading, that is all I was suggesting. I have two siblings who are top top level attorneys along with friends who are as well. I think it comes down to what one considers evidence, and the deliberate blocking of evidence. It’s not a great reach really. I’m sure he has a good attorney who will cloud as much as he can with legalize.
Just agree to disagree, but you still have answered the other anomalies as I suggested, which indicate a pattern over years. But if you don’t enjoy research, that is your privilege. Make him out to be as innocent as you want for you own benifit. That is all ok, but maybe wrong.
I’m not making this about me although I have been around for 30 years and have probably seen more than you’ll ever see. I think my points spoke for themselves.
If you’re a fan, go out and ask the kicker if he had a different inflation level so his ball would travel farther and he harder to catch. Go out and do it! and then back back to me, or just report some back-pedalling. Aloha
correction: Brady ‘trashed’ his cell phone.
Would the attendant call himself… ‘but the still haven’t answered the other anomalies’
I have no idea why you’re referring to the 2001 AFC playoff game against the Raiders or what that’s supposed to be proof of. You’re all over the place.
Everything you’re talking about has been addressed by Mr. Parry over the past couple months, including the preposterous idea that Mr. McNally not recalling which fixtures were in the bathroom constitutes some kind of evidence. Demanding I recreate his eloquent arguments? No, I refuse. I’m not going to play that game where you pretend you’re not already aware of what’s wrong with what you’re doing and demand I debunk everything as if it hasn’t already been done by journalists like Mr. Parry.
Dear DB,
I ], not sure I’m ‘all over the place’ in your opinion. Please check the ‘tuck rule fro ’06 and the players league in response. “All over the place” would imply nothing I said had validity. It only takes an conscience, realistic following of the rules Brady changed to learn how he altered the rules to give him an advantage. They invented Google….try it.
Isn’t it funny that people contest Bradys’ cheating by his having good looks and a wife who works on her body to appeal to the baser instincts of our culture? Like that has some sort of credibility over and against intelligence? What a pathetic ‘culture’ we have become. Personally I’ll take Steven Hawking over a clef chin with a phony smile and deep dark eyes who knows how to lie and obfuscate. aloha, and good bye.
I won’t take long to research these fact sir.
corrections: golf courses plural fir the stooper Bowl, all free while they toss off the members. some typos, but I think the gist is there. Research and try again.
I predict that Tom Brady will have the best year of his career. I’m not even a Patriot fan (Steelers). Brady will come in at game five, and be well rested and ready to play. Although, I am not a Patriot fan I do love watching Brady quarterback. Mr. Parry, since we are talking football I will just say this, Bob hang in there you won’t be disappointed!
I have no idea what actually happened, but I know that the NFL is treating Brady unfairly and I am glad Brady is fighting and the Patriots are supporting him. I am glad you are willing to write on this matter.
Brady is guilty as sin and I’m so sick of his defenders ignoring the obvious. There are the Patriot assistants who admitted to doing it for Brady and were rewarded by “The Cheater”. Now Brady goes and destroys his phone to obliterate the evidence. But some people refuse to let the facts get past their stupid idolatry for a loser.
Love how you throw around the word “facts” Bob.
The assistants admitted to doing “it?” What is “it,” Bob? Deflating a ball down to 12.5 psi, like the rulebooks says? Because that’s all I see. And Brady “obliterated” the evidence? The same evidence that he already gave them on paper, and volunteered to help them recreate at any time? The same evidence that Wells already used in his report, stating that he didn’t need the phone? Those facts Bob? I’m glad you’ve pointed put the “obvious” to us now, so we can all jump on the Hater Train with you.
In American jurisprudence, your entire life —your record — is brought before the system by those whose aim is to prove you guilty. That the Patriots “record†includes being found guilty of cheating before, added to the possible destruction of evidence/refusal to turn over possible evidence, satisfies the requirement for a “preponderance of evidenceâ€, the level of guilt associated in civil matters.
“If†some wiley attorney were to convince a prosecutor that criminal laws were broken, charges of destruction of evidence and interfering in a criminal investigation can be laid and Brady could easily be found guilty, regardless of results of any charge related to deflating footballs!
Nice try, Chloe, but Tom Brady was never implicated in any “cheating” before. If you want to play your little “if this were like a trial” game, no judge would allow you to mention “spygate” during the trial because it had nothing to do with Brady and can’t be used against him.
Spot on. Excellent report on something that never should have happened. I think Brady’s day in court is going to make Goodell wish he never started this travesty in the first place. It matters not what team, it’s the shoddy gamesmanship performed on a quarterback that happens to win a lot of games.
Who broke the rules,the NFL or the Patriots and Brady?It’s a rule.End of story.
Poor Tom.oooohhhh.Another American liar.It’s getting endemic.
Except the point of Mr. Parry’s article here, and in previous articles, is that there is no actual evidence that any rule was broken. Not as provided by the Wells report, or Goodell’s response to Brady’s appeal. Your comment just denotes bias against Tom Brady and/or the New England Patriots. This issue is bigger than team loyalty.
It’s bullshit like this that turned me away from professional football. I won’t pay to see a pro football game and I haven’t watched any in several years. (And I don’t anticipate watching any in the future.)
Brady has handled hundreds of thousands of balls in his life. He knew those balls were soft. NFL teams should play with the same set of balls and deal with a more level playing field.
Right ….but the whole point is every one plays with the same ball.!…So whatever advantages or disadvantages are evenly dispersed among both teams…
For the record…. slightly under inflated as opposed to over inflated footballs have always worked better for me……being able to slightly “squeeze” the ball gives a more secure grip when throwing, especially a ‘tight ‘ spiral…….
.and its true for receivers and half backs too……an over inflated ball can bounce off your chest more easily when catching it, than a softer one…..and backs are able to hold tighter on impact with a softer ball…to avoid fumbles….
These things are true for ALL players on the whole, at least that has been my experience, so Mr Brady’s preference for the “slightly softer ball “is really very normal and no big deal !
The whole thing is really too much !
And of course the NFL is set up to accommodate Brandy’s preferences … lol
I believe you’ve been misinformed.
Changing the rule to allow each offense to supply its own footballs would make the game more fair, Manning and Brady argued. It would prohibit a home team from suddenly handing a visiting quarterback one of those dreaded fresh-from-the-box footballs for an important drive with minutes left in a tight game.
If I were a football person (which I’m not!) I’d predict that the fumble rate of the Patriots will take a jump over the next few years now that the inflation rate is being watched more closely.
Carrying around a football which is closer to ‘nerf’ status than to ‘bowling ball’ hardness is likely to cause your fumbles to drop.
Which is why I’d have ignored Brady and nailed the whole Patriot organization much harder – assuming I was a football person with Emperor-like authority. (and again, I’m neither)
The fumbles are the real story and I agree we will likely see that the Patriots will not be amongst league leaders holding on to the ball, as they have been since the rule change that gave them custody of their own game balls. Brady is a fall guy for the organization in this scenario, perhaps reluctant now.
No, everyone does NOT play with the same ball. The teams prepare their own balls for use. Before 2008, the home team would prepare all the footballs. After Manning and Brady spearheaded the drive to allow each individual team to prepare their own footballs, that was changed for the 2008 season. (Why was that so necessary, if everyone plays with the same ball?). The balls are then checked by the officials to make sure they are within the standard rate of PSI and then delievered to the field. Only in the case of the balls used by the Patriots in the AFCCG, they made a short detour, where the equipment manager said he used the urininal to pee. (Further evidence showed that the bathroom in question had no urinal). Upon checking the inflation of the balls, it was determined that the ones the Patriots used for offense were below the required PSI in 11 of the 12 footballs that had previously been OK’d by the officials.
And three of four colts balls measured with the allegedly more accurate non-logo gauge were below the limit too. Tired of scientific illiterates who don’t read. Please read the NFLPA appeal transcript which clearly demonstrates that there was no believable evidence of tampering. Data was garbage and insufficient to reach any conclusion. Read Mackinnon’s analysis.
In the case of the Patriots, absolute proof of cheating, or even proof beyond a reasonable doubt, shouldn’t be necessary. Preponderance of the evidence should be enough. The Patriots case isn’t helped by the fact that it previously got caught in another cheating scam a decade ago.
Yep!
Deal with it — Tom Brady and the Patriots are cheaters
That’s a Boston newspaper.
Google “brady” and “once a cheater always” and you’ll find quite a few people who believe the old saying applies here.
Quite a few people (read: imbeciles) believed Saddam was responsible for 9/11. get another argument.
Tom Brady had nothing to do with the Spygate controversy and, according to Goodell’s report, the Patriots as an organization had nothing to do with Deflategate. It’s wrong to conflate the two and an example of very sloppy thinking.
Robert Parry
Yes,they are serial cheaters,it’s been proved and documented.
Why would Brady destroy his cell phone?Really now,the legacy of Tom Brady is not worth the damage done to the games integrity.
And Kraft must think his wealth precludes his being honest,or at least being a loyal and blemish free owner to the org that has made him a billionaire.
They are a shady bunch.
Are you serious? Serial cheaters? Is that you Troy Vincent?
There is no preponderance of evidence that Brady cheated. In fact, there is NO evidence that Brady cheated.
I’d love to see the Patriots refuse to play the four games Brady is suspended. I realize the team would lose a lot of money. But so would the other teams and the league. And it would probably wake up a large majority of the fans.
I was thinking along those lines also, but rather instead of the whole team, Brady should threaten to retire, or not play the whole season. Something drastic.
Dear Mr Parry,
I played football for a large part of my life, and i love the game. I have played with over inflated, correctly inflated, and under inflated footballs….when you play football for a long time you are able to play under all three conditions….and play pretty well !
If you are a good football player it doesn’t matter that much..if you are a great one it hardly matters at all …
Most fans of the sport KNOW this….Certainly most football players do……
The whole “issue” is so marginal it really is not taken very seriously by people who know the sport !
The making of mountains out of minutiae is more of a waste of time than anything else !
Silly!
Although this is making a mountain out of a mole hill, it is very serious to Tom Brady. If anyone has followed his career they would see a very dedicated, hard working, competitive, family centered man. His reputation means a lot to him. Being called a cheater and the butt of late night programs is wrong and hurtful IF you did nothing wrong.
To have other team owners deciding his fate is completely unfair. Every one of them would love to get Brady OFF the field.
If I were him I would take it to court also. (hopefully the jury will not be NFL team owners)
Thank you for this. I have seen people brought down for being too big to control in the corporate and the political world. Sports is not any different. Look at FIFA. Tom Brady is making too much money and has gained too much popularity to suit the big boys. They need a quick and dirty way to get rid of him. I do not like Trump but can sympathize with what is happening to him as well. I hope both Brady and Trump are vindicated and validated.
The problem is the same in nearly all of the most popular sports: there are too many ‘money’ people involved. Too many managers, too many agents, too many accountants, too many lawyers, too many advertising agents, too many sponsors, too many TV executives too many trainers; fill in the blanks yourselves, there are plenty left. All want a massive slice of the pie and all ride hard on the backs of the players. And yes, the players get too much too.
Absolutely first rate commentary.
No one complained during the game. Case Closed.
Now, send Rice to the Raiders and let’s play ball!