DeflateGate Debacle

Ever since reports surfaced of the Patriots possibly deflating footballs in January’s AFC Championship Game, the NFL has swung our opinion on the matter two times, or even three in some cases.  Now maybe this isn’t the NFL’s fault,  but it was on them for dragging this out so long, leading to those opinions to be swung.

Wednesday’s report, done by Ted Wells and sent to the NFL, revealed everything, and I mean everything.  Text messages, video surveillance, phone calls with dates and time lengths, and a scientific experiment done by an external group the NFL hired.  I mean, we thought this was a joke, and now it is no longer one, and perhaps never was.

The report points out three people:  Tom Brady, Jim McNally, and John Jastremski, the last two being Patriots locker room assistants.

Overall, the report concluded that Brady, McNally, and Jastremski all had something to do with it, using the phrase “more than probable”.  Well, that’s not good enough for some people.

I put this tweet in yesterday.  Obviously, this morning’s news regarding him (Bill Simmons) puts a new spin on things.

Alright, so maybe the report did conclude more than that.  Really, it’s on those three guys, and that’s it.  No one else in the Patriots organization had any knowledge of this.  No one.  That alone is insane, adding to the overall madness this thing has brought.  Everything from obscenities-filled text messages between McNally and Jastremski, phone calls between all three, and gifts from Brady to both locker room assistants.

Notice “gifts”?  I mean, since college football doesn’t allow anything close to that, it seems just a little childish that this would happen in the NFL.  Really?  Gifts for putting the PSI down in a football a bit?  Really Tom Brady?

While that’s not the most important thing, it’s still pretty ridiculous.

As for discipline, the NFL claims that they are looking into every option for three people involved.  With McNally and Jastremski, they should fired, and that’s it.  That’s about as harsh of a penalty you can put on them, since they aren’t a player or coach.  I’ve gone back and forth on Tom Brady, and whether he deserves punishment.  I mean, he knew it was going on; he orchestrated the whole thing.  He knew it was against the rules, and he knew he was cheating.  Brady also lied, to the NFL, his team, his coach, his fans.  I mean, he probably deserves to get punished.  I’m not sure the team does though.

Look, if Brady does get any type of punishment, it’s probably gonna be a hefty fine.  My Dad is right, this is totally over blown.  Yes, they broke the rules, and yes, Tom Brady lied.  But did the air pressure of the football really help the Patriots beat the Colts in the AFC Championship Game? With a 45-7 final score, I don’t think so.

If Brady does say, get suspended, it wouldn’t affect his legacy.  It’s insane to think he could be suspended, but the NFL is reportedly considering all options here.  It wouldn’t taint his legacy.  Players get suspended all the time.  It’d be silly and unfair for the NFL to kick him out for the year, which is on the table, per CBS Sports.  A 1-4 game suspension wouldn’t have an effect on his legacy.  Again, guys get suspended all the time and it really doesn’t matter legacy wise, unless you have a drug problem or you’re kicked out.

Overall, we all probably made a bigger deal out of this than we should have.  Me, the media, the NFL, everything.  This really wasn’t that big of a deal.  Perhaps, if the Ray Rice Fiasco (notice the capital) hadn’t happened, this would have been much more low-key.  The Ray Rice thing was a big deal, because the commissioner found himself in a pretty bad situation, in which he knew he screwed up, and wouldn’t admit it.

Since that happened, any chance people got to criticize the league was looked at as gold.  And while this isn’t totally on the league, the previous incidents made it look worse than it really was.

Short column here, but just wanted to get a thought out on it.  Reports say that a punishment for Tom Brady will be released soon.