The Verdict Is In On Deflategate...

[Guinevere]

We do some work for the town where the stadium is located, these guys don't bluff.

[Gob]

How much they paying?

[oldr_n_wsr]

and the best QB since Staubach.....

IMHO there were a few quarterbacks in that time frame that were better than Staubach. Montana and Marino to name two.

[Big RR]

And Manning.

[MajGenl.Meade]

And Brian Sipe.

Ok maybe not. But those were the good old days eh? Stabler, that Steelers jackass, so many enjoyable games.

[wesw]

bradshaw was, as much as I hate to admit it. and archie manning was the only one mentioned above who played in the same time frame as staubach

[wesw]

fran Tarkington was pretty good too...

[MajGenl.Meade]

wesw strikes gold! Marino and Montana were post Staubach (OK Montana started in 1979 but he was great in the 80s, not the 70s). Bob Griese was up there along with Bradshaw, Manning and Tarkington. Not to forget Ken Anderson of the Bungles.

[Lord Jim]

One person seems to realize that subpoenas and sworn testimony wouldn't be a great place to wind up with this:

Robert Kraft: Patriots won't appeal Deflategate punishment

SAN FRANCISCO -- New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft said the reigning Super Bowl champions will accept their punishment from the NFL in the Deflategate investigation.

The Patriots were fined $1 million and docked two draft picks -- a first-rounder in 2016 and a fourth-rounder in 2017 -- by the NFL after an investigation found that star quarterback Tom Brady was "at least generally aware" of a scheme to illegally deflate footballs for the AFC Championship Game.

Striking a conciliatory tone, Kraft said Tuesday that the Patriots will not appeal the penalties.

"Although I might disagree what is decided, I do have respect for [commissioner Roger Goodell] and believe that he's doing what he perceives to be in the best interests of [all 32 teams]," Kraft said, while speaking to the media at the NFL owners meetings. "So in that spirit, I don't want to continue the rhetoric that's gone on for the last four months.

"I'm going to accept, reluctantly, what he has given to us and not continue this dialogue and rhetoric. We won't appeal."

Kraft said that he was putting the league before his franchise because "at no time should the agenda of one team outweigh the collective good of the 32."

The league also suspended Brady for four games, a punishment the he is appealing through the National Football League Players Association. George Atallah, the NFLPA's executive director of external affairs, tweeted shortly after Kraft's announcement that Brady will continue his appeal.

http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/i ... punishment

I suspect that after Brady loses his appeal with Goodell, rather than go to court, he'll say something about how he's innocent but he's going to accept the penalty rather than go to court "in the best interest of the team, the league, the fans, blah, blah blah..."

[Big RR]

Maybe, or maybe Goodell agreed to cut the suspension in half in exchange (that might well be worth the million dollar fine) for the Patriots giving up on an extended appeal. I can't see the Patriots agreeing to this unless they have a deal or unless they think the appeal could go worse for them (e.g. they have a couple of other things to worry about that are not public yet). I'd personally lean toward the first alternative.

As for Brady, I'd bet he'd be enough of a team player to do what they tell him.

[MajGenl.Meade]

The Brady Bunch

[Guinevere]

I'm a bit surprised Kraft backed down, but his lawyers did a crappy job on their "rebuttal" of the NFL report and there is no clear legal path for him to follow other than suing the NFL. That's a big expensive risk that may create more long-term damage then he was willing to face.

I also think, as BigRR pointed out, there was more leverage to go this path vis a vis Brady (and those "conclusions" are the weakest of the lot).

[rubato]

Or guilty knowledge has made the job of acting the helpless victim beyond their talents as thespians.



yrs,
rubato

[Long Run]

Or, they both realized that they had managed to make a mountain out of molehill, and Kraft decided he did not want to be in the very select group of owners who rocks the boat (you know, like the older crazy Al Davis), given that the boat is spilling over with money.

[Lord Jim]

Hardcore Patriots fans don't let a little thing like death slow them down:

Patriots Fan’s Obituary Declares Tom Brady Innocent In Deflategate

Some New England Patriots fans would rather die than admit Tom Brady committed any wrongdoing in Deflategate. Patricia M. Shong did just that. Shong, a resident of Auburn, Mass., died Monday at 72 years old. She didn’t go quietly, though. Her obituary, which ran in Thursday’s edition of the Auburn Mass Daily, described her love for reading and knitting before dropping this gem near the end. “She would also like us to set the record straight for her: Brady is innocent!!” Well, there you have it. Brady — who is appealing the NFL’s decision to suspend him for four games — has seen his popularity take quite the hit since the Wells Report was released. But the fact that one Patriots fan literally took a belief of the quarterback’s innocence to her grave shows New England always will have Brady’s back.

Read more at: http://nesn.com/2015/05/patriots-fans-o ... flategate/

[MajGenl.Meade]

This was shortly before she deflated?

[Joe Guy]

Her final words were, "I promise you that Brady is innocent or may God strike me dead!"

[Gob]

[MajGenl.Meade]

Apparently she wasn't pressured into the declaration

[Beer Sponge]

Looks like she's dead wrong on this one...