#DeflateGate (Court of Appeals Reinstates Suspension)

[PhoSita]

From Brady's statement this morning:

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.

Clearly this whole thing is just an elaborate scheme devised by Brady and his secret corporate sponsor, Apple, to promote the iPhone 6.

[Celtics4ever]

I thought this would happen because of the hubris he displayed to the league, thus I suspected they would make an example of him.  I think the league blew this out of proportion though, I suspect all QBs do it.

[D.o.s.]

put another way: the reason there are reporters 'still' covering Deflategate is the same reason we can have a multi-page thread about RJ Hunter months before the regular season starts. It has very little to do with the quality (or lack thereof) of the happenings, but simply the fact that the happenings exist.

  As far as the nfl goes, whether or not Brady gets suspended for four games seems like big news.

Certainly a bigger deal than RJ Hunter scoring 96 points. That was responding to the question "why are people still focusing on this?" and the answer is that it's the NFL -- the audience is voracious enough that they'll turn anything into a newsworthy story, "worthwhile" or not.

[Donoghus]

So...ummm... Kraft just took a flame thrower to Goodell & the league office.

[D.o.s.]

So...ummm... Kraft just took a flame thrower to Goodell & the league office.

A little disingenuous given his actual actions last time he said mean things though, I would say.

[Donoghus]

So...ummm... Kraft just took a flame thrower to Goodell & the league office.

A little disingenuous given his actual actions last time he said mean things though, I would say.

Yeah,  I mean where was this back in June or whenever he rolled over?

Good to see some fight out of him again, though.

[kozlodoev]

So...ummm... Kraft just took a flame thrower to Goodell & the league office.

A little disingenuous given his actual actions last time he said mean things though, I would say.

Not at all if you listened to the whole statement.

[Donoghus]

PFT just posted the transcript in its entirety.

I felt it was important to make a statement today, prior to the start of training camp. After this, I will not be talking about this matter until after the legal process plays itself out, and I would advise everyone in the organization to do the same and just concentrate on preparation for the 2015 season.

The decision handed down by the league yesterday is unfathomable to me. It is routine for discipline in the NFL to be reduced upon appeal. In the vast majority of these cases, there is tangible and hard evidence of 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.

The league’s handling of this entire process has been extremely frustrating and disconcerting. 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.

Yesterday’s decision by Commissioner was released in a similar manner, under an erroneous headline that read, “Tom Brady destroyed his cellphone.” 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.

Tom Brady is a person of great integrity, and is a great ambassador of the game, both on and off the field. Yet for reasons that I cannot comprehend, there are those in the league office who are more determined to prove that they were right rather than admit any culpability of their own or take any responsibility for the initiation of a process and ensuing investigation that was flawed.

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.

I have been negotiating agreements on a global basis my entire life. I know there are times when you have to give up important points of principle to achieve a greater good. I acted in good faith and was optimistic that by taking the actions I took the league would have what they wanted. 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.

Once again, I want to apologize to the fans of the New England Patriots and 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.

Personally, this is very sad and disappointing to me.

[Rondo2287]

Good to see flame wars happening in real sports and not just the celticsblog points league. 


Also, how much would Mark Cuban be fined if he did this stuff in the NBA?

[BballTim]

Brady finally comes out with a statement (you know, for the people in this thread that kinda actually care and have been following this from the start  )

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/29/tom-brady-im-very-disappointed-i-did-nothing-wrong/

  He seems to be claiming his old phone was broken, although everything prior to that statement pointed to something completely different. Also, he tells us all about why he never intended to give his phone or the texts to the league, yet he talks about asking the phone company if they could retrieve the texts. Not really credible, unless the plan was to have his assistant destroy some of their servers if they claimed they had the texts.

[D.o.s.]

So...ummm... Kraft just took a flame thrower to Goodell & the league office.

A little disingenuous given his actual actions last time he said mean things though, I would say.

Not at all if you listened to the whole statement.

Nah that's bogus. He knew exactly what was going to happen when he refused to sue them a month ago. This is just more posturing and jock adjusting by all parties involved.

[Rondo2287]

Brady finally comes out with a statement (you know, for the people in this thread that kinda actually care and have been following this from the start  )

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/29/tom-brady-im-very-disappointed-i-did-nothing-wrong/

  He seems to be claiming his old phone was broken, although everything prior to that statement pointed to something completely different. Also, he tells us all about why he never intended to give his phone or the texts to the league, yet he talks about asking the phone company if they could retrieve the texts. Not really credible, unless the plan was to have his assistant destroy some of their servers if they claimed they had the texts.

I think the "Destroyed His Phone" Narrative was a red herring

I think replaced his phone is more accurate. 

Also Brady and the patriots did provide all cell phones for every non NFLPA employee of the patriots, so they saw every text that brady sent to Belichick, and the two equipment guys.

Finally Brady presented new information during his appeal which was the records of every text he sent on that phone and offered to assist the NFL in gathering any text they wanted. 

[kozlodoev]

From Brady's statement this morning:

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.

Clearly this whole thing is just an elaborate scheme devised by Brady and his secret corporate sponsor, Apple, to promote the iPhone 6.

I personally think switching from Android to Apple is an unforgivable offense that merits even more than a 4 game ban. 

[BballTim]

PFT just posted the transcript in its entirety.

I felt it was important to make a statement today, prior to the start of training camp. After this, I will not be talking about this matter until after the legal process plays itself out, and I would advise everyone in the organization to do the same and just concentrate on preparation for the 2015 season.

The decision handed down by the league yesterday is unfathomable to me. It is routine for discipline in the NFL to be reduced upon appeal. In the vast majority of these cases, there is tangible and hard evidence of 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.

The league’s handling of this entire process has been extremely frustrating and disconcerting. 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.

Yesterday’s decision by Commissioner was released in a similar manner, under an erroneous headline that read, “Tom Brady destroyed his cellphone.” 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.

Tom Brady is a person of great integrity, and is a great ambassador of the game, both on and off the field. Yet for reasons that I cannot comprehend, there are those in the league office who are more determined to prove that they were right rather than admit any culpability of their own or take any responsibility for the initiation of a process and ensuing investigation that was flawed.

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.

I have been negotiating agreements on a global basis my entire life. I know there are times when you have to give up important points of principle to achieve a greater good. I acted in good faith and was optimistic that by taking the actions I took the league would have what they wanted. 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.

Once again, I want to apologize to the fans of the New England Patriots and 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.

Personally, this is very sad and disappointing to me.

  Doesn't really add a lot. One thing worth noting: Brady talks about providing the league with info about all the calls and texts he made prior to the afc title game, and Kraft talks about Brady providing the league with a history of his calls and texts for "that relevant time frame". It's likely the league was just as interested in any calls or texts made after the game, and were likely stonewalled on that.

[BballTim]

Brady finally comes out with a statement (you know, for the people in this thread that kinda actually care and have been following this from the start  )

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/29/tom-brady-im-very-disappointed-i-did-nothing-wrong/

  He seems to be claiming his old phone was broken, although everything prior to that statement pointed to something completely different. Also, he tells us all about why he never intended to give his phone or the texts to the league, yet he talks about asking the phone company if they could retrieve the texts. Not really credible, unless the plan was to have his assistant destroy some of their servers if they claimed they had the texts.

I think the "Destroyed His Phone" Narrative was a red herring

I think replaced his phone is more accurate. 

Also Brady and the patriots did provide all cell phones for every non NFLPA employee of the patriots, so they saw every text that brady sent to Belichick, and the two equipment guys.

Finally Brady presented new information during his appeal which was the records of every text he sent on that phone and offered to assist the NFL in gathering any text they wanted.

  Replaced isn't more accurate. He doesn't have the old phone to give them, because it (and the sim card) were (apparently) deliberately destroyed. If Brady had the phone destroyed and had confirmed with the carrier that they couldn't retrieve the texts, how was he going to assist the NFL in gathering those texts? A seance?