This time they allegedly deflated the footballs during their game vs the Colts, so that they can grip them better while on offense.

I thought this was a joke until I saw several news headlines and tweets citing "confirmed NFL sources".

See Curt's newswire (particularly the twitter feed on the right of the page as of the time of this writing).

The potential penalty is being seen as "lost draft picks" . Oh good because that surely deterred them last time. How about they forfeit the AFC championship as a penalty. You know...an actual punishment this time for cheating?

JC Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This time they allegedly deflated the footballs
> during their game vs the Colts, so that they can
> grip them better while on offense.
>
> I thought this was a joke until I saw several news
> headlines and tweets citing "confirmed NFL
> sources".
>
> See Curt's newswire (particularly the twitter feed
> on the right of the page as of the time of this
> writing).
>
> The potential penalty is being seen as "lost draft
> picks" . Oh good because that surely deterred
> them last time. How about they forfeit the AFC
> championship as a penalty. You know...an actual
> punishment this time for cheating?

If this is true, then they should lose all their picks for the next two drafts and bellichik should be suspended for an entire year.

THE Truth Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> JC Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > This time they allegedly deflated the footballs
> > during their game vs the Colts, so that they
> can
> > grip them better while on offense.
> >
> > I thought this was a joke until I saw several
> news
> > headlines and tweets citing "confirmed NFL
> > sources".
> >
> > See Curt's newswire (particularly the twitter
> feed
> > on the right of the page as of the time of this
> > writing).
> >
> > The potential penalty is being seen as "lost
> draft
> > picks" . Oh good because that surely deterred
> > them last time. How about they forfeit the AFC
> > championship as a penalty. You know...an actual
> > punishment this time for cheating?
>
> If this is true, then they should lose all their
> picks for the next two drafts and bellichik should
> be suspended for an entire year.


Something tells me nothing much will come of it...again.

But it does explain part of the reason the Pats ran up the score in the second half...the 'investigation' began at the end of halftime, from one blurb I read. So Bill ran up the score to prove that it didn't make a difference, just as he ran up the score during every game in his almost-undefeated season as a response to his getting caught cheating with cameras prior to that.

And they have the nerve to file tampering charges against the Jets because Woody said he "would love to have Revis" back in 2015.

JoeFootball Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> And they have the nerve to file tampering charges
> against the Jets because Woody said he "would love
> to have Revis" back in 2015.


LOL I saw that headline too. Classic.

I wonder how the NY-centric media will treat this.

"Deflate Gate"

JoeFootball Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "Deflate Gate"

LOL I think that is more suitable for print than anything with the word "balls."

No way the NFL wants this hanging over Super Bowl week, my guess is that it will get poo poo'd real quick

I think Coach Shula was onto something recently!

Shula knows all

Yeah, dolfan, I had forgotten all the flak that Shula got for calling a Cheatriot a Cheatriot!

I think they should forfeit the AFC Championship, all 2015 draft picks, Bellichik should be banned for life, and the owner should be fined $1 Million if they find out the balls were deflated.

Harsh for sure, but it would sure serve to set the precedent for any future cheating.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/2015 10:15PM by Ken.

Ken Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think they should forfeit the AFC Championship,
> all 2015 draft picks, Bellichik should be banned
> for life, and the owner should be fined $1 Million
> if they find out the balls were deflated.
>
> Harsh for sure, but it would sure serve to set the
> precedent for any future cheating.

Forfeiting the AFC title isn't an option.

They aren't going to blow up the the super bowl. Even if they wanted to, by the time they made a decision it would be to late to bring in the Colts. Most of their players are probably on a beach or golf course by now.

I hope they dont pay off the investigators on the deflated ball investigation. No Gillette stock given either

I thought the refs were suspicious during the game. If so, they should have declared a forfeit right there instead of letting it play out. It would ensure that no future team would ever do it again.

THE Truth Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ken Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I think they should forfeit the AFC
> Championship,
> > all 2015 draft picks, Bellichik should be
> banned
> > for life, and the owner should be fined $1
> Million
> > if they find out the balls were deflated.
> >
> > Harsh for sure, but it would sure serve to set
> the
> > precedent for any future cheating.
>
> Forfeiting the AFC title isn't an option.
>
> They aren't going to blow up the the super bowl.
> Even if they wanted to, by the time they made a
> decision it would be to late to bring in the
> Colts. Most of their players are probably on a
> beach or golf course by now.


RE: I realize it's not going to happen. In fact it's very likely nothing happens at all. But it is what SHOULD happen.

Ken Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> THE Truth Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Ken Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > I think they should forfeit the AFC
> > Championship,
> > > all 2015 draft picks, Bellichik should be
> > banned
> > > for life, and the owner should be fined $1
> > Million
> > > if they find out the balls were deflated.
> > >
> > > Harsh for sure, but it would sure serve to
> set
> > the
> > > precedent for any future cheating.
> >
> > Forfeiting the AFC title isn't an option.
> >
> > They aren't going to blow up the the super bowl.
>
> > Even if they wanted to, by the time they made
> a
> > decision it would be to late to bring in the
> > Colts. Most of their players are probably on
> a
> > beach or golf course by now.
>
>
> RE: I realize it's not going to happen. In fact
> it's very likely nothing happens at all. But it is
> what SHOULD happen.

I've got to disagree there Ken. What "should happen" has to be within the bounds of reality.

You have to do a thorough and fair investigation before handing out a heavy penalty. There's just not enough time to do that, void their win from last Sunday, give the game to the Colts, and still hold a super bowl in 11 days.


And you are right. Nothing is going to come of this unless you can show that the Colts were forced to play with the doctored balls.

Doesn't make any difference if the Colts were "forced to play" with a doctored ball. First, on a scientific level, if the Patsies were using a doctored ball on offense, in addition to them getting an advantage, it is also a disadvantage to the defense which has to judge how to 1) make interceptions and/or 2) judge how to deflect a bat down into the hands of a fellow defender.

Second, if the Patsies were getting an advantage in this extremely cold weather and their offensive scoring was inflated, what's the difference?

And with respect to the "bounds of reality" argument, it is not within the bounds of reality to forfeit a game because it is not written in the rules books (except for what happens with Heisman's and the like).

It should be written in the rules right now. And I'd go farther and give the refs the power to call an end to the game on the spot and forfeit the game to the other team.

apparently it all started with d'qwell jackson's int. He noticed the ball was deflated a bit. he told pagano, who told the gm, who call the nfl field operations dept who then contacted the refs.

the colts supply their game balls as do the pats.

i would think the line judge or whomever is placing the ball in between every play would have noticed.

what's that burning rubber smell coming from the league offices?

I don't think giving that much power to the refs (who, most of you think are paid off) makes much sense at all.

JoeFootball Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don't think giving that much power to the refs
> (who, most of you think are paid off) makes much
> sense at all.

It's the honest ones that make the call (of a violation). It's the crooked ones that don't seem to see the violation at all.

I am not sure if the Patriots attempted to gain an advantage by deflating footballs or not.. But they smoked the Colts, so I would have a hard time believing that a deflated ball was the difference in that game... That being said if they did knowingly attempt to cheat they should be penalized with lost draft picks nothing more.. The Colts don't deserve to be in the Super bowl over the Pats either way IMO... The Pats looked like a Super bowl caliber team and the Colts didn't... I have a hard time believing it was because of a deflated ball...

-----------------------------------------------------------------
All things are subject to interpretation whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.
Nietzsche

It was only because the rough ball was ruining Tommy's delicate, manicured wittle hands.

I feel you Crowder but I just can't reach you. After all, I've spent a year in Indiana and three winters 30 or so miles away from Foxsboro and there is a stark difference in weather. Add a deflated ball and a lecture by the Patsies coaches to the Rodent players as to how to adjust to a deflated ball that the Colts did not know exist and...... who knows, dammit.

The point is that YOU SHOULDN'T CHEAT!!!!!

And when you do, YOU SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED TO KEEP THE STOLEN GOODS!

As a matter of fact, even if you cheated and could prove hypothetically that it had a) NO EFFECT ON THE GAME and in fact b) that by cheating you, as it turns out, HURT YOUR OWN TEAM MORE than the other.................
I still say that it should be the way that we do things in the criminal law system, you should both go to jail AND LOSE the ill gotten gains, gains in this sense meaning the overall win.

jsm08 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> apparently it all started with d'qwell jackson's
> int. He noticed the ball was deflated a bit. he
> told pagano, who told the gm, who call the nfl
> field operations dept who then contacted the
> refs.
>
> the colts supply their game balls as do the pats.
>
>
> i would think the line judge or whomever is
> placing the ball in between every play would have
> noticed.
>
> what's that burning rubber smell coming from the
> league offices?


That's right. Each team supplies their own balls. That's why this isn't really a huge issue.

The pats deflated the balls they used on offense. They did this because it allows Brady to get a better grip on the ball, especially in bad weather. While its against the rules to do this, its not the crime of the century because they use a special ball to kick with and the colts rotate their selected footballs in when they are on offense.

The only way this is a huge problem is if the Colts QB was forced to use the deflated ball. To my knowledge, nobody is claiming that.

Just another example of the pats bending/breaking the rules to gain an advantage. Frankly, were they not guilty of spy-gate this wouldn't even be a story. But they got off light on that one and if they are proven to have blatantly broken another rule to gain an advantage then they need to get spanked really hard as a two time offender.

Getting an unfair advantage with YOUR BALL while you are on offense is still cheating. The balls are supposed to be pumped up to a certain air pressure.

In the criminal justice system, there is no such laxity for violation of the rules. A violation is a violation and when you concede it helps your team, while the other team is playing with a properly inflated ball in the cold weather which is stiffer as opposed to yours which is softer, then you are gaining an advantage unless you tell the other team, "Hey look, we are deflating our ball a tad bit and you might want to do the same thing." But that is not the rodent way.

it is a big deal and they wouldn't have done it if they didn't think they would have an advantage.

the balls had nothing to do with the asskicking the administered. it has everything to do with the integrity of the game.

belichick is a control freak. he knows everything that is going on from day to day operations to game day decisions. the league has found 11 of the 12 balls the pats used were underinflated by 2 pounds.

that's not an accident.

belichick should be suspended for at least 1 year.