Tom Brady suspended 4 games, plans to appeal

[amigocabal]

Tom Brady suspended 4 games, plans to appeal

The Patriots will begin their Super Bowl title defense without the services of the franchise's greatest all-time player.

The NFL announced Monday that Tom Brady has been suspended without pay for four games for violating the NFL policy on the integrity of the game. The team will also be fined $1 million and will forfeit a 2016 first-rounder and 2017 fourth-round selection in the NFL Draft. (You can read the full NFL statement here.)

The massive punishment comes less than a week after independent investigator Ted Wells found that it was "more probable than not" that Brady was "at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities" regarding the deflation of Patriots game balls used in the AFC Championship Game against the Colts.

Commissioner Roger Goodell authorized the discipline that was imposed by NFL Executive President Troy Vincent, who made it clear that Brady's lack of cooperation with the league's investigation was a factor in the punishment.

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[Aether]

That has got to be the flimsiest statement of guilt I have seen; "More probable that not that you were, at least, generally aware of something inappropriate."

He should have said nothing at all during the investigation.

[amigocabal]

That has got to be the flimsiest statement of guilt I have seen; "More probable that not that you were, at least, generally aware of something inappropriate."

He should have said nothing at all during the investigation.

Which is why he was only suspended for four games, instead of banned from the NFL.

[Aether]

That has got to be the flimsiest statement of guilt I have seen; "More probable that not that you were, at least, generally aware of something inappropriate."

He should have said nothing at all during the investigation.

Which is why he was only suspended for four games, instead of banned from the NFL.

Given that it is not a court of law, the NFL can do whatever they wish; especially with Brady. I didn't read the report, but what is the rationale with punishing the team?

[Block]

That has got to be the flimsiest statement of guilt I have seen; "More probable that not that you were, at least, generally aware of something inappropriate."

He should have said nothing at all during the investigation.

Which is why he was only suspended for four games, instead of banned from the NFL.

Given that it is not a court of law, the NFL can do whatever they wish; especially with Brady. I didn't read the report, but what is the rationale with punishing the team?

A team employee was the one doctoring the balls for Brady.

[Edi]

"Massive punishment" ?

I'll die from excessive laughter. That's a fucking slap on the wrist.

[Flagg]

"Massive punishment" ?

I'll die from excessive laughter. That's a fucking slap on the wrist.

It's not even a fucking slap on the wrist. Adrian Petersen got pulled from the game for an entire season for shit that didn't involve the NFL in any way. And he should have been, he beat his small child with switches until the poor little guy was bleeding on his butt, legs, and genitals. An entire season suspension, richly deserved and I hope the legal case against him is going well for the state unless they already dropped it, being Texas and all.

But what Brady did, while not nearly as bad as the horror Petersen committed, was on the field.And there had been previous complaints by other teams in past games (I don't remember if it's past seasons, too). It may have effected the outcome of the AFC Championship (though it was for only half the game IIRC and the colts sucked pretty bad that night anyway, so I doubt it) and who knows how many other times they did this? Only them. Because they didn't cooperate with the investigation, especially Tam Brady. And that is what he's actually being suspended the 4 games for, why the Patriots Organization was fined $1 million, and those 2 locker room attendants that did the dirty work while Tammy texted them the whole fucking time got "suspended indefinitely", which either means "fired" or "fired unless this blows over quick so hope for a disaster, manmade or natural."

We might have more on Brandy and her cohorts in crime had the Cheatriots and Bob "I'm Best Friends Forever" with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell actually cooperated in the investigation. But they didn't help worth half a pinched off in a hurry mouse shit, so I think there must be something that damages Kraft, or most likely Brady and by default the Patriots hidden in this mess, and my guess would be that Brady had been doing this for awhile and to an extent that could be career-ending cheating, something hugely embarrassing, likely something he did or signed for the 2 nitwits who deflated the balls for him, or even worse, something outright illegal, but I hugely, hugely, hugely doubt it was anything illegal.

But some day it will come out. Just the sooner the better, cause I hate Brady and the whole motherfucking organization, the vast majority of their racist fatass moron fans, and the eternal look on Bill Belicheats fucking face like he's in the middle of wiping his ass and the paper slid the wrong way and now he's got a palm smeared with shit. I'm surprised it would disgust him, since he's a walking talking piece of shit, TBH.

[Thanas]

That has got to be the flimsiest statement of guilt I have seen; "More probable that not that you were, at least, generally aware of something inappropriate."

This has got to be the most uninformed statement I have seen.

The new CBA stipulates that preponderance of the evidence (aka "more probable than not") is the new standard for being found guilty in these investigations. The Patriots agreed to the CBA. According to the agreement, which the Patriots signed, they just have to find it more probable than not that X occurred. So the league is well within their rights to throw the book at them, as "more probable than not" is the same as "guilty".

[Aether]

That has got to be the flimsiest statement of guilt I have seen; "More probable that not that you were, at least, generally aware of something inappropriate."

This has got to be the most uninformed statement I have seen.

The new CBA stipulates that preponderance of the evidence (aka "more probable than not") is the new standard for being found guilty in these investigations. The Patriots agreed to the CBA. According to the agreement, which the Patriots signed, they just have to find it more probable than not that X occurred. So the league is well within their rights to throw the book at them, as "more probable than not" is the same as "guilty".

Lower standard of evidence, lesser crime.
All of us know that the general public will presume "guilt" by the "yeah, more probably than not you kinda knew something" means "beyond the shadow of a doubt."
Because football.

[Thanas]

You're not getting it.

[TheHammer]

"Massive punishment" ?

I'll die from excessive laughter. That's a fucking slap on the wrist.

Actually it is a pretty significant punishment from a football perspective. The team can easily handle the fines, hell they'll cut players that cost them more money than that, but losing those draft picks are what really hurts the franchise - especially the 1st rounder.

Tom Brady's suspension seems fair given the circumstances and past precedent. Its akin to a pitcher doctoring a baseball or using a corked bat in my opinion. Such offenses have drawn 8-10 game suspensions, or 6% of a MLB season. Brady's suspension by contrast will cost him 25% of an NFL season and 2 million in salary.

[Steve]

Except when you consider his income from endorsements and other non-game sources, plus the fact that he's still getting paid for the other weeks and wil thus have an income for the season.... it really doesn't seem that restrictive. It doesn't seem like it was that much of a blow. Arguably the real blow to him is the PR hit, not the money hit or suspensions, but have any of the companies he's signed up with for endorsements or sponsorships cut him over this?

[Gaidin]

Does the NFL have that kind of control over the endorsements or just their money?

[CaptHawkeye]

Hey remember when the Colts lost the AFC championship so badly that Colts players even said that the pressure of the footballs had literally zero impact on the outcome of the game?

[Flagg]

Hey remember when the Colts lost the AFC championship so badly that Colts players even said that the pressure of the footballs had literally zero impact on the outcome of the game?

That is the most twisted, fucked up logic I've heard over this shit and I've heard some really fucked up shit.
Did they break the rules? Yes? Then who gives a fuck if they would win or lose already? Brady must have though they needed "help" beating the Colts since he had all those footballs deflated. Just because it turns out he didn't gain from the cheating doesn't mean he shouldn't be punished for cheating.

I mean I killed my wife for the insurance money, but she forgot to make the last payment, so I gained not a single cent from killing her! In fact I lost money on the gun, ammunition, and funeral.
Does that mean I should be off the hook now?

[Block]

Hey remember when the Colts lost the AFC championship so badly that Colts players even said that the pressure of the footballs had literally zero impact on the outcome of the game?

Hey, remember when a statistical analysis pointed to this going on since the rule change in 2007? The rule change that Brady himself lobbied for.

[Flagg]

Hey remember when the Colts lost the AFC championship so badly that Colts players even said that the pressure of the footballs had literally zero impact on the outcome of the game?

Hey, remember when a statistical analysis pointed to this going on since the rule change in 2007? The rule change that Brady himself lobbied for.

And then when challenged about the rules regarding ball PSI claimed he had no idea what the rule was or what it said!

[Pelranius]

I take it that they couldn't find any evidence of Belichik (sp) being involved in Ballghazi?

Though I'd be a little bit understanding that the investigators would want to tread lightly around that real life Roose Bolton.

[Elheru Aran]

Saw a rather absurd article this morning saying that part of the reason the NFL didn't come down harder on the Pats was because they'd already burned the Pats for Spygate.

...but who the fuck remembers Spygate?

And that they'd also gone light because they simply couldn't get enough evidence. That I can buy. Still, it doesn't really matter what the Pats did before and got punished for, you don't let people off the hook with a slap on the wrist for a second offense.

[Patroklos]

The Pats overall? Sure. Brady himself regarding his personal suspension, however, had nothing to do with Spygate.

[Gaidin]

Saw a rather absurd article this morning saying that part of the reason the NFL didn't come down harder on the Pats was because they'd already burned the Pats for Spygate.

...but who the fuck remembers Spygate?

And that they'd also gone light because they simply couldn't get enough evidence. That I can buy. Still, it doesn't really matter what the Pats did before and got punished for, you don't let people off the hook with a slap on the wrist for a second offense.

Speaking as someone who doesn't know how these punishments work, I'm hearing two things now. I've read that not only is Brady's heavy compared to other sports percentage of season-wise, though that may be an issue of length of season to get a relative amount of games. And I've heard that hitting the Patriots in the draft is actually pretty bad in this very thread because it was Patriots employees that actually handled the footballs.

What's the word...?

[Patroklos]

So I found this linked in a Slate article on how outrageous this penalty is compared to other recent ball tampering incidents:

http://drewfustin.com/deflategate/

BLUF: The NFL doesn't know what gauge was used to achieve the 12.5 starting pressure, there were two on hand and they have a consistent .38 difference in pressure readings. If you use one gauge in the analysis there is nothing out of the ordinary going on, if you use the other you get the readings used to justify a penalty. The official who made the initial measurement says he probably used the first, but could have used the second. Despite this statement the NFL has decided to use the second which conveniently gives them the illegal pressure reading. Has anyone heard about the multiple gauge thing before? I haven't seen it on any of the normal news sites so I'd like corroboration.

As a bonus the author shows the Well's Report's physics are bunk. Which doesn't surprise me at all. It relies on a lot of assumptions such as the temperature during the initial 12.5 official measurement.

[Civil War Man]

Saw a rather absurd article this morning saying that part of the reason the NFL didn't come down harder on the Pats was because they'd already burned the Pats for Spygate.

...but who the fuck remembers Spygate?

And that they'd also gone light because they simply couldn't get enough evidence. That I can buy. Still, it doesn't really matter what the Pats did before and got punished for, you don't let people off the hook with a slap on the wrist for a second offense.

Speaking as someone who doesn't know how these punishments work, I'm hearing two things now. I've read that not only is Brady's heavy compared to other sports percentage of season-wise, though that may be an issue of length of season to get a relative amount of games. And I've heard that hitting the Patriots in the draft is actually pretty bad in this very thread because it was Patriots employees that actually handled the footballs.

What's the word...?

It's hard to say, since the NFL doesn't really seem to know what it's doing when it comes to disciplining people. You've had people suspended for an entire season for participating in a bounty program that offers rewards for injuring opposing players, and you've had people suspended for an entire season for smoking pot in their off-hours. Brady's case is kind of weird because it's 4 games not for cheating personally, but for probably knowing that other people on the team were cheating on his behalf, which is probably the root of a lot of the drama.

The 4 game suspension does present an interesting juxtaposition to show just how fucked up the NFL's priorities are, since it's twice as long as Ray Rice's original suspension for beating his fiancee until she lost consciousness (yes, the suspension was eventually made indefinite, but only after pretty much everyone tore Goodell a new asshole over it).

[TheHammer]

Except when you consider his income from endorsements and other non-game sources, plus the fact that he's still getting paid for the other weeks and wil thus have an income for the season.... it really doesn't seem that restrictive. It doesn't seem like it was that much of a blow. Arguably the real blow to him is the PR hit, not the money hit or suspensions, but have any of the companies he's signed up with for endorsements or sponsorships cut him over this?

It's Two million effing dollars. Even factoring in non-football income that's not chump change. Think about how bad your year would be if 25% of your salary had been taken away. Not that he's going to starve or be on the street, but that's still a significant penalty.

The PR hit is going to be what its going to be, but he's always been a polarizing individual anyway. I happen to think everyone who wasn't a Patriots fan already disliked Tom Brady. Everyone who was a Patriots fan is still going to love him. And I would think endorsers have to realize that as well, which is probably why he actually makes relatively little in endorsements.

[Flagg]

These are fucking great. I haven't seen Keith Olbermann this good since he took W. to the woodshed and kept him there for 3 years. Of course when he started saying kinda/sorta questioning things about Obama he got fired. Because, you know... Anyone Phil Griffin, head of News at MSNBC, didn't like and didn't chug Obama's dick like Gatorade and defend him without question in the first 2-3 years of the first term when Republican blockage was a bigger, nastier, story (Because the Executive and Legislative branches fighting is more important than dead brown people) than all the drone murders that had picked up quite a bit since Obama took over.

This one is more on point actually giving Tom Brady clearly honest, sane, and apparently, desperately needed advice about his agent :


This one is more in the spirit of mocking Brady, but it's more funny as hell than anything, mainly I think because Olbermann doesn't like liars and stupid people, and Brady is a Blatantly lying, incredibly stupid jackass. Enjoy!: