Arena The Official NFL Discussion Thread (Now Featuring Time's Person of the Year, Taylor Swift!)

JFC, he apparently hadn't even signed his rookie contract yet.

 

And it likely never will.

 

And here you go, per espn:

Brady suspended; Pats docked $1M, picks

Tom Brady has been suspended four games, and the Patriots will forfeit a first-round pick in 2016 and a fourth-round pick in 2017. New England was also hit with a $1 million fine.

 

I know people wanted more games for Brady, but honestly, it was more than I thought he'd get hit with.

 

That's about what I suspected, though it's interesting that sexually assaulting a woman in a bar where your OL blocked the bathroom and intentionally deflating balls are the same penalty...

 

I'm kinda surprised they did anything to the rest of the organization, much less hit them with this. Ouch...

 

I'm surprised that Brady got more than a two game suspension and yeah, that the Patriots were fined at all. I think the fines and penalties at the Patriots were more about past indiscretions like Spy Gate and whatnot, than Deflate Gate itself. I'm sure the Ravens are the happiest team to hear this news.

 

So, in the league's eyes, deflating balls is worse than what Ray Rice did.

(Yeah, I know Rice's suspension was extended, but still...)

 

And he'll be back in time for the Colts game. By that time they could go 1 - 3 (Since one of those games Tom's out is versus the Jags)

 

I doubt they'll go 1-3. The year he missed due to injury, they still went 11-5. They could still be good, but this hurts.

 

He's out against the Steelers, Bills, Jags and Cowgirls.

 

Draft picks were always going to be taken as that's the default penalty for a Competition-based infraction (which this was). Brady's penalty was almost certainly 100% because of his refusal to cooperate plus the lie. He'd likely have been let off with either 1 week or no suspension otherwise.

 

At worst, the Pats go 2-2 against those teams.

 

I understand people's feelings about Ray Rice and others in the like. However, domestic violence off the field doesn't effect the integrity of the game like cheating.

This reminds me of a quote from the original The Longest Yard:

 

The guys that actually deflated the balls have been suspended indefinitely.

 

Agreed. I guess I'm saying that had they not done anything to the rest of the team, based on the report that basically exonerated the coaches, ownership, etc..., it wouldn't have surprised me at all.

 

Yeah they really have to keep upping the penalty for the Pats because the previous ones haven't hurt them at all or deterred them from continuing to cheat.

 

... or just make sure they keep facing the Giants in the SB. Point Given

 

But here's the problem. The basis of the suspension is on the Ted Wells' report. It never explicitly said he knew of the deflating, only that it was "probable" that he knew.

Probable is not definite. If they're going to go by that standard, the league had better be prepared to apply that to suspending refs for egregiously bad calls. After all, it's "probable" that the phantom pass interference allowed Team A to lose.

If the league wanted to fine him, fine. But suspension for a quarter of a season should only be backed up by definite evidence and not mere probability.

 

Seriously, we've been over this like a gazillion times: the wording in the report is explicitly the burden of proof ("preponderance of evidence") and the exact legal language for proof in a civil court case which is exactly what the League has said it will use as default judgment for Competition-based infractions.

 

It's also his refusual to cooperate with said investigation, especially by refusing to hand over the text messages stated in the report.

 

I don't care if its wrong or right, I love NFL drama.