Do they work 24/7, weekends and nights only, or a standard 40-hour day shift? They got to be ready when the decision comes down!
NFL Found 11 Balls Deflated by 2 Pounds By Pats
- Thread starter Elias
- Start date
Do they work 24/7, weekends and nights only, or a standard 40-hour day shift? They got to be ready when the decision comes down!
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flgreen
Guest
Put them on call. Don't get paid the big bucks till the phone rings
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flgreen
Guest
Deflated Balls Latest in Belichick's Reputation for Guile
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSJAN. 21, 2015, 6:29 P.M. E.S.T.
Add underinflated footballs to the list of incidents giving Bill Belichick a reputation for guile and playing above the rules.
Softer footballs wouldn't explain all of a rout that earned the New England Patriots a spot in the Super Bowl. But it's another example of Belichick's reputation of searching for edges and bending any rules until he gets caught.
Vague injury reports. Spygate. Signing players with intel on opponents. And now, an open NFL investigation into whether the team cheated during its AFC championship win.
"Because it's the Patriots and they have a history, that brings in a different issue," former All-Pro running back Jerome Bettis said on ESPN. "There's some type of culture there that's conducive to cheating and that's a problem."
Team officials on Wednesday did not respond to a request for comment from Belichick, quarterback Tom Brady or team owner Robert Kraft.
Belichick no longer gets the benefit of the doubt among fans and those in football circles, even those who think he's the best coach in the league. Earlier this month, Hall of Fame coach Don Shula called him "Beli-cheat."
It all traces back to a reputation for gamesmanship that blossomed after the three-time Super Bowl winner's last title in 2004.
In 2007, Belichick was fined $500,000 and the team was fined $250,000 and stripped of its 2008 first-round draft choice by the NFL for videotaping New York Jets signals during a 2007 game. At the time, opponents wondered whether he taped practices, too.
Last year, Cleveland Browns coach Mike Pettine suggested Belichick might have gotten a copy of the Jets playbook through Alabama coach Nick Saban, an accusation denied by Saban and then-Jets coach Rex Ryan.
Belichick has signed players days before the Patriots faced their former team, opening up new avenues of intel. Six days before the opener against Miami this season, a 33-20 loss, the Patriots signed safety Don Jones a day after he was cut by the Dolphins. He played nine games for New England before being cut and re-signing with the Dolphins.
Belichick also likes to tweak the NFL on injury reports. For years, he listed Tom Brady as "probable" even though he didn't miss practice and played the games. And he's been known to list close to 20 players on the report, most with minor ailments.
And one week before questions of air pressure, some people questioned whether Belichick was bending the rules in a playoff win against Baltimore by using a four-man offensive linemen formation for three plays on a touchdown drive that helped the Patriots rally from a 14-point deficit. The formation — a backup tight end lined up as a tackle-eligible and a running back lined up as an ineligible receiver split wide — wasn't illegal, only creative and intentionally deceptive.
The NFL continued its investigation Wednesday into whether the Patriots snuck underinflated footballs into their 45-7 win against the Colts. Underinflated balls are considered easier to throw and catch, and the league has strict protocols for air pressure and who can handle footballs before and during games. Each team provides its own footballs for use on offense, which are inspected. Tampering or switching footballs can result in $25,000 fines, or worse.
"We are continuing our review and will provide information as soon as possible," league spokesman Brian McCarthy said.
ESPN reported Tuesday night, citing anonymous sources, that the NFL found 11 of 12 footballs provided by the Patriots were not properly inflated, while balls used by the Colts on offense met league standards.
The issue has drawn strong reaction from players, league executives and other NFL personalities who are debating whether the issue affected the Pats-Colts matchup and the sport itself.
Colts linebacker Erik Walden said on Twitter: "patriots motto 'if u ain't cheating then u ain't tryin'" before following up by saying the Patriots deserved credit for the win.
His teammate Dwayne Allen tweeted, in part: "They could have played with soap for balls and beat us. Simply the better team."
Pittsburgh Steelers President Art Rooney said he wouldn't consider this matter "serious," saying kickers used to manipulate footballs.
"This rule where we use two different sets of balls is relatively new and frankly I'm not sure why we came to this conclusion," Rooney said. "I assume this will be something the competition committee looks at. I think we all should use the same ball and not have each side kind of have their own footballs available to them. That's my view of it."
In Seattle, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman said the issue won't have any effect on the Super Bowl, even if it's against the rules. He said he doubts anyone will be suspended or that anything will happen, unlike when the league threatened to keep running back Marshawn Lynch from playing in the NFC championship game if he followed through on plans to wear gold shoes.
"Whatever they did, the risk reward was greater. They were trying to suspend Marshawn for gold shoes," Sherman said. "That really affects the game if you suspend Marshawn for gold shoes. But then you've got balls being deflated and that's the issue."
___
AP Sports Writers Will Graves, Howard Ulman, Tim Booth and Mike Marot contributed to this report.
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESSJAN. 21, 2015, 6:29 P.M. E.S.T.
Add underinflated footballs to the list of incidents giving Bill Belichick a reputation for guile and playing above the rules.
Softer footballs wouldn't explain all of a rout that earned the New England Patriots a spot in the Super Bowl. But it's another example of Belichick's reputation of searching for edges and bending any rules until he gets caught.
Vague injury reports. Spygate. Signing players with intel on opponents. And now, an open NFL investigation into whether the team cheated during its AFC championship win.
"Because it's the Patriots and they have a history, that brings in a different issue," former All-Pro running back Jerome Bettis said on ESPN. "There's some type of culture there that's conducive to cheating and that's a problem."
Team officials on Wednesday did not respond to a request for comment from Belichick, quarterback Tom Brady or team owner Robert Kraft.
Belichick no longer gets the benefit of the doubt among fans and those in football circles, even those who think he's the best coach in the league. Earlier this month, Hall of Fame coach Don Shula called him "Beli-cheat."
It all traces back to a reputation for gamesmanship that blossomed after the three-time Super Bowl winner's last title in 2004.
In 2007, Belichick was fined $500,000 and the team was fined $250,000 and stripped of its 2008 first-round draft choice by the NFL for videotaping New York Jets signals during a 2007 game. At the time, opponents wondered whether he taped practices, too.
Last year, Cleveland Browns coach Mike Pettine suggested Belichick might have gotten a copy of the Jets playbook through Alabama coach Nick Saban, an accusation denied by Saban and then-Jets coach Rex Ryan.
Belichick has signed players days before the Patriots faced their former team, opening up new avenues of intel. Six days before the opener against Miami this season, a 33-20 loss, the Patriots signed safety Don Jones a day after he was cut by the Dolphins. He played nine games for New England before being cut and re-signing with the Dolphins.
Belichick also likes to tweak the NFL on injury reports. For years, he listed Tom Brady as "probable" even though he didn't miss practice and played the games. And he's been known to list close to 20 players on the report, most with minor ailments.
And one week before questions of air pressure, some people questioned whether Belichick was bending the rules in a playoff win against Baltimore by using a four-man offensive linemen formation for three plays on a touchdown drive that helped the Patriots rally from a 14-point deficit. The formation — a backup tight end lined up as a tackle-eligible and a running back lined up as an ineligible receiver split wide — wasn't illegal, only creative and intentionally deceptive.
The NFL continued its investigation Wednesday into whether the Patriots snuck underinflated footballs into their 45-7 win against the Colts. Underinflated balls are considered easier to throw and catch, and the league has strict protocols for air pressure and who can handle footballs before and during games. Each team provides its own footballs for use on offense, which are inspected. Tampering or switching footballs can result in $25,000 fines, or worse.
"We are continuing our review and will provide information as soon as possible," league spokesman Brian McCarthy said.
ESPN reported Tuesday night, citing anonymous sources, that the NFL found 11 of 12 footballs provided by the Patriots were not properly inflated, while balls used by the Colts on offense met league standards.
The issue has drawn strong reaction from players, league executives and other NFL personalities who are debating whether the issue affected the Pats-Colts matchup and the sport itself.
Colts linebacker Erik Walden said on Twitter: "patriots motto 'if u ain't cheating then u ain't tryin'" before following up by saying the Patriots deserved credit for the win.
His teammate Dwayne Allen tweeted, in part: "They could have played with soap for balls and beat us. Simply the better team."
Pittsburgh Steelers President Art Rooney said he wouldn't consider this matter "serious," saying kickers used to manipulate footballs.
"This rule where we use two different sets of balls is relatively new and frankly I'm not sure why we came to this conclusion," Rooney said. "I assume this will be something the competition committee looks at. I think we all should use the same ball and not have each side kind of have their own footballs available to them. That's my view of it."
In Seattle, Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman said the issue won't have any effect on the Super Bowl, even if it's against the rules. He said he doubts anyone will be suspended or that anything will happen, unlike when the league threatened to keep running back Marshawn Lynch from playing in the NFC championship game if he followed through on plans to wear gold shoes.
"Whatever they did, the risk reward was greater. They were trying to suspend Marshawn for gold shoes," Sherman said. "That really affects the game if you suspend Marshawn for gold shoes. But then you've got balls being deflated and that's the issue."
___
AP Sports Writers Will Graves, Howard Ulman, Tim Booth and Mike Marot contributed to this report.
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flgreen
Guest
A $25,000 fine? Good grief, Rex got fined $100,000 for using the F word
U
ucrenegade
Guest
really 25,000 that is the equivalent to a quarter to kraft.
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sg3
Guest
Or worse
F
flgreen
Guest
More like a nickel, but I have a bad, bad feeling this is how it will end
IMHO regardless of what punishment results from deflategate BB, tommy & kraft's reputations are shot with people with any common sense.. this is know creeping up into baseballs steroids teritory..
let them have their fame, they are officially a punchline now regardless of how incredulous they pretend to be..
Dan Shaughnessy, Boston Globe, concurs:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2...heir-legacy/XIYx6wws1NpEn1h82kMtwO/story.html
DAN SHAUGHNESSY
Win or lose, Patriots have sacrificed their legacy
There is no undoing the damage that has been done to Bill Belichick’s reputation.
We haven’t even gotten to Arizona yet and the mission is already lost. Mike Wilbon of ESPN is calling for the Patriots to vacate the Super Bowl, Calipari-style.
Others are saying that Bill Belichick should be suspended. We are waiting to learn whether NFL commissioner Roger Goodell — a Robert Kraft frat brother — will punish Belichick and/or the Patriots before the Super Bowl.
The Patriots can win another championship Feb. 1 in Glendale, Ariz. Belichick can join Chuck Noll as the only coaches with four Lombardi Trophies, and Tom Brady can join Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw as the only quarterbacks with four rings.
But the most important thing — the Patriot legacy — is lost. The Patriots and their fans will never win the “best ever” argument. Everything is tainted. Footballs (reportedly) have been doctored, headlines have been written, and opinions have been formed.
Locally, the Patriots are revered. Nationally, they are loathed and branded as cheaters, and once again they have handed the hammer to their legion of enemies.
We still don’t know where “Deflategate” lands. The NFL has yet to disclose its findings and announce penalties (if any) against the Patriots.
But the ballgame that matters is over. And the Patriots have lost.
At this hour, even if the Patriots are cleared of wrongdoing, they are the modern-day sports equivalent of Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of Labor, Ray Donovan, who asked, “Where do I go to get my reputation back?’’ after he was declared not guilty in a corruption case.
There doesn’t seem to be much dispute that footballs used by the Patriots in Sunday’s AFC Championship were doctored. By somebody.
The 12 footballs used by the Patriots were inspected by referees 2 hours and 15 minutes before the game and deemed within league standards. At halftime, the balls were inspected again, and 11 of 12 were found to be below the league limit of inflation.
This has been widely reported (starting with ESPN) and not disputed. If this is not true, the Patriots need to come forward to tell the world.
We all know the Patriots did not win Sunday’s game because they deflated the footballs to Tom Brady’s satisfaction. The Patriots could beat the Colts in a game played with Wiffle Balls, bowling balls, or medicine balls. The Patriots are a very good football team, possibly a Super Bowl championship team.
But were they breaking the rules? Again? Was this another case of Belichick seeing a rule he doesn’t like, going rogue, and making his own rules? Was this another example of the Patriots doing every little thing — even an illegal thing — to gain a competitive advantage?
The (Patriots) fanboy narrative is that “everybody does it.’’ You’re not trying if you’re not cheating. Folks are just jealous of the Patriots’ success.
Swell. But if you are a Patriots fan, you cannot be satisfied with this explanation. If you walk into your local 7-Eleven and see the back page of the New York Post screaming, “CHEATERS,’’ you cannot make it all go away by claiming jealousy.
Granted, it didn’t matter in Sunday’s game. But what about all the other games? If the Patriots are cheating, are they not cheating systematically?
Like Spygate, it’s not a one-game anecdote.
Did deflating footballs ever give the Patriots an illegal advantage in any of their close games? Did it help them win the division 11 times in 12 years? We know they don’t like to play on the road. In the playoffs. Ever. This great Patriot dynasty has not won a road playoff game in seven years.
Forget about the Colts game. Did a deflated ball make the playing field uneven in any games this year? Did it result in a home-field advantage that they would not have otherwise owned? How does the legion of Patriot toadies defend this?
Belichick has already said he did not know anything about the deflated balls until he was told about them Monday. Could this possibly be true?
The next 48 hours will be interesting. By any measure, this is a colossal embarrassment for Kraft. He loves the journey and the Klieg lights, but now his franchise has been tainted again. It matters greatly to the Patriots’ image-obsessed owner.
Kraft spent September sucking up to Goodell in the commissioner’s time of need. Now we’ll see what the commissioner does when the Patriots allegedly break the rules on the eve of the league’s showcase event.
Sunday in Foxborough was a great day. But everything since Sunday has been a disaster for the Patriots. Their Super Bowl quest is damaged. Even if they win.
U
ucrenegade
Guest
this should disqualify you from being able to be the NFL commisioner. Really a frat brother?
F
flgreen
Guest
Lil Blll is giving a presser in 2 mins.
Should be interesting to see what he says
F
flgreen
Guest
Weirdest Presser I've ever seen.
Sgt. Schultz was clearly impersonating Lil Bill during the presser. "I know nothing"
Sample
"he is shocked about these allegations". In his 40 years in the NFL this is the first time he has been aware that there was a procedure for checking game balls.
That was it.
Every question they asked him he replied "I've told you every thing I know" "I have no explanation" Repeated it at least 20 times
Funniest thing about it was in the back ground was the Pats Logo, and an ad for Gillette Flexball
Sgt. Schultz was clearly impersonating Lil Bill during the presser. "I know nothing"
Sample
"he is shocked about these allegations". In his 40 years in the NFL this is the first time he has been aware that there was a procedure for checking game balls.
That was it.
Every question they asked him he replied "I've told you every thing I know" "I have no explanation" Repeated it at least 20 times
Funniest thing about it was in the back ground was the Pats Logo, and an ad for Gillette Flexball