DawgTalkers.net Forums The Archives 2014 NFL Season The NFL Post Season 2014 Report: NFL Probing NE for Deflating Balls

Hhhu

Most of these guys have so much power and influence, they can lie and believe themselves.

Yeah, but you have to keep other players from getting ideas.

There was a thing by Richard Sherman about the shoes, that was pretty good. He also spoke about the headphone they are allowed, and not allowed, to wear, and so on. It made a ton of sense.

Well they did determine just 11 of the 12, maybe it was that 12th one that got Cribbs.

they said the balls for special teams were not underinflated. There are six separate balls for special teams and 12 for offense.

Now, that makes you shake your head, doesn't it?

I guess "Charles law" only applies to offensive footballs. Well, only 1 offense.

Wait - that would make Charles Law moot.

Wait, Charles law has been proven.

That leaves.............not many excuses other than tampering, does it?

I thought, I heard that the balls for kicking were kept seperate from the other ones and the league kept control of those.... not sure if that is true... one of the talking heads seemed to mention that.

I dont mean to continue to pick apart the way you word things..

If your QB keeps telling you he wants it lighter, eventually its going to go passed the limit they set (as it did obviously) and once it does, you're knowingly going against the rules..

The refs have said they were going to check them at halftime regardless of what DQ said. So its not like they were oblivious. You can tell the difference between balls that are even a couple PSI lower..

And NE coming out and playing "better" after they got cheating is pretty much how they do business. After Spygate they went on a "screw you" run of blowing teams out without ever letting their foot off the gas..

They're a bunch of punks. And regardless of how many people the NFL interview, or how many awkward press conferences Bill does.. They will get a slap on the wrist and then we will move along until either they retire and go away or get caught cheating some other way..

I still have to wonder .....

These officials handle balls every week for 17 weeks in a row, plus the playoffs. You would think that they would have a good idea, by the Championship game, whether a ball felt under-inflated or not when they set the ball ready for play. I would think that a ball under-inflated to that degree would feel a lot different than one properly inflated. It was reported that one of the defensive players, after catching an INT, noticed that the ball felt soft. What, he figured that out with a single touch, and the officials could not after setting the ball ready for play 60 times in the game?

How many of you guys think that a control freak like Belichick didn't know about this?

I mean, come on, really, he's anal about controlling every aspect of his teams preperation. That's what makes him a great coach. (love him or hate him, he's a very very good coach)

So how does a man this connected to everything miss this? I don't think he does. I think he's right in the thick of things. For that matter, I believe Tom Brady is as well.

JMO, but I bet I'm right.

It would have had to start with Brady anyways..

The only person you would alter the ball for is the QB, if the WR likes more inflated balls it doesn't matter if the QB doesn't..

And interviewing people within NE is pointless.. who's ganna actually admit to it?

The best thing you'd get is a ball boy taking the fall by saying it was an "accident"

Might as well just move on.

interesting thing that SI brought up is that it was Tom Brady that helped get QBs more involved in supplying the footballs in the first place:

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2006-11...ition-committee

Pretty sure each team supplies their own footballs (nfl regulation footballs, of course). 12 balls for each offense, supplied by each team, for their own use.

Team a supplies 12 balls for team A to use, team B supplies 12 balls for team B to use.

Also, pretty sure each team supplies 6 balls for the kicking game - same principal as the offense balls.

The ref's check all 36 balls 2 hours and 15 minutes before the game to make sure they are legal. At that time, I'm not sure of the "chain of command" of the balls...........but there is plenty of time left before the game.

How can it be that 11 of the 12 offensive balls measured below the rule, while non of their kicking balls did?

The officials are not gripping the ball tight when they are placing it. That could make a difference.

The refs removed the under-inflated balls at halftime.

Score at the half,

Pats - 17
Colts - 7

2nd half score,

Pats - 28
Colts - 0

If the Pats were attempting to cheat and gain an advantage they did a lousy job of it. They say it's easier to catch the under-inflated ball, that seems to only have helped DQ being able to intercept Brady for the only time in the game.

To me, all this says is the refs need to tighten up their game a bit and start checking these balls closer to game time, not 2.5 hours before. Otherwise, this is just ridiculous fodder.

I was thinking of other ways the Patriots could cheat ...

*Have two sets of 1st down chains; 10 yards for the opposition, 9ft-9inches for the Pats.

*Tarantulas on the opposition sideline.

*Place oppositions bench and sideline in a 5ft ditch, so their players have to climb onto the field and their coaching staff can only see legs when they watch the action.

*Naked cheerleaders behind the bench.

There must be more ... thoughts?

Someone had to give the order to deflate the ball. An employee would not take upon themselves to do it on their own.

They grip it when they pick it up though. They catch it when it is thrown to them. Supposedly DQ noticed that the ball was soft when he intercepted it. The officials had that totally escape them though.

You may end up being right about where the blame will land. we'll see. But anyone thinking that Brady and Belichick didn't know is truly fulling themselves.... JMO however

Im more concerned with their continuing effort to use receiver eligibilityfor deception..

Its to the point that the refs are missing things cause its moving so fast.

I respect a team that can out scheme someone else.

I do not respect someone that purposely deceives the other team, and apparently the refs, as to who's eligible and whos not on a play to play basis..

As long as their alignments are legal, what's the big deal?

Purposeful deception is part of EVERY game. The pat's may be taking it to a new level - but come on...it's as simple as a play action fake - that is purposeful deception. A pump fake is purposeful deception.

A fake field goal or punt is purposeful deception.

Having a tackle report as eligible is purposeful deception.

A disguised blitz is purposeful deception.

A RB reporting as ineligible, then reporting as eligible, without leaving the game, is against the rules..

They are doing it at such a pace that the refs can't keep up.. is deceiving the refs part of the game? Is it "ok" because the refs can't keep up to it?

Waiting until the last possible second to report as eligible. And then immediately running the play is basically the same thing as having 12 or 13 guys in the huddle and running the extras off before the defense can substitute.

The Statistics of New England Patriot Fumbles are Simply Unbelievable:

http://www.slate.com/articles/sports/spo...of_fumbles.html

Its like.. they made the ball easier to hold on to..

Andrew Luck is going to be on Letterman Tuesday night! Do you think Dave will bring this topic up?

He did an interview shortly after the AFC Title game.. He said after a game like the (AFC Title) you "just feel deflated"

You could see it on his face that it wasn't intentional.. and he quickly scrambled to cover it up..

Thought it was funny..

That is funny! I've already set my DVR!

In light of other news, you know Brady and Bill are on their knees thanking God right now.

Well, no one's ever accused Sherman holding back his opinion.

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/story/20...super-bowl-xlix

PHOENIX — Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman knows his opponent in Super Bowl XLIX won't be punished for "Deflate-gate." His reason: Commissioner Roger Goodell and Patriots owner Robert Kraft are too close for the NFL office to come down hard on the organization's latest rule bending/breaking.

"Will they be punished? Probably not," Sherman said during Sunday's media availability. "Not as long as Robert Kraft and Goodell are taking pictures at their respective homes. I think he was just at Kraft's house last week for the NFC championship. Talk about conflict of interest."

Sherman agrees with what's being said on the New England side that no discipline is anticipated, but he kept pointing to how much Kraft and the Patriots have the league in their pockets.

"As long as that happens, it won't affect them at all," Sherman said of Kraft and Goodell's buddy-buddy-ness. "Nothing will it looks like."

Sherman didn't talk of any players specifically, but the Patriots, dating back to the Spygate scandal eight years ago when they were punished for videotaping opponents' practices, don't sit well with him. He thinks the whole idea of deflating footballs to their advantage just adds to the shady perception.

"I think the perception is the reality. It is what it is," Sherman said. "Their resume speaks for itself. You talk about getting close to the line ... their past is what their past is, their present is what their present is."

I find it refreshing that a player is actually telling the truth. He does that a lot and the NFL doesn't like it.

Yes, me too.

I doubt deflate gate will result in any sanctions

wonder what is going on with Text Gate...

We'll probably get a one year ban from the Super Bowl

This has to be the post of the month...

I really hope they don't make some lowly equipment guy the scapegoat in all of this.

Why don't they just come out and say they did it? Everyone in the world knows that if anyone did anything to one of the set of footballs Tom Brady is about to use in a conference championship, TB would most definitely know about it.

I remember seeing the series that Haslam's wife did with their network for the Browns. The equipment guys scuff up the football's to the quarterbacks liking. All for grip. There's no way someone deflated a ball that much without Brady's knowledge. You'd be booted out of Massachusetts.

I just don't see it as some awful offense that would return a punishment severe enough to do anything other than dock a draft pick or suspend someone a game next season.

Just own up to it, and stop playing everyone for stupid.

This is what it's looking to be... I'd assume he'll be paid handsomely behind the scenes for taking the blame.

JMO