On Thursday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit took up the question of whether the NFL’s four-game suspension of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will be reinstated. I didn’t attend the hearing. Tom Curran of CSN New England did.
So I got Tom on the phone for about 53 minutes on Friday afternoon (it would have been shorter if he hadn’t been eating Cheez-Its) and we had a semi-organized, wide-ranging conversation/debate about what it all means in a special PFT Live, no-break podcast.
You can listen to it here, or you can try to consume one of the many lengthy, convoluted articles that are long on legal analysis but short on consideration of the broader practicalities and consequences for the NFL.
The only question left to address is whether Curran was standing on a box for the entire podcast. I say no, but only if he was keeping his Cheez-Its inside the box on which he was standing.
The best recollection which gage the ref used was discounted.
3 of the 4 colts balls measured were below the spec.
…….but Brady is guilty
I hope Brady sues for 500 mil on probable deformation!
I guess the Patriots will be planning another revenge tour next year. Maybe they can end the 2016/17 season with three embarrassing losses in a row and top the disaster this January was.
You know the carnival game to hit someone in the face with a pie or drop them in the dunk tank?
They should make a Fire The Goodell one! I’d play!
🙂
Let’s Make The NFL Great Again ™ folks.
Fire Goodell.
Maybe tom needs a whole season off eh.
securb2013 says:
Mar 4, 2016 6:02 PM
I guess the Patriots will be planning another revenge tour next year. Maybe they can end the 2016/17 season with three embarrassing losses in a row and top the disaster this January was.
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Yet they were still in the AFCCG with a chance to win it at the end.
Most fans and teams would take that any season.
The one thing the Patriots are not is embarrassed. The were an extra point away from overtime against the eventual super bowl winner in the AFCCG.
As a fan of the team since 1960 I am fine with this past season and very thankful for the last 15 years and the next five.
I want to read not listen or watch. Reading seems to be going the way cassettes.
Theres no helping the dilusional Patricheat fans, but the Cheater himself cant hide from justice forever. The text messages prove brady cheated and the law is on the side of the Commissioner. He will either serve a suspension or retire early…one or the other.
magnumpimustache says:
Mar 4, 2016 5:41 PM
The best recollection which gage the ref used was discounted.
3 of the 4 colts balls measured were below the spec.
…….but Brady is guilty
.
The same gauges were used on both sets of footballs measured. Which is why you get a standard for passing.
……yes brady is guilty.
Well if the pats are so great,,,,,,why do they cheat sooooo much! Hmmmmmmmmmm
Mike Florio,
Could you please look into the Article in the Mar 4, 2016 Washington Post written by Sally Jenkins ( “In DeflateGate, Real Cheater has been Goodell” ). She mentions a powerfully written third party brief by a renowned legal scholar Robert Blecker. Could you please give us your analysis of what that brief means, and if and how it might impact the decision. Thank You.
There are no text messages that ” prove Brady cheated”! Not a one!
I like how patched together texts count as a smoking gun for deflategate but HGH being delivered to the Manning residence, for any reason, isn’t considered noteworthy on that front. Sorry this molehill has been treated like a mountain for far too long. I’m a Patriots fan that is convinced that they doctored footballs, just like 31 other starting QB’s and equipment guys do. Guilt isn’t the issue it’s the fact that the punishment is 1000 miles past overkill for deflaton that is just as likely to be from naturally occurring circumstances as foul play.
@Securb2013
Yeah, real embarrassing.
21 players on IR, 10 of whom starters or key complementary players, losing by 2 points in the AFC title game of a greased season by Goodell and the zebras for Gomer.
I’d say the Pats came pretty close to spoiling the Gomer Roid Party, wouldn’t you?
tigerlilac says:
Mar 4, 2016 6:44 PM
The one thing the Patriots are not is embarrassed. The were an extra point away from overtime against the eventual super bowl winner in the AFCCG.
As a fan of the team since 1960 I am fine with this past season and very thankful for the last 15 years and the next five.
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Speak for yourself. I am still embarrassed with the Deflategate revenge tour that never was. What now, Deflategate revenge tour 2.0? Let’s face it, the whole thing blew up in our face.
They could very well give Brady four games and the Patriots are still a lock for the playoffs. Super bowl favorites, also.
While the revenge tour crowd was over zealous, they weren’t that far off. If they connect on the conversion at the end I’d bet it’s back to back championships. The prognosticators that were embarrassingly off base were the “watch Brady turn into Christian Ponder now that the league halted their ball shadenfreude” crowd.
Also, weren’t the Patriots supposed to start fumbling like the ball was slathered in baby oil or something?
plum54 says:
Mar 4, 2016 7:39 PM
There are no text messages that ” prove Brady cheated”! Not a one!
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But there is proof the Refs over-inflated balls 2.5 PSI above the sacred threshold of 12.5-13.5 in a game against the league office’s sacred cow and Goodell’s former employer the New York DumpsterFires.
Why is this always ignored?
A bazillion dollars says the Jets balls were perfect and only Patriot footballs were tampered with.
This is the game that started EVERYTHING! Refs improperly ov
A bazillion dollars says the Jets balls were perfect and only Patriot footballs were tampered with.
This is the game that started EVERYTHING! Refs improperly overly inflated only the NE balls and it ticked off Tom. The texts prove it!
Well I can tell you that Tigerlilac wrote what is on my mind. What was there to be embarrassed about? The Patriots did exceedingly well. And will again next year. And after that and after that etc.
Sure it would have been nice had they won the superbowl. But all things considered, the Patriots were the best team in the NFL last year. End of story.
It’s because haters only pick and choose what they want to hear, see, or believe. The league could say we purposely framed him for parity and the haters will turn a blind eye to it. Someday it will all come out.
unoduotres says:
Mar 4, 2016 7:31 PM
Mike Florio,
Could you please look into the Article in the Mar 4, 2016 Washington Post written by Sally Jenkins ( “In DeflateGate, Real Cheater has been Goodell” ). She mentions a powerfully written third party brief by a renowned legal scholar Robert Blecker. Could you please give us your analysis of what that brief means, and if and how it might impact the decision. Thank You.
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He did just that in a long PFT article on 17th Dec titled: Third-party brief in Brady case focuses on “integrity of sport”.
*Nodding head up and down* No, Tom Brady did nothing wrong.
Hard to do. You should try it.
See you in week 5 cheater.
People that read more and know more think Brady is innocent
People that read nothing or little, think Brady is guilty
That’s the bottom line
I also agree with what tigerlilac wrote. However I do suppose that fans that were writing all the Revenge tour crap might be embarrassed, but they can blame themselves for that
I will break down Deflategate for you.
The patriots cheated…again
The patriots were caught…again
The patriots were fined…again
The patriots lost draft picks…again
The patriot homers made excuses for said cheating…again
The patriot homers ran their mouths…again
The patriot homers could not back up said gum flapping…again
The patriots lost to The World Champion Denver Broncos…again
The Pat’s looked great most of the year and certainly had a good chance to advance to the super bowl.
That said, Brady looked like an aging QB the last few weeks of the season. Blame the O line, blame the talent, whatever, the man looked significantly different.
Perhaps it was some bad games, some sort of a slump, but one thing looks sure to me. He will not be playing QB at a high level for 5 more years.
unoduotres says:
Mar 4, 2016 7:31 PM
Mike Florio,
Could you please look into the Article in the Mar 4, 2016 Washington Post written by Sally Jenkins ( “In DeflateGate, Real Cheater has been Goodell” ). She mentions a powerfully written third party brief by a renowned legal scholar Robert Blecker. Could you please give us your analysis of what that brief means, and if and how it might impact the decision. Thank You.
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The article tells you what the brief means.
It will likely have no impact on the decision at all.
Also, since it’s so obvious the Patriots detractors are clearly the more ethical portion of the NFL fan base, I’m sure they’d have been this outraged if the Colts had won the game in question and were the ones “proven ” to have cheated. Because it’s not just a grasp at any lame straw to slow the Patriots down type situation. I mean they’re not hypocrites, right?
gysot says:
Mar 4, 2016 10:53 PM
I will break down Deflategate for you.
The Patriots beat my team in the past.
I hate them forever.
No matter how crooked Goodell or the league looks, I will always call the Patriots ‘cheater’… even if my team is on record as having ‘cheated’ far more than the Patriots.
My team has been fined more, lost more picks, and generally been more dishonest than any other team, but I don’t care because I hate the Patriots.
I’m incapable of objective thought.
I find it amusing how so many legal experts on here already know what the judges ruling is, months in advance of them publishing it.
Amazing.
No wonder Trump is on course to be your next president.
tgoat12
Mar 4, 2016, 5:52 PM EST
I hope Brady sues for 500 mil on probable deformation
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The only thing that was probably “deformed” was the under inflated football.
Mike,
This hearing was supposed to about Judge Berman’s ruling with respect to labor law, not whether Brady was involved in a scheme to deflate footballs. So why were so many questions focused on footballs, cell phones, text messages, etc.? Does this suggest judicial bias, or just judicial curiosity?
As soon as I read “Tom Curran of CSN New England did.” I stopped reading.
Total clown.
People who think, understand Brady and Pats cheated again.
Fan boys and those who don’t think, believe “deflator” is a weight loss term and that destroying one out every few phones, the one in question, is normal behavior.
That’s the bottom line.
No, the bottom line is the haters don’t want the truth. If they did, they’d be demanding that the NFL provide proof. So far, the NFL has provided none.
tomrad70 says:
Mar 5, 2016 1:42 AM
gysot says:
Mar 4, 2016 10:53 PM
I will break down Deflategate for you.
My team has been fined more, lost more picks, and generally been more dishonest than any other team, but I don’t care because I hate the Patriots.
I’m incapable of objective thought.
“““““““““““““““`
Happy for you. Admitting that your team cheats is the first step in recovery from deflation, I mean denial.
And another clueless troll checks back in to spew more of her hate-based, click bait douchery.
It’s the sheep like you who have empowered the NFL to be corrupt. Yet you keep blaming everyone and everything else. Try being part of the solution and not the problem. Words to live by. Your welcome.
kyblue33 says:
Mar 4, 2016 7:22 PM
“Well if the pats are so great,,,,,,why do they cheat sooooo much! Hmmmmmmmmmm”
Let me be the first to wish you a happy 3rd birthday!
truthdispensary says:
Mar 4, 2016 7:11 PM
Theres no helping the dilusional Patricheat fans, but the Cheater himself cant hide from justice forever. The text messages prove brady cheated and the law is on the side of the Commissioner. He will either serve a suspension or retire early…one or the other.
Correction he will be working on winning a 5th Super Bowl.
The NFL could have tested footballs in every game this season and then published the results — allowing for peer-reviewed conclusions about their data. But the NFL made a business decision not to do take that action, and that says everything about this case.
Goodell is an empty suit who gets paid tens of millions per year. We should all be so lucky.