Still waiting on 'Gate' resolutions

[YardRat]

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/jason-la-canfora/25119953/peterson-wants-out-from-vikes-badly-but-how-much-is-he-willing-to-lose

Plenty of NFL officials are frustrated and confused as to why the NFL hasn't announced anything on the multiple investigations that have been going on for months. For weeks members of the Competition Committee have been under the impression that the evidence is essentially in and that the NFL could impose its discipline in Deflategate (with the Patriots (http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/teams/page/NE/new-england-patriots)) and Textgate (with the Browns (http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/teams/page/CLE/cleveland-browns)) and Noisegate (with the Falcons (http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/teams/page/ATL/atlanta-falcons)) at any point, and the level of frustration would only rise if these meetings conclude and there is still no resolution. Not that the league would be concerned about that -- they'll move at their own pace as always -- but there are plenty of team execs who feel like its time for some answers from the league.

[Joe Fo Sho]

They're just waiting for everybody to forget about it, then they'll slap the Patriots on the wrist.

[Meathead]

what was textgate again?

[YardRat]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/02/04/textgate-browns-may-lose-a-draft-pick-ray-farmer-may-be-suspended/

Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reports that multiple league sources say a suspension, a draft pick forfeiture and a fine (http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2015/02/cleveland_browns_ray_farmer_su.html) are all on the table as the NFL investigates whether team executives texted the coaching staff during games to suggest play calls. That would be a violation of league rules, which limit the types of electronic communications that players, coaches and other team officials can use during games.

[Mace]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/02/04/textgate-browns-may-lose-a-draft-pick-ray-farmer-may-be-suspended/

Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reports that multiple league sources say a suspension, a draft pick forfeiture and a fine (http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2015/02/cleveland_browns_ray_farmer_su.html) are all on the table as the NFL investigates whether team executives texted the coaching staff during games to suggest play calls. That would be a violation of league rules, which limit the types of electronic communications that players, coaches and other team officials can use during games.

It will serve Pettine right for grasping at the Cleveland straw and finding himself around Haslam and Farmer.

The Pats and Falcons will get blown off with another rule added because the NFL will realize it didn't have enough of them.

[jimmifli]

They're just waiting for everybody to forget about it, then they'll slap the Patriots on the wrist.
It worked for Tomlingate.

Preventing a TD only cost him $100K.

[Meathead]

oh right now i remember thanks

[BuffaloRedleg]

And people want to complain about the Sabres and their disregard for the "spirit of the game" like pro sports are some sort of last magical bastion of hope for a world of dignity and justice.

Just like in a few years people will be talking about the great Patriots dynasty, so to will they forget about the Sabres tank and embrace the wins.

[Strongman]

The Deflategate investigation would certainely have to be finished by the draft because it's impossible to take away draft picks from a draft that already happened.

[Topas]

They will announce it two days prior to the draft so that the news about the draft will quickly swallow the outcry

[stuckincincy]

Update:

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/writer/jason-la-canfora/25123644/browns-falcons-likely-to-face-stiff-penalties-for-breaking-nfl-rules


Author intimates that NE may wriggle out...

[sdbillsfan2]

spygate, inflate gate .....now they (espn insider) come out and says that SB td was a result of an illegal formation. Going back to the snowplow incident have the Patriots been above cheating . But so many people shower Belicheck with praise. He may be a better cheater then coach. I don't get it ! How many times haven't they been caught ?

[YardRat]

Well, of course...Cleveland and Atlanta will have their nuts put in a vice, and New England gets another blow job. What a ****ing sham.

[YardRat]

The punishments for the Falcons (http://www.nfl.com/teams/atlantafalcons/profile?team=ATL) and Browns (http://www.nfl.com/teams/clevelandbrowns/profile?team=CLE), as it turned out, are manageable. Farmer will be suspended (http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000482496/article/browns-gm-ray-farmer-suspended-4-games-for-texting) for the first four games of the regular season, which probably impacts internal club dynamics -- as in, who gets in the ear of owner Jimmy Haslam while Farmer is exiled -- more than it does real team business. The regular season is actually the quietest time of the year for a general manager. Free agency is over; the draft is complete; even the routine personnel moves made during training camp are done with. Losing Farmer, then, will at most be an inconvenience, one that won't put a significant dent in how the franchise will operate; it's the equivalent of suspending a player during the offseason only.

Perhaps most important to the rebuilding Browns (http://www.nfl.com/teams/clevelandbrowns/profile?team=CLE) is the fact that they didn't lose a draft pick, only money, in the form of a $250,000 fine. If the NFL had wanted to really harm Cleveland for the violation, it would have suspended Farmer right now, when he is in the throes of roster construction and draft preparation, and it would have punished someone above Farmer.

The Falcons did lose a draft pick (http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000482500/article/atlanta-falcons-lose-2016-pick-for-pumping-fake-noise), but it was only a fifth-rounder, and it won't be taken away until the 2016 draft, giving the Falcons (http://www.nfl.com/teams/atlantafalcons/profile?team=ATL) plenty of time to compensate by acquiring extra picks before then. They, too, were fined -- $350,000 -- but the person who the NFL says was responsible for improperly using an audio file to augment crowd noise, former director of event marketing Roddy White, has already left the team. No other team executive was found to have known about the violation taking place over two seasons. Still, team president Rich McKay will be suspended until at least June 30 from his role as co-chair of the Competition Committee, because he oversees game-day operations. That the NFL punished someone above the perpetrator in the chain of command in Atlanta but not in Cleveland is curious, but neither team will fight its penalties.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000482601/article/nfl-sending-a-message-with-punishments-of-browns-falcons

[YardRat]

Even if it is just a ball boy taking a piss that shoulders the blame, Belichek better get his ass suspended this time also, considering the penalty levied against McKay.

Time to put the hammer down on a documented history of cheating.

[better days]

And people want to complain about the Sabres and their disregard for the "spirit of the game" like pro sports are some sort of last magical bastion of hope for a world of dignity and justice.

Just like in a few years people will be talking about the great Patriots dynasty, so to will they forget about the Sabres tank and embrace the wins.

The difference between the Sabres & the Pats* is that what the Sabres are doing is COMMON in the NHL.

Roster manipulation has been done many times before & will be done many times again in the NHL.

No other team in the NFL CHEATS like the Pats* do.

[Meathead]

nothing is going to happen to the cheaters. they found a pretty ingenious way to cheat on a pretty huge scale but wont leave enough evidence to let them get caught

and then we will all get to watch as their magical fumble prevention fairies that showed up minutes after marcia got his special ball privileges rule passed suddenly disappear and they come right back to the pack statistically

and yet still nothing will happen

[CoolBreeze]

Even if it is just a ball boy taking a piss that shoulders the blame, Belichek better get his ass suspended this time also, considering the penalty levied against McKay.

Time to put the hammer down on a documented history of cheating.

Amen, It's a disgusting franchise. Kraft asked for apologies, Belichick beat around the bush, and Brady laughed it off. All fans should take it as a slap in the face. They knew they would get away with it. Or if they got caught the punishment would be a joke. I'd bet tons of money they already had their scape goat (40 year old ball boy) on the same page before the story even broke.

They will continue to bend the rules like have been doing for 14 years. Unfortunately people who aren't even fans of theirs will continue to defend them. Also it's unfortunate there's that chance that 20 years down the road the question marks surrounding them are forgotten but their dynasty is still fresh in the mind.

[Strongman]

nothing is going to happen to the cheaters. they found a pretty ingenious way to cheat on a pretty huge scale but wont leave enough evidence to let them get caught

and then we will all get to watch as their magical fumble prevention fairies that showed up minutes after marcia got his special ball privileges rule passed suddenly disappear and they come right back to the pack statistically

and yet still nothing will happen

They probably have a dozen other ways they are gaming the rules that people haven't discovered yet.

[justasportsfan]

meh, Goodell gets to have dinner with the Krafts again.

[DynaPaul]

They probably have a dozen other ways they are gaming the rules that people haven't discovered yet.

Discovering their cheats is like turning on the lights and finding a cockroach. You only see one but know that there are 100 more hiding somewhere.

[stuckincincy]

Discovering their cheats is like turning on the lights and finding a cockroach. You only see one but know that there are 100 more hiding somewhere.


lol

[YardRat]

Hello? Buehler?

[Strongman]

With the draft coming up next week, this "investigation" has to be ending soon. If it isn't finished by then, then it's being covered up.

[better days]

With the draft coming up next week, this "investigation" has to be ending soon. If it isn't finished by then, then it's being covered up.

And my guess is we hear nothing about the "investigation until AFTER the draft.

[Meathead]

thanks obama for declaring it was blown out of proportion. un freakin real

[Albany,n.y.]

Kraft worked out a deal yesterday at the White House. If the Patriots are found guilty of any wrongdoing by the NFL, Obama will be issuing them a Presidential pardon.

[CoolBreeze]

Yeah that article on ESPN only made me throw up like 3 seperate times. We don't even have the results of the invesigation and I believe the public was told it'd be 7-8 weeks and it's been 11. I can say with confidence this will be swept under the rug.

[BertSquirtgum]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/02/04/textgate-browns-may-lose-a-draft-pick-ray-farmer-may-be-suspended/

Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reports that multiple league sources say a suspension, a draft pick forfeiture and a fine (http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2015/02/cleveland_browns_ray_farmer_su.html) are all on the table as the NFL investigates whether team executives texted the coaching staff during games to suggest play calls. That would be a violation of league rules, which limit the types of electronic communications that players, coaches and other team officials can use during games.

Hopefully they just give it back to the Bills.

[Joe Fo Sho]

Hopefully they just give it back to the Bills.

That would have been nice.

"Textgate" has been resolved, without forfeiture of any draft picks. I think their GM just got suspended for 4 games or something.

[gebobs]

meh, Goodell gets to have dinner with the Krafts again.

Nom nom nom...does he still get the good stuff with all the artificial coloring?

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/files/2015/03/KRAFT_Macaroni-Cheese_Dinner.jpg

[Strongman]

Volin: NFL Intentionally Holding DeflateGate Report Until After Draft

BOSTON (CBS) — Roger Goodell said in an interview Tuesday on CBS that he expects Ted Wells’ DeflateGate report to be released “soon,” but he did not specify exactly when the world will know what went on with the inflation of footballs at the AFC Championship Game.
The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin said Wednesday morning that he believes the report is completed and ready to go, but the league is waiting until after the NFL Draft to release the results.
“Definitely. Absolutely. 100 percent,” Volin said when asked if the NFL is intentionally waiting until after the draft to release Wells’ report. “I think in waiting this long it’s made it less of a story. People stopped caring. It’s still big here in New England, obviously, and for the hardcore football fans. But for just your average fan, I don’t think DeflateGate is much of a story anymore. So I think they’ve done a good job of minimizing it.
“And then, I thought of this yesterday — Bill Belichick is supposed to talk to the media this weekend after the draft, and then after that, we might not hear from him again until either mid-June at minicamp or maybe not even until training camp in August. So I think the NFL office is going to do the Patriots a favor, they’ll wait until after this weekend, so that we don’t have the opportunity to ask Belichick questions about it. And then when we do in August, he’ll say, ‘Well that’s old territory, we’re just trying to move on now.‘
“So I think that the NFL office is definitely waiting on purpose, trying to minimize the damage of this thing, and then releasing it at a time when the media can’t go around and ask the owners and Bill Belichick a million different questions about it.”
That theory got Rich Shertenlieb thinking that there must be some bit of damning information in the report — though it wouldn’t necessarily condemn the Patriots. Volin agreed.
“It tells me that there’s going to be some damning information in there, but I’m not sure it’s going to be against the Patriots,” Volin said. “I think there’s going to be stuff in there that makes the NFL look bad. I mean, they supposedly had a rogue ball boy who’s stealing balls intended for charity and selling them off for profit. It’s going to make maybe the officials look bad for not always following the exact letter of the rule. And it might make the Colts look bad for who knows what their involvement was in this, and they went running straight to the media right after the game on that Sunday night, putting the NFL in a really bad spot. I think if the Colts didn’t do that, maybe this story gets handled a little more quietly and internally, but the Colts kind of blew the lid open on the whole thing.
“So I think this report is just not going to make a lot of different entities look very good,” Volin continued. “And so I think they’ve been waiting [to release] it, they’re waiting until after the draft so that Bill Belichick’s not asked questions about what he thinks about how the league handled everything and the ball procedures and all of that sort of thing. I just think this report’s not going to make a lot of different entities look good, and they’re probably taking their time to shore up the different rules about the ball procedures and making sure that this kind of mistake doesn’t happen again.”
Volin also discussed the upcoming draft, the NFL’s ruling on the Jets’ tampering with Darrelle Revis, and more.

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/04/29/volin-nfl-intentionally-holding-deflategate-report-until-after-draft/

[Skooby]

There's goes the idea of taking draft picks from the Pats.

[Bill Cody]

I said from the jump on this after hearing reports from other QB's and ballboys that what happened here is very simple- the refs do not really check footballs other than the old squeeze test and probably not all of them for that. Tom Brady like his balls a little low so he turns in balls that are low and sees if the refs catch it, most times they don't. He knows this. Just like Aaron Rodgers likes a firmer feel and turns in his balls at 16. Why? Because he knows the refs give the balls the once over and that's it. Until the Colts tried to nail NE nobody, certainly not the refs, really gave a **** about air pressure in footballs.

They could've settled this thing in one day, hook Walt Coleman up to a lie detector. He won't admit that he didn't stick a needle in every ball. The idea that week after week NE let air out of footballs and never got caught and no one ever squealed about it when you're doing this in NFL stadiums is beyond ridiculous. The risks are off the charts and the rewards small. It didn't happen. Yet I would say most people on this site think it did happen. If the league had the goods on the Patriots it would have come out some time ago. I think they were very confident they would find something on them, that's why they kept embarrassing themselves by leaking stuff that turned out to be nothing. My guess is the league goes gutless on this and admits they have nothing but fines the Patriots anyway because they "had control of the balls and they were deflated, that's their responsibility". The league gets to save face, the conspiracy theorists and NE haters have a field day, the Patriots can blame the weather win win win. But you can bet the league knows what really happened. And from now on footballs will be right on the number going forward BECAUSE THEY WILL BE CHECKED.

[Strongman]

I said from the jump on this after hearing reports from other QB's and ballboys that what happened here is very simple- the refs do not really check footballs other than the old squeeze test and probably not all of them for that. Tom Brady like his balls a little low so he turns in balls that are low and sees if the refs catch it, most times they don't. He knows this. Just like Aaron Rodgers likes a firmer feel and turns in his balls at 16. Why? Because he knows the refs give the balls the once over and that's it. Until the Colts tried to nail NE nobody, certainly not the refs, really gave a **** about air pressure in footballs.

They could've settled this thing in one day, hook Walt Coleman up to a lie detector. He won't admit that he didn't stick a needle in every ball. The idea that week after week NE let air out of footballs and never got caught and no one ever squealed about it when you're doing this in NFL stadiums is beyond ridiculous. The risks are off the charts and the rewards small. It didn't happen. Yet I would say most people on this site think it did happen. If the league had the goods on the Patriots it would have come out some time ago. I think they were very confident they would find something on them, that's why they kept embarrassing themselves by leaking stuff that turned out to be nothing. My guess is the league goes gutless on this and admits they have nothing but fines the Patriots anyway because they "had control of the balls and they were deflated, that's their responsibility". The league gets to save face, the conspiracy theorists and NE haters have a field day, the Patriots can blame the weather win win win. But you can bet the league knows what really happened. And from now on footballs will be right on the number going forward BECAUSE THEY WILL BE CHECKED.

Pretty much. I do think the Belicheat and Cry-Brady know a little more than they claimed at their press conferences simply because Belicheat claims the officials were told to pump them up to 12.5 psi. I tend to think they purposely submit game balls on the lower PSI side and hope they get through the inspection process.

[emoulds80]

my whole thing is just cut the bs, and just line up and play. its such bs

[upstart]

They probably have a dozen other ways they are gaming the rules that people haven't discovered yet.

Well, I guess its up to other teams to figure and discover what the rules allow and play it to the edge. It's called coaching and being a PRO team.

I'm sorry the Bills have had morons coaching the team the last 15 years.

[better days]

Well, I guess its up to other teams to figure and discover what the rules allow and play it to the edge. It's called coaching and being a PRO team.

I'm sorry the Bills have had morons coaching the team the last 15 years.

NO, it is called CHEATING & the Pats* are very good at it, having so much experience doing that.

[Meathead]

the eligible/ineligible trick was coaching. bravo

the deflating and filming of signals was cheating. dirty rotten filthy douchebag cheating

everything they ever accomplished will always be tainted

[Meathead]

Pretty much. I do think the Belicheat and Cry-Brady know a little more than they claimed at their press conferences simply because Belicheat claims the officials were told to pump them up to 12.5 psi. I tend to think they purposely submit game balls on the lower PSI side and hope they get through the inspection process.

the balls are checked with an instrument pregame. then given back to the team. its impossible they could pass the instrument inspection then magically all deflate two pounds just for that one team. unless the steamroom etc trick is used, which is still possible. if not, somebody intentionally let air out of those balls

they were caught red handed with everything except actual evidence. brilliant cheating is still cheating. it will be utterly indefensible, yet most likely to happen, if they are not severely punished

[Strongman]

the balls are checked with an instrument pregame. then given back to the team. its impossible they could pass the instrument inspection then magically all deflate two pounds just for that one team. unless the steamroom etc trick is used, which is still possible. if not, somebody intentionally let air out of those balls

they were caught red handed with everything except actual evidence. brilliant cheating is still cheating. it will be utterly indefensible, yet most likely to happen, if they are not severely punished

I sort of agree. I think they submit game balls to the officials that are in the 11.5 to 12 psi range and hope they get past the inspection.

[YardRat]

the eligible/ineligible trick was coaching. bravo

the deflating and filming of signals was cheating. dirty rotten filthy douchebag cheating

everything they ever accomplished will always be tainted

I think it's appropriate that Belichek and Brady's legacy will always be associated with the term 'taint'.

[Meathead]

wait a sec

i was just looking up deflate gate to check something and the wiki page says this:


It was initially reported that eleven of the twelve balls used by the Patriots were measured to be two pounds per square inch below the minimum,[11][12] but later reports refuted this allegation, citing only a single ball two pounds per square inch below the minimum.

is that right? only one ball was below the minimum? that would sorta change everything

[better days]

wait a sec

i was just looking up deflate gate to check something and the wiki page says this:

It was initially reported that eleven of the twelve balls used by the Patriots were measured to be two pounds per square inch below the minimum,[11][12] but later reports refuted this allegation, citing only a single ball two pounds per square inch below the minimum.

is that right? only one ball was below the minimum? that would sorta change everything

All balls were all below the minimum, but not by as much as the one ball.

[Meathead]

oh whew i read it wrong. ok yeah theyre still filthy cheating bastards