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I'm really missing the part how Belichick got nothing in this.

How did Payton get suspended for a whole season about something he knew nothing about and Belichick get nothing ??

If Payton was told he "should have known", what makes Belichick any different ??

While I don't have a concern with the punishment handed down, it's stuff like that which seemingly makes zero sense to me.

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I'm really missing the part how Belichick got nothing in this.

How did Payton get suspended for a whole season about something he knew nothing about and Belichick get nothing ??

If Payton was told he "should have known", what makes Belichick any different ??

While I don't have a concern with the punishment handed down, it's stuff like that which seemingly makes zero sense to me.

That's a good point. My guess is that it has to do with the difference between something that was happening in the locker room, basically out in the open, and something that was being done on the down-low. Absent any other evidence, Belichick seems to have plausible deniability on his side.

Either that, or blackmail.

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I just wonder why this rule is in place at all.

To ensure uniformity of equipment so neither team has an advantage. It's just one of many ball-related rules. Here's another one the Pats apparently broke:


/>http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/05/13/a-j-feeley-says-he-witnessed-patriots-use-doctored-footballs/

As for most everyone cheating, you're probably right. But again, that only raises the question of why the Patriots are suddenly getting hammered for it now. By all reports, the discipline has blown up the relationship between Goodell and one of his biggest backers, Kraft. Roger has the cushiest $40 million a year gig in the known universe. Why would he deliberately set up a sting operation to catch the team owned by one of his top supporters cheating and then levy a hefty punishment that destroys their relationship? I just can't see that happening unless there's a strong group of NFL owners who want to see the Pats and/or Brady and/or BB and/or Kraft and/or all of the above go down.

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So I'm reading skunk-head this a.m. and of course it's a big pity party for Robert Kraft. I nearly spit coffee all over my laptop when I read this:

“I just get really worked up. To receive the harshest penalty in league history is just not fair. The anger and frustration with this process, to me, it wasn’t fair. If we’re giving all the power to the NFL and the office of the commissioner, this is something that can happen to all 32 teams. We need to have fair and balanced investigating and reporting."

Ya know what, Bobby? Cry me a ****ing river. Where was all this talk of fairness and the commissioner having too much power back when the Bengals were getting hit with all manner of stupid sanctions, like the attempt to pre-suspend Rucker before he even signed with the team?

Blow it out yer ass, Kraft.

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Woe is me to be the owner of the Patriots. F*ck you Kraft.

Where was he when the league has been handing out all kinds of penalties to teams without any type of consistency ??

While there may be room to clarify what exactly the proof was or wasn't, he can't pretend his is the lone time this has happened.

It was just easier for him to turn a deaf ear and not be bothered since it wasn't happening to his team.

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And now, Kraft apparently capitulates,saying he won't fight the punishment Goodhell gave out.


/>http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/05/19/kraft-i-disagree-with-goodell-but-i-accept-it-and-we-wont-appeal/

Long statement at the link. This part caught my eye:

“You know, what I’ve learned over the last two decades is that the heart and soul and strength of the NFL is a partnership of 32 teams. And what’s become very clear over those very two decades is at no time should the agenda of one team outweigh the collective good of the full 32. So I have a way of looking at problems that are very strong in my mind, and before I make a final decision, I measure nine times and I cut once. And I think maybe if I had made the decision last week it would be different than it is today.

“But believing in the strength of the partnership, and the 32 teams — we have concentrated the power of adjudication of problems in the office of the commissioner. And although I might disagree with what is decided, I do have respect for the commissioner and believe that he’s doing what he perceives to be in the best interests of the full 32. So in that spirit, I don’t want to continue the rhetoric that’s gone on for the last four months. I’m going to accept, reluctantly, what he has given to us, and not continue this dialogue and rhetoric. And we won’t appeal.

Shorter Kraft: I couldn't get find enough owners to support me in throwing Roger out.

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Or as they kind of hinted on PFT, maybe the behind the scenes dealings involved things going better with Brady's appeal from the league if the Pats dropped their case.

Who knows ???

i know there is something going on inside, but from outside eye like mine, Patriots drop appeal made it look like they are finally admit they are guilty of it, doesnt this made it nonsense for Brady to appeal now

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  • 3 weeks later...

More good news for the Pats: LB Brandon Spikes allegedly involved in hit-and-run (no fatalities but three injured):


/>http://deadspin.com/brandon-spikess-car-potentially-linked-to-hit-and-run-1709784565

This happened Sunday, Pats cut Spikes this morning.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

As for most everyone cheating, you're probably right. But again, that only raises the question of why the Patriots are suddenly getting hammered for it now. By all reports, the discipline has blown up the relationship between Goodell and one of his biggest backers, Kraft. Roger has the cushiest $40 million a year gig in the known universe. Why would he deliberately set up a sting operation to catch the team owned by one of his top supporters cheating and then levy a hefty punishment that destroys their relationship? I just can't see that happening unless there's a strong group of NFL owners who want to see the Pats and/or Brady and/or BB and/or Kraft and/or all of the above go down.

And yeah, it appears that was the case.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/13533995/split-nfl-new-england-patriots-apart

tl;dr version: a lot of owners and coaches have been seething since Spygate. They believe it was a total whitewash and Deflategate was their chance to push for a "makeup call." And even those who might not feel that way had other reasons to be upset with NE:

In fact, many former New England coaches and employees insist that the taping of signals wasn't even the most effective cheating method the Patriots deployed in that era. Several of them acknowledge that during pregame warm-ups, a low-level Patriots employee would sneak into the visiting locker room and steal the play sheet, listing the first 20 or so scripted calls for the opposing team's offense. (The practice became so notorious that some coaches put out fake play sheets for the Patriots to swipe.) Numerous former employees say the Patriots would have someone rummage through the visiting team hotel for playbooks or scouting reports. Walsh later told investigators that he was once instructed to remove the labels and erase tapes of a Patriots practice because the team had illegally used a player on injured reserve. At Gillette Stadium, the scrambling and jamming of the opponents' coach-to-quarterback radio line -- "small s---" that many teams do, according to a former Pats assistant coach -- occurred so often that one team asked a league official to sit in the coaches' box during the game and wait for it to happen. Sure enough, on a key third down, the headset went out.

Cheatriots indeed.

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