NFL: 2014 Season

[easysurfer]

Like I said earlier, Belichick is a cheater. Always has been. Always will be. This is the third time hes been caught. I only wonder how many other times they've cheated and not been caught? The last time they were caught cheating, they were fined $500,000 and their first round draft pick was taken away from them. The NFL needs to strip them of their entire draft this season and ban Belichick for life. No matter what happens, the fans will always remember the 2004-2014 Patriots as cheaters and their records and Super Bowl wins will always be tainted.

A harsh penalty even if caught is very unlikely to happen. The main reason is that Goodell does the deciding, and Kraft, the owner of the Pats (the commission works for the owners ) has one of the biggest voices amongst the owners.

I read an article the other day that Goodell had ordered the tapes from spygate burned. About protecting the seal I guess

 

[Car-Guy]

Here's an extract from the Boston Globe on the issue.

"At least one official touches the football on every play, yet none seemed to notice until halftime. The Patriots led, 17-7, at intermission, and outscored the Colts, 28-0, after the officials seemingly corrected the ball issue."

So if the Patriots did manipulate the air pressure, it didn't seem to work very well. (note, the quote above was from a Boston newspaper

 

[Sea Kayaker]

Belicheat indeed....

 

[timo2]

Then this come out Brad Johnson paid a bribe to tamper with footballs at the Super Bowl | ProFootballTalk

 

[Chuckanut]

As a Packer fan, I hope that Coach McCarthy and his genius DC Dom Capers get sacked tomorrow. Both of them grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory.

Reading the Wisconsin papers earlier this week, I am surprised that the coach and general manager haven't put in the town center stocks, and left there for people to throw stinky cheese on them.

If the Packers weren't publicly owned, I suspect the owners would also join them, but Wisconsin probably doesn't have that many stocks available.

 

[Chuckanut]

I don't know if the Pats cheated or not. Or if not cheating would have changed the results of their game with the Colts.

Then this come out Brad Johnson paid a bribe to tamper with footballs at the Super Bowl | ProFootballTalk

I do know that playing against cheaters takes all of the joy and sport from the game. I remember playing with cheaters back in jr. high and high school. The better students just decided move on to other games/activities rather than waste time playing against a cheater.

IMHO, cheaters should be banned for a long time, and any victories reversed. Otherwise, the joy goes out of the sport. That is very bad for the teams, players and the fans. But, since modern college and pro sports is first and foremost about money, I doubt if that will happen.

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

Reading the Wisconsin papers earlier this week, I am surprised that the coach and general manager haven't put in the town center stocks, and left there for people to throw stinky cheese on them.

If the Packers weren't publicly owned, I suspect the owners would also join them, but Wisconsin probably doesn't have that many stocks available.

And while the LOB's Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas played with injured wings, Clay Matthews, who took a cheap head shot to QB Russell Wilson (Video), said that he was "too tired" to finish out regulation play and sat on the bench instead (while the Hawks took the lead), according to Packers beat guy @TyDunne.

The Seahawks’ defense remains great. Aaron Rodgershttp://www.rotoworld.com/player/nfl/3118/aaron-rodgers may be the best player in the NFL right now, but Seattle made him look ordinary. Rodgers finished 19-for-34 for 178 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions, for a passer rating of 55.8. That was just the second time in the last four years that Rodgers finished a game with a passer rating under 60. If the Seahawks have another great game in the Super Bowl, they have to be considered among the handful of greatest defenses in NFL history.
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Tom Brady may be the last remaining elite QB and the Seahawks' toughest challenge to date. Should be another great, entertaining game the Hawks give.

Go Hawks!

 

[Midpack]

IMHO, cheaters should be banned for a long time, and any victories reversed. Otherwise, the joy goes out of the sport. That is very bad for the teams, players and the fans. But, since modern college and pro sports is first and foremost about money, I doubt if that will happen.

I don't disagree in principle, but where would you draw the line? Belichick will never be forgiven for Spygate for most non-Pats fans, we get that and understand why. It looks bad, but we still don't know what the NFL will conclude about this latest deflate-gate. But there have been confirmed ball tampering scandals even in the Super Bowl. How about bounty gate? Domestic violence offenders? And hundreds of other iffy situations.

How about the league itself for covering up one questionable event after another?

The league is the only entity that can really change anything. Do those who dislike Belicheck have the same animosity for Goodell and the NFL?

How about their stance on head injuries? Seems they're still going to any length to cover that up too. Mad about that?

Unfortunately I think you're right, professional sports is big business and it makes lots of people (very) wealthy, so it's all about profits - period. The league only cares about "image" or anything else when it threatens profits. And there will be bad choices made by teams, coaches, players - and penalties handed out when the league has no other choice. And the merry go round goes round and round...

 

[marko]

The sad part about this story is that the Pats pretty much won the game with defense and a running game. They would've won if they were carrying rocks; this was so unnecessary!

Maybe a deflated ball would've allowed the Colts to get an extra touchdown? What difference would it make?

 

[Bestwifeever]

This is why I love sports--the golden QB is playing with underflated footballs, the beloved coach at Penn State gets bulldozed in the aftermath of a pedophile, the best golfer at the time runs into a fire hydrant escaping a wife armed with a five iron, the record breaking batters get caught doping and corking bats. You just never know when something fun is going to break out.

 

[urn2bfree]

I would like to see cheaters simply own up to it. Say "we thought we could gain an unfair advantage by cheating this way. We figured even if we got caught the rules do not ever seem to take away wins, so it would be a fine at worst...and that is the price of winning we were willing to pay."
Of course, expecting cheats to show the character necessary to own up to their transgressions is silly. It is not in their nature. I thought the Patriots were a really great team, now I don't know. The Patriots have never won a clean Super Bowl...asterisk, anyone?


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[easysurfer]

This is why I love sports--the golden QB is playing with underflated footballs, the beloved coach at Penn State gets bulldozed in the aftermath of a pedophile, the best golfer at the time runs into a fire hydrant escaping a wife armed with a five iron, the record breaking batters get caught doping and corking bats. You just never know when something fun is going to break out.

Who needs "Survivor" or "The Bachelor/Bachelorette" when we have this?

 

[easysurfer]

The sad part about this story is that the Pats pretty much won the game with defense and a running game. They would've won if they were carrying rocks; this was so unnecessary!

Maybe a deflated ball would've allowed the Colts to get an extra touchdown? What difference would it make?

Let's see, rigging something to win by a landslide. Where have we heard that before in history? Hint...ends with the word "gate"

That said, it's sad that instead of the match ups on who will win the coverage is about ballgate. Was this all from sour grapes (as the story started from a Colt's writer after their team got clobbered), or the pattern of Belichick?

Now even if the Pats win, there's the whisper of cheating to win (as in Gaylord Perry in the baseball Hall of Fame).

 

[Jack_Pine]

But I'd also assume that it is up to the officials to insure that the balls are the right shape, size, weight etc.

In hockey the refs must check the nets for holes before the game.

IIRC, at last night's game the refs held up a play for a bit in order to get the proper ball on the field (kick-off balls are inflated differently than field balls).

I read they check them at 1/2 time, that;s when they found a problem.

 

[Corporateburnout]

Belicheat indeed....

And your Pete Carroll is squeaky clean

Seattle Seahawks Beware: New Head Coach Pete Carroll Reeks of Scandal | Bleacher Report

Just saying.........

 

[Chuckanut]

I
The league is the only entity that can really change anything. Do those who dislike Belicheck have the same animosity for Goodell and the NFL?

How about their stance on head injuries? Seems they're still going to any length to cover that up too. Mad about that?

Personally, I don't hate or love or have anti Belicheck feelings. And that goes for any other coach/player/owner, etc. They are not that important to me and my life. And, I have no idea what those who dislike Belicheck are thinking.

You're right about it being up to the league. Hopefully, they will do a better job than baseball did with performance enhancing drugs.

I can only speak for myself - cheaters ruin the game for me whether I am playing or watching. My 2 cents. YMMV.

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

I hope Seattle loses. I can't bear another SB looking at those ugly uniforms. Go Packers.

Guess you'll just have to look at those "ugly uniforms" a little bit more, as the NFC team this year gets to wear their home uniforms in the SB.

Despite the NFL deciding, a year ago in December 2013, to bathe this year's SB49 logo in Denver Bronco orange, blue and white. (Just kidding, of course.)

 

[easysurfer]

Probably the best quote about the deflategate so far:

How on earth does the NFL, which regulates everything from shoe color to the way players gyrate in the end zone, let teams keep 12 footballs in their own possession during the game. That’s like a teacher leaving the room during an exam.

The Patriots should be disqualified from the Super Bowl | For The Win

 

[Chuckanut]

NFL has a lot to answer for

 

[pb4uski]

Like I said earlier, Belichick is a cheater. Always has been. Always will be. This is the third time hes been caught. I only wonder how many other times they've cheated and not been caught? The last time they were caught cheating, they were fined $500,000 and their first round draft pick was taken away from them. The NFL needs to strip them of their entire draft this season and ban Belichick for life. No matter what happens, the fans will always remember the 2004-2014 Patriots as cheaters and their records and Super Bowl wins will always be tainted.

^^^^^^[mod edit] BS^^^^^

 

[Sea Kayaker]

ESPN is all over this story. Just watched a video in which Mark Brunell (ex QB) and Jerome Bettis claimed just how big an advantage a slightly deflated ball is. I was actually surprised at how adamant they were in proclaiming how much easier it is to throw, catch, and even hold on to a ball when tackled when it is slightly softer.

If it is PROVEN that the Patriots are guilty of this, I hope they NAIL THEM. I wonder if Brady was in on it?

 

[utrecht]

Sean Peyton (coach of the Saints) was suspended for an entire season and his defensive coordinator was banned indefinitely. The defensive coordinator organized and/or took part in paying bounties for defensive players knocking opponents out of games. All Peyton did was know about it and not stop it. They didn't cheat. All they did was encourage their players to play overly rough in a rough game.

Belichick needs to be banned indefinitely and the Pats need to forfeit their entire 2015 draft. Their last punishment of $500,000 fine and loss of their first round pick didn't deter them so this one needs to be harsher.

 

[utrecht]

ESPN is all over this story. Just watched a video in which Mark Brunell (ex QB) and Jerome Bettis claimed just how big an advantage a slightly deflated ball is. I was actually surprised at how adamant they were in proclaiming how much easier it is to throw, catch, and even hold on to a ball when tackled when it is slightly softer.

If it is PROVEN that the Patriots are guilty of this, I hope they NAIL THEM. I wonder if Brady was in on it?

Brady has been picking up and throwing a ball every day over and over again for the past 30 years. He's probably throw a million passes in his lifetime. He knows a football like the back of his hand. There's no way he didn't know the balls were under inflated.

 

[ripper1]

Brady has been picking up and throwing a ball every day over and over again for the past 30 years. He's probably throw a million passes in his lifetime. He knows a football like the back of his hand. There's no way he didn't know the balls were under inflated.

Under inflated, over inflated, snowballs, mudballs.....Patriots still were going to beat the hell out of Colts..

 

[ripper1]

Rest easy Seattle and get over your lucky win against Packers. Lightning does not strike twice. Although maybe it does in Seattle where it rains all the time.