Well hells bells. I think they should line up all the thugs on the team and shoot them...oh wait, that will only leave one or two trainers and the water boys left.



Screw the NFL, the NBA and BHO.

It should cost a draft pick regardless of how it happened. If Spygate is worth a first rounder, and Capgate is worth a third rounder, the Deflategate should be somewhere below that. 4th round pick sounds about right.

Because he hates them.  His feelings are hurt?

if you don't like cheaters, then you might as well just boycott the whole superbowl, or does nobody remember why Pete Carroll left USC?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Southern_California_athletics_scandal

Ole Pete knew about the gifts going to Reggie Bush and was about to get his peepee slapped for it, so he went to the NFL, where the NCAA can't do anything about it.

Then how did the Patriots end up 2psi under?

Good lord, the Packers didn't play the Patriots.

in his book he talks about that, he said NASCAR pulled the fuel tank for measurement at the tech inspection shed, and he got in it, started it up, and drove it back to the garage with no fuel tank.

I agree,  I suspect this is a QB preference and it passed inspection pre game. If they are caught substituting new balls that were never inspected then forfeit the game for them.

Nitrogen behaves like an ideal gas at normal temps and pressures.  IOW, it will still lose pressure when the temperature drops the same as air.

Which is probably why there is nothing on nfl.com or the NFL Network about this right now - the NFL is trying to figure out how to address their own failure in not just our games, but others, because this isn't just a Pats "cheating" thing, it's afailure with officiating crews IMHO.

To those that think cheating is something invented by Belicheck:

Mark Schlereth
Denver Broncos G Mark Schlereth was fined $5,000 on 01-04-1997 for excessive use of the Vaseline on his arms in a playoff game at Kansas City. Schlereth, along with two other Broncos offensive lineman, were ordered to the sideline early in the game to have the substance removed. According to Head Coach Mike Shanahan, Schlereth had "some form of Vaseline, which we normally wear when it\'s cold" on his arms, as well as Flexall, an analgesic ointment. NFL rules dictate that slippery substances on the body, equipment or uniform are prohibited.

COLTS-PATS CLASH FURNISHED WITH FAKE CROWD NOISE?: The crowd was pumped on Sunday for the Colts-Patriots showdown. But was it from an artificial pump?
PRO FOOTBALL TALK questions the authenticity of the noise that came from the RCA Dome crowd. The site supplies this audio clip from the CBS broadcast for judgement.Near the end, you notice some repeating reverb coming from the Indianapolis faithful. The background sound then shuts off, and the crowd sounds a whole lot quieter.
It’s sort of like a CD skipping. Were fake cheers being piped into the Dome? Or was CBS injecting their own aural effects into the game via a sound studio in New York?Or could it be that all 60,000 attendees brought in their own wah-wah pedals and played them simultaneously, as part of some odd Guinness world record?

Cleveland Browns President Carmen Policy and team Vice President Dwight Clark agreed to pay $600,000 today for violating the NFL salary cap while with the San Francisco 49ers.
The settlement calls for Policy to pay $400,000 and Clark $200,000.
The principal issues involved provisions included in quarterback Jim Druckenmiller’s rookie contract, deals signed by linebacker Lee Woodall and tight end Brent Jones, and allegations of an undisclosed agreement involving quarterback Steve Young.

The steroid use on those Steelers teams is documented. Steve Courson, dubbed "Mr. Steeler," wrote about it in Sports Illustrated in 1985. Courson is dead now, crushed when a tree he was cutting fell on him. He was 50.
Other have discussed steroid use on those teams. Webster admitted taking steroids, though he said it wasn't much. Furness's brother has gone on record saying Steve took steroids. Jim Haslett waded into a controversy a few years ago when he talked about the use. One player on the Steelers in that era told me a few year ago that needles were, "everywhere around that team."

ENGLEWOOD - The NFL said Thursday it fined the Denver Broncos $950,000 and took away the team’s third-round draft pick in 2005 for circumventing the salary cap between 1996-98.
The salary-cap violations included undisclosed agreements with several players to defer salary payments with interest, and a commitment by the Broncos in 1997 not to waive a player before a certain date. The players involved in the violations were not named.

He was still the coach of the Baltimore Colts at the end of the 1969 season, when then-Miami owner Joe Robbie approached him and signed Shula to a contract. The NFL charged the Dolphins with tampering and awarded their first-round pick to the Colts. Undaunted, Miami reached the Super Bowl in 1971, then rebounded from a loss to the Dallas Cowboys by winning the next two, including the perfect 17-0 campaign.

This play happened with 2:58 left in the third quarter, when the Dolphins punted to Jets receiver Santonio Holmes(notes). As Holmes took the ball for a short return, cornerback Nolan Carroll(notes) was hurt on the right sideline as he rushed down to cover the play. The replay showed strength and conditioning coach Sal Alosi extending his knee just enough to trip Carroll up on the play. Carroll was down for a minute, but returned to play later in the game.
[Related: NHL player suspended for fighting fan]
Jeff Darlington of the Miami Herald got postgame reaction from three Dolphins players -- Carroll, linebacker Karlos Dansby(notes) and Channing Crowder(notes).

BOOM



 

Apparently, I'm now told that using balls outside the PSI zone is a $25K fine, the lowest of NFL team fines.

We don't know if they cheated.  All we know is the balls were under inflated.  We don't know how or why they were.

I'd have a hard time boycotting something I never watch anyway.

Cant win the big one without illegally taping signals...

Still cant win without cheating. This is their legacy.

Shush. You're harshing the sour grapes of teams that the pats beat because now they can say "We lost because of this..." instead of "Our team got their asses kicked all righteous like..."

Sounds like a job for Mythbusters

So fine Brady a million and suspend him?  Was he the one that deflated the balls?  I imagine he was sitting on the sidelines figuring out how to dismantle indy's defense and it looks like he figured it out!

It is like using a corked bat in baseball or pitcher loading a ball up with Vaseline or some other substance. It is done, you didn't catch me move on.

Besides there is no way you can prove the players or the coach new the balls were underinflated.

The amount of butt hurt and pure herp derp retardation in here is amazing. I love it. I am reveling in it.

Yep, couldn't have said it better myself.

like Marge Schott and the basketball team  owner, (can not think of his name) the owner of the Pats should be forced to sell the team, he obviously supports CHEATING !

i too hate cheaters, the Pats should be fined heavily, about $5,000,000.00, and banned for one year from play if the owner will not sell.

that is just my OPINION of course.

mmmmmm... Yummy tears... *lick lick lick*

Maybe I was drunk again, but didn't I read somewhere that the refs checked  some of the suspicious balls at halftime?

ETA: Nevermind. Beaten all to hell.

A Smokey Yunick thread would appear normal to the casual observer, but when placed next to another thread, it would be revealed to be about 7/10's its size.

All illegal moves/plays on the field are cheating and flags get thrown often at football games.

That's cute.

Ok, lets go on the fact that the balls were in fact under the regulated PSI required by league rules by halftime.
Can ANYONE point to a source that identifies Bill, Brady, or any member of the Pats organization KNOWINGLY under inflating them to gain a competitive advantage post inspection?



ETA: Spelling

The balls always get checked at halftime, as well as before the game.

You're coming off as the cheetoh eating loser whose somehow gets self-worth out of your favorite football teams success as if you somehow had a hand in it.

Right or wrong, your teams legacy is now 'great team... but cheaters'.

We can tell where you stand on the ethical continuum...

So if you have an affair, and your wife doesn't catch you, it's all good?
If you robbed that bank, murdered the prostitute but the cops don't catch you, hey, just forget about it?

LOL!

While we value your opinion, and big red font, shouldn't we just consult the NFL rule book?

This is why Brady and Belichick don't get the respect the pats fans whine about.

There was no need to cheat, they were the better team but I guess Belichick wasn't confident of that.

I doubt the fine (if any) will be high enough for NFL fans and I hope they lose a draft round.

Follow the rule book so we know what to do when they don't follow the rules? Psssh.

If the Pats win the Superbowl I will masturbate with the haters' tears.

2nd time they have been caught cheating, which probably means they have cheated many other times & haven't been caught.  This is a pattern of dishonest behavior & they should be penalized to the fullest extent possible.

Just remember Pats fan next time you want to bash on other teams/QB's that your team & coach is a pathetic POS cheater & you're Super Bowls & wins are all in question.

Not that you care because most of you have no morals or values anyways & would be happy to cheat to win.

Lol... I love it

It'll be even more awesome when the league comes out with the results, and it's not what the haters expected.

If it comes out that it wasn't really cheating I will BE HAPPY.

I have no dislike for the Patriots as an excellent talented team.

Broad strokes...

Every fan of a certain football team now has no morals or values?  Lol

Somebody is laughing all the way to the bank over this.

This manufactured drama will be fantastic for ratings.

less likely to get a girl pregnant

I have some serious questions.

If the balls were deflated by the team after the checks but prior to play, and we know he officials handled the balls every play and either didn't notice or didn't care, what will be done to the officiating crew if the Pats are found guilty?

They only acted because the Colts complained, what does that say about the officiating crew?  Were they complicit in the balls being deflated or were they just incompetent?

The playoff crews are supposed to be the highest ranked officials at each of their positions, but they miss under inflated balls and only act when the opposing team complains. Seems fishy on the surface to me.

Also, maybe someone who played at pro or major college level can answer this. We know the temperature will affect the pressure of the balls some, but does spiking the ball or all of those very large men falling on the ball ever let/force air out of the ball?

Have there ever been bad balls that just leaked air slowly discovered during a game in the modern era of football?

That seems like something that might happen from time to time, shit products make it past QC all the time.

Oh and in the spirit of full disclosure not a Pats fan or a Colts fan when I watched football, and I haven't watched football regularly since mid 90's.

And half of people in this thread that thinks the Pats are the only ones who could possibly be bending rules and think that the NFL should cut off Brady's/ Belichechs balls for doing this are probably more fascinated with  the sensation this all gives them while stroking their own balls.

All the "cheating is cheating" people should just not watch pro sports.  Ball inflation aside, virtually all high level pro athletes are, or have been at some point, on PED's.

Reminds me of the F1 team who had awater-spraying "brake cooler" which promptly dumped a few gallons of water as soon as they hit the track. Or back in the early 2000s when they only measured tread width before the race, so Michelin made tires which got wider throughout the race.