Reviews

What If Patriots Really Did Deflate Those Footballs?

1/21/2015

No, not footballs from last Sunday, but before being inflated for last year's Super Bowl.

Type in the letters P-A-T-R-I-O... and the wizard of Google completes the thought:

Patriots….cheating.

Just that automatically.

If Robert Kraft, the owner of the Patriots, is doing his own searches he might be aghast to see where his team stands in the web. Kraft is in a position to win his fourth Super Bowl, but what might he have lost?

Kraft's name was already associated with a coach who spied on the Jets in 2007 and got caught. Bill Belichick paid a fine of $500,000 for that transgression -- riding-around money on the MTA.

Now the Patriots have won a lopsided conference championship game in which the footballs were deflated just enough to change their aerodynamics.

Did this help guide Tom Brady’s passes well enough to beat the Colts? Not enough to create the 45-7 score.

The NFL – in the age of concussion carnage and Ray Rice and the weekly police report – is not likely to void that victory. But with all the cameras at work in the stadium last Sunday, the NFL just might find evidence of a low-level employee named Elmo skulking around the ball bag with a one-dollar needle, deflating the balls while everybody else in the place was gaping at the obligatory NFL jet flyover.

Our theoretical Elmo was not acting on his own, any more than the Jets assistant was acting on his own when he, oops, edged onto the field and shivered a Dolphin ball-carrier in 2010.

This is the NFL. Nobody thinks on his own, except Coach.

The way it looks, the footballs were softened, and not by accident. Does Bob Kraft really like being associated with this stuff along with Belichick's seventh Super Bowl?

Belichick’s values are questionable and his public persona is miserable. (To be fair, I have friends who know Belichick and describe his thoughtful side.)

Bob Kraft, 73, cares what people think of him. He and his late wife Myrna were active in many charities and good causes. I wonder what she thought of Belichick, and what she would think about a sack of tampered footballs.

I don’t think the NFL is capable of a moral stand, not with its ratings and income. But if the Patriots did what it looks like they did, Bob Kraft should wait til after the Super Bowl and then give Belichick a year off, without pay. At best.

Your thoughts?

bruce

1/22/2015 01:11:38 pm

George,

I don't visit your site for a few weeks at a time by choice. I like to read a bunch of them at once.

agree with you about paris, Cuomo's 1984 slice and dice was one of the best American political speeches I can recall, patriots are definitely a shady bunch.

one of the things I've really enjoyed since you 'left' the nyt is that there is an edge that is sharper than in those not so long ago good old days.

and as you know, I enjoy the fact that you're not afraid to acknowledge that there are other countries on the planet that are admirable and could occasionally teach the usa a thing or two.

bruce

George Vecsey

1/24/2015 07:33:07 am

Bruce, thanks. That is the fun of this little therapy web site -- I can say what I want, on any subject. I find a lot of the sports I covered have vanished...I don;t watch and have no opinion. But I still care about the basics, like integrity..and a few sports. I appreciate the nice words. GV

Larry link

1/24/2015 04:53:36 am

George - the NFL does NOT need to find Elmo (hard evidence) to convict the Patriots.

This is a mistake many seem to be making, maybe even the Patriots themselves.
The NFL is not the same as the US Court system. They do not need to catch someone red handed, they don’t need a videotape, and they don’t need a confession from a ballboy.
They just need a reasonable amount of information that makes it clear something happened to penalize the organization. Roger Goodell makes this pretty clear in his note to the competition committee post spygate in 2008 (below). And it’s clear with the NFL personal conduct policy which allows them to take action without a conviction by the court system.
Now to penalize an individual (like Brady or Belichcik) they might need something firmer per the CBA, but I am not sure.
Regardless, worst case, the organization can be punished (draft picks and/or organizational fines or fining the owner who bears responsibility for the organization and frankly the coach too) even without punishing individual players.

-The fact that 11 (or 12) footballs were 2lbs underinflated each ALONE is sufficient evidence something happened. Seems much too systematic.
-Add in, if true, that the balls were tested before they were turned over to the Patriots and found to be in compliance, then the case becomes Airtight and you basically have enough for a life sentence.
-Throw in on top of that the fact that the Indianapolis balls were also tested during the game and found to be in compliance (ergo the weather, and it was 50 degrees btw and I think it has to get to negative 80 to take 2lbs out of the ball), then you have enough for 2 life sentences.
-Throw in the statistical analysis that suggests this may have been going on since 2007 (stark change between 2002-2006 and 2007-now, and the absolute stunningly low level of fumbles) and you have enough for the death sentence, twice to make sure! http://www.sharpfootballanalysis.com/blog/?p=2932

Maybe the Patriots believe there is no hard evidence, and this is why they have gone down this path. And maybe they are right that without hard evidence nothing specifically can be pinned on Belichick or Brady. And maybe they believe that alone gets them off the hook. Or maybe they just believe that even though the organization can be penalized, if there is nothing specific on Brady or Belichick, the penalty will be less severe and more importantly the damage will be much less in the court of public opinion, which they dearly care about as well. And of course there is some chance (in my opinion smaller than the odds of me winning powerball) they are telling the truth.

Roger Goodell to the competition committee post spygate in 2008:

"Too often, competitive violations have gone unpunished because conclusive proof of the violation was lacking. I believe we should reconsider the standard of proof to be applied in such cases, and make it easier for a competitive violation to be established.

And where a violation is shown, I intend to impose more stringent penalties on both the club and the responsible individual(s). I will also be prepared to make greater use of draft choice forfeiture in appropriate cases. I believe this will have the effect of deterring violations and making people more willing to report violations on a timely basis."

George Vecsey

1/24/2015 07:30:33 am

Larry, thanks so much for the input.
I think it's always fun to bring up stated policies and hold people to them. I hope the NFL remembers those words.

Appreciate your input.
GV

Alanb Rubin link

1/25/2015 11:12:10 am

George

Bill Belichick set the ethical tone of his leadership when he was “one day and done” as the coach of the Jets to take a better offer from the Patriots.

Bob Kraft is indeed very philanthropic. Both the Patriots and the NE Revs, who are run by his son Johnathan, give much back to their fans and the greater Boston community.

Although Bob Kraft may have little say in the day to day operations of the Patriots, such as the pressure of game balls, owners determine the corporate culture. My experience with the NE Revs showed them to be inflexible and controlling.

Three years ago I, along with a few others, began working with the NE Revs and the Boston Breakers, Boston’s women’s professional soccer team. The goal was to build their brands in western MA, which was two and a half hours from Boston.

I asked my contact if we could observe part of the Revs morning practice when we had a strategy meeting at Gillette Stadium. Although she thought it was a good idea, her boss indicated that a more serious commitment, such as season tickets, would be required before we could attend a practice. I replied that if her boss did not consider four volunteers, with numerous contacts in our area, willing to drive five hours round trip to help the Revs, he did not know what a serious commitment was.

An organization so structured that my contact needed to get permission for us to briefly attend a practice session, just to watch and not meet any players, would probably know if the pressure of their game footballs was altered.

We were always welcome to attend the Breakers’ practice sessions and meet the players and coaches. After my Revs contact left mid-season the following year, I decided to only work with the Breakers. Women’s soccer is much more enjoyable on all levels.

Soccer is very rapidly gaining on it’s own with US sports fans, but the morally bankrupt NFL is helping to speed up the process.

George Vecsey

1/25/2015 01:49:38 pm

I don't know of any sports organization that has moral authority...except FIFA, he joked.
But the NFL surely has let all the money go to its head...and wallet.
Alan, to be fair, remember that Belichick was getting away from Parcells. Or he used Parcells as an excuse to bolt.
Strange bird.
Soccer does not have such people. Except for Mourinho, Blatter, Sir Alex, John Terry and other high types.
Good luck with whatever part of the blizzard you get in the Berkshires.
GV

girlsgogames link

1/29/2015 08:48:16 pm

Thanks for your article quite

Gene Palumbo

1/31/2015 03:07:10 am

Column alert: George had one in the Times on Friday, Jan. 30:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/30/sports/hockey/martin-brodeur-a-new-jersey-devil-and-new-york-icon.html

A New York Icon Who Shone Just Outside the Bright Lights

Martin Brodeur: A New Jersey Devil and New York Icon