Ed Reed is announcing his retirement so it’s a good time to show a couple videos that illustrate just how much respect BB had for the safety. In fact, it even gets a little awkward in the top one.
Hurley: Wells Report Doesn’t Have Enough Information To Condemn Tom Brady
Hurley: Wells Report Doesn’t Have Enough Information To Condemn Tom Brady
Great job by Mike Hurley summing this whole thing up much better than I could.
Though Ted Wells theorizes a conspiracy to depressurize balls, measurements by NFL referees on the majority of the Patriots balls read precisely where the scientific firm employed by the investigators said a ball inflated to 12.5 psi–the NFL minimum–would fall to (between 11.52 and 11.32) as a result of game-time conditions.
Since the psi measurements of the two referees varied somewhat, the opposite–that a majority of the balls failed to meet the expected level–is also true. Remarkably, the report chooses to interpret the data exclusively in a manner that suggests malfeasance.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/though-ted-wells-theorizes-a-conspiracy-to/
It’s the Wells Deflategate Report!
It’s the Wells Deflategate Report!
If you feel like reading it, here it is in its entire 250-page glory. How perfect that it comes out right after the draft when the dead period of the NFL offseason begins!
I was about to whip up this whole long post about it after trudging through it, but I realized what does it matter? Everyone is already in their corners, falling somewhere between “Suspend Tom Brady” to “The Pats were framed!”.
The truth is somewhere in the middle, and while I do think Jim McNally did let some air out of the balls after they were measured, I just can’t get by how ridiculous this whole thing is. We’re talking about an undetectable amount of pressure in a football.
Why is there an acceptable range? It’s not like underinflated balls are magically better. Easier to grip? Yes. Harder to throw with velocity? That too. It’s a tradeoff and as everyone can agree: HAD NO EFFECT ON THE AFC CHAMPIONSHIP.
So yeah, that’s what this is ultimately all about… less than a pound of PSI in footballs.
This is a football blog. I like football. I don’t like pouring through investigative reports and then trying to defend or condemn the football team I write about.
Now I don’t think it’s out of the question Brady gets suspended a game and personally I would kind of welcome it. Give Garoppolo a start while Brady stews watching the Pats raise the Super Bowl banner.
That has another revenge tour ala 2007 written all over it, whether it’s what Brady truly deserves or not.
Otherwise I’m just ready to put this whole episode behind us and move on to 2015.