Steelers MMQB: NFL OTA Week 3 Wrap Up

Deflating Deflategate?

Jan 24, 2015; Mobile, AL, USA; An official NFL “The Duke” football made by Wilson photographed on the field following the Senior Bowl at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Times was successful three years ago in the Bounty Gate scandal in offering up a counterpoint to the NFL’s own investigation about the bounty system the New Orleans Saints defensive coaching staff had implemented and the players the league charged with being chiefly involved. The study the NY Times ran, concluded that the Saints defense injured fewer opposing players than all but two team in 2009 and fewer than all but one team from 2009-2011.

Therefore, the players’ suspensions who were linked to the bounty scandal were vacated because there was no direct proof of their intent to go out on the field to injure other players as a result of the bounty system.

The NY Times is trying to imply the same logic to the Deflategate scandal that cause the New England Patriots to be fined $1 million and lose some future draft picks. Tom Brady, who was linked to being at the very least aware of the illegal deflating of footballs, was suspended for four-games by the commissioner.

Their assertion is that there are flaws in the Wells report, where the league based their punishments off of about ball pressure and temperature and all kinds of sciency stuff. They request that when Brady’s punishment is heard by Goodell later this month, they’ll consider the information they’ve but forth to discount the findings in the Wells Report.

Unfortunately, the NY Times report doesn’t address the two jamokes who sent incriminated text messages back and forth between themselves and Brady about deflating the damn footballs. Not sure how you can scientifically counter that unless you really and truly believe the “Deflator,” as one of the jamokes refers to himself as, was really talking about his weight loss.

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