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Who Was Responsible For DeflateGate?

Who Is Responsible For Deflategate?

  • Belicheck

    Votes: 1 5.9%
  • Brady

    Votes: 1 5.9%
  • Both

    Votes: 7 41.2%
  • Rouge Equipment Manager

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Colts Employee

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 8 47.1%

  • Total voters
    17

MarineTpartier

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I'm sure most of you, if you breathe American air, have heard about the New England Patriots "DeflateGate" or "Ballghazi" or whatever other cool name you want to come up with. So what say you guys? Who is responsible? Did Belicheck order the code red? Brady? Both? A rouge equipment manager? A disgruntled Colts employee? Here's what we do know:

-Belicheck denies knowledge of anything regarding football air pressure. Further, he directly said that would be something Brady would know about.

-Brady denies knowledge of anything regarding football air pressure other than that he likes his balls at 12.5, which is the low end of the prescribed tolerance of 12.5-13.5. Yes, I said balls. I totally meant that innuendo. I'm really a 10 year old in a middle aged body.

-Air temperature did not cause it. Both teams footballs where tested prior to the game. Both teams footballs passed. Both teams footballs were tested at halftime. The Patriots footballs were all at least 2lbs under the prescribed psi range of 12.5-13.5. The Colts footballs maintained the pregame pressure. The Patriots footballs were checked by at least two gauges to ensure accuracy after having been found underinflated.

-At halftime, the Patriots footballs were all inflated back within league standard.

-No Colts player noticed the footballs were deflated. A Colts equipment manager, who received a ball intercepted by linebacker D'Qwell Jackson from him, noticed the deflated football and reported it to Head Coach Chuck Pagano who then ran it up to Colts executives.

-Tom Brady insists he did not see the footballs again after picking the 12 he wanted to use during the game. Those 12 were inspected and passed by NFL officials after he picked them.

-It has been concluded by the NFL that the footballs had to have been altered by a human being and not by temp change or a defect in the footballs, therefore, that means they were altered at some point during pregame warmups or during the brief time they sit in the equipment room prior to warmups.
 
I'm sure most of you, if you breathe American air, have heard about the New England Patriots "DeflateGate" or "Ballghazi" or whatever other cool name you want to come up with. So what say you guys? Who is responsible? Did Belicheck order the code red? Brady? Both? A rouge equipment manager? A disgruntled Colts employee? Here's what we do know:

-Belicheck denies knowledge of anything regarding football air pressure. Further, he directly said that would be something Brady would know about.

-Brady denies knowledge of anything regarding football air pressure other than that he likes his balls at 12.5, which is the low end of the prescribed tolerance of 12.5-13.5. Yes, I said balls. I totally meant that innuendo. I'm really a 10 year old in a middle aged body.

-Air temperature did not cause it. Both teams footballs where tested prior to the game. Both teams footballs passed. Both teams footballs were tested at halftime. The Patriots footballs were all at least 2lbs under the prescribed psi range of 12.5-13.5. The Colts footballs maintained the pregame pressure. The Patriots footballs were checked by at least two gauges to ensure accuracy after having been found underinflated.

-At halftime, the Patriots footballs were all inflated back within league standard.

-No Colts player noticed the footballs were deflated. A Colts equipment manager, who received a ball intercepted by linebacker D'Qwell Jackson from him, noticed the deflated football and reported it to Head Coach Chuck Pagano who then ran it up to Colts executives.

-Tom Brady insists he did not see the footballs again after picking the 12 he wanted to use during the game. Those 12 were inspected and passed by NFL officials after he picked them.

-It has been concluded by the NFL that the footballs had to have been altered by a human being and not by temp change or a defect in the footballs, therefore, that means they were altered at some point during pregame warmups or during the brief time they sit in the equipment room prior to warmups.

who in america would have the balls to pull off such a stunt?
 
Who cares? Little to nothing will happen to them no matter who is responsible.
 
other: the officials *
probably did not use a measuring device but instead squeezed the footballs
not an unusual practice
and one which was unable to discern the under-inflation prior to the game

and if the pressure gauge was used, was it properly calibrated

here is a precedent:
Johnson said he paid two ballboys working for the NFL a total of $7,500 to make sure the footballs were scuffed and broken in before the Super Bowl and they obliged.
Bucs QB Johnson paid to have footballs scuffed before SB 37 | Tampa Bay Times


*full disclosure: i am a sports official in my 30th year of activity
 
The NFL rule makers. Letting each team supply (and "prep") their own game balls is simply silly.
 
This is my theory. Full disclosure, I'm a Pats fan and have been for about 15 years. Anyway, I believe the refs failed to inspect the footballs properly prior to the game and have been doing so for awhile. I do believe someone in the Pats organization had the footballs below the prescribed psi of 12.5-13.5. I believe the equipment managers probably had a number of footballs in the equipment room (I've heard some teams bring in upwards of 50) and Brady showed up to test them all which is standard practice for most NFL quarterbacks, not just Brady. The probably had some at 13.5, some at 12.5, and some below. Brady probably naturally like the deflated ones better because he could grip them better. The equipment managers then turned them over to the refs knowing they don't thoroughly test the psi of every football and there you go, deflated footballs. A few things trouble me about this:

1) There are reports that the Colts noticed this in their previous game against the Pats this year. Also, there is a report that the Ravens tipped the Colts off that the Pats where doing this in divisional round. Normally, when the NFL receives reports like this, they warn the accused team that if they are violating whatever rule they are being accused of violating they will be held accountable if the are found guilty of said accusation. So, if these reports are true, why didn't the NFL warn the Pats? It looks like they set up some kind of sting operation on them

2) I heard an NFL ref on Mike and Mike this morning state that he never tested a football with a gauge in 10 years of being a ref. He said they always just picked the footballs up and squeezed them. That points to a habit of not properly testing them.

3) There is no proper chain of custody for the footballs. Apparently the process is the footballs are brought to the stadium by equipment managers, Brady tests them and picks 12, the refs test them for pressure, the footballs are locked up but left unattended for about 45 minutes to and hour, then they are transported to the field by equipment managers. Theoretically, someone could tamper with the footballs during that time span they are left locked but unattended. Could a Colts employee, with knowledge the league was notified of under inflated footballs, have gone in and tampered with them? On the same token, a Pats employee could do the same. The one thing I don't know is who controls the key to the room where the footballs are kept.

4) Finally, it's been said that all of the footballs were very close in pressure. I don't see someone being able to deflate those footballs that accurately without a gauge. If someone had deflated them on the field, you would think it would have been noticed at some point.
 
Last edited:
other: the officials *
probably did not use a measuring device but instead squeezed the footballs
not an unusual practice
and one which was unable to discern the under-inflation prior to the game

and if the pressure gauge was used, was it properly calibrated

here is a precedent:

Bucs QB Johnson paid to have footballs scuffed before SB 37 | Tampa Bay Times


*full disclosure: i am a sports official in my 30th year of activity

I totally agree with this. The NFL will NEVER admit that though. No way. Not with the Ray Rice scandal already tarnishing their name.
 
Who cares? Little to nothing will happen to them no matter who is responsible.
Apparently a lot of people. If anything, it's a scandal that doesn't involve Pres Obama and I'm all about that lol.
 
this isn't going to go away, and comparing it to things like what Brad Johnson did isn't very convincing as those balls were used by both teams equally. Tom Brady himself asked for a rule change to allow this very thing to happen.

Qbs Get On The Ball, Reach Goal - Sun Sentinel
 
I'm in the who cares camp and I'm a Jet fan. Belicheck is still a cheat. Probably a liberal conspiracy.
 
Well, other. You know, that was top story on the national news broadcast this morning. No news is good news?

In reality, who cares!
 
Well, other. You know, that was top story on the national news broadcast this morning. No news is good news?

In reality, who cares!
Again, a lot of people. It's actually nice to be interested in a story that doesn't involved ISIS, Obama, or Congressional infighting.
 
Peyton Manning was also a huge advocate for this, just to be fair.

yes, and if Peyton was caught using balls that did not meet the guidlines, and was on a team found guilty of cheating in other areas, his rep would also be taking a huge hit
 
who in america would have the balls to pull off such a stunt?

images 5.jpg
 
yes, and if Peyton was caught using balls that did not meet the guidlines, and was on a team found guilty of cheating in other areas, his rep would also be taking a huge hit
Didn't say it wouldn't. I just pointed out the fact that just because Brady advocated for this rule doesn't make him guilty. Manning also advocated for it and has not been accused of this.
 
The "sports" networks are little about showing sports anymore. They are just talking heads trying to find ANYTHING to turn into controversy because the old talking heads are cheap and royalties to show sporting events is high.

Who gives a damn if the football was 1 psi under inflated? Of all the sports going on in the country, instead people are watching talking heads talk about that.
 
Didn't say it wouldn't. I just pointed out the fact that just because Brady advocated for this rule doesn't make him guilty. Manning also advocated for it and has not been accused of this.

the link I posted listed both players, so it isn't like you are correcting some hidden gem.
 
the link I posted listed both players, so it isn't like you are correcting some hidden gem.
I'm aware. Just nonchalantly pointing out your hypocrisy by just listing Brady's name in your post even though other player's names were in the article. Let me guess, a Jets fan? Maybe Rams?
 
I'm aware. Just nonchalantly pointing out your hypocrisy by just listing Brady's name in your post even though other player's names were in the article. Let me guess, a Jets fan? Maybe Rams?

hypocrisy? this thread is about the patriots. The guy that gained an advantage lobbied for the rule change to give him the advantage.

the culture of that franchise needs to be called into question. fair play might not mean anything to you, but it does to me.

one team more then any other keeps pulling these stunts. The league had to make a rule preventing the patriots from gaining an advantage in snow. from spying. now from having better equipment.

at some point, you have to question if the head guy is just a sociopath unwilling to to play a frigging game on a level playing field.
 
other: the officials *
probably did not use a measuring device but instead squeezed the footballs
not an unusual practice
and one which was unable to discern the under-inflation prior to the game

and if the pressure gauge was used, was it properly calibrated

here is a precedent:

Bucs QB Johnson paid to have footballs scuffed before SB 37 | Tampa Bay Times


*full disclosure: i am a sports official in my 30th year of activity

THen how did they determine they were bad the first half and ok the second half?

Different instruments? Did they calibrate them in between? (Pretty sure not)
 
THen how did they determine they were bad the first half and ok the second half?

Different instruments? Did they calibrate them in between? (Pretty sure not)

when the colts equipment manager alerted the colts management that a player retained ball [keepsake] appeared to be out of compliance, proper protocol was then followed. the balls of each team were scrutinized with two pressure gauges during halftime
 
when the colts equipment manager alerted the colts management that a player retained ball [keepsake] appeared to be out of compliance, proper protocol was then followed. the balls of each team were scrutinized with two pressure gauges during halftime

Not sure that answered my question.
 
Brady is the QB,he and the center touches the ball all game.But Brady is the one that hand's it off and throw passes.That my opinion an everybody has one.:2wave::peace
 
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