Here’s the main thing you need to understand regarding the Wells’ Report and quarterback Tom Brady’s upcoming suspension: This is not a court of law. In a court, you can argue that “probable” and “likely” don’t equate guilt. You could never convict anyone with a jury on those terms. But that’s not what this is.
So stop thinking there’s wiggle room, because there isn’t. Don’t think for a minute that Wells’ equivocating means there isn’t enough evidence to nail Brady, because none of that matters. Stop saying “there’s no smoking gun” because they never needed one. Everything you learned as an avid watcher of Law and Order, Matlock, Ironsides or Ally McBeal will not come into play.
Stats world is debating if DeflateGate caused #Patriots’ low fumble rates. This post is important to convo: http://t.co/suFxlbJKER
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) May 11, 2015
There is no “law” here. There are rules and within the NFL at the end of the day, all that matters is reality and common sense, even if they’ve never used either in the past. Tom Brady is guilty. He’s getting suspended. It’s going to be a good, long one. There’s only two questions now.
1. Will the punishment spill over to head coach Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots team?
2. How long will Brady’s suspension be and what will Brady, his dumbass agent Donald Yee and the Patriots want to do about it?
Yee seemed to make it clear in his rant last week that Brady will fight any suspension and that’s exactly the wrong thing to do. Everyone knows Brady and the Patriots are cheaters, but this is nothing new. We’ve all known that for the last decade so what Brady needs to do today, through his lawyer since Yee can’t be trusted to not say something stupid, is to negotiate a punishment with the NFL where he admits wrongdoing, falls on his sword, and explain publicly that while he felt like he was just bending the rules to make himself feel more comfortable handling and throwing the football, he now realizes it was wrong and is ready to accept his punishment. He can also throw in there that he learned that the perceived need for under-inflated footballs was all in his head since the second half of the AFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl were his two best passing performances of the entire season. That the ball inflation became almost a superstition to him and one he needed to get out of his head anyway. He publicly states he’ll accept the punishment handed down by the NFL and won’t appeal it.
As you might imagine, some Ravens players I've texted with over past few days have had some interesting things to say re Deflategate.
— mike freeman (@mikefreemanNFL) May 9, 2015
If Brady does that, he gets four games tops and his legacy, for the most part, stays intact. Or at least as intact as it was before DeflateGate.
But if Brady wants to fight this? If he wants to try to use the equivocations in the report to try to weasel out of a suspension or get it down to one or two games, he’s in for a world of trouble.
Because one thing is certain before any new information breaks on this and you can take it to the bank; Roger Goodell will not take another public relations loss. He won’t. The last year and a half have been horrible for Goodell and he’s handled everything, across the board, completely wrong. He’s been exposed a callous, money-hungry stooge at best and a complete tone-deaf moron at worst. He’s been criticized across the board and if you don’t think a big reason the NFL gave up its tax-exempt status was so that Goodell could stop explaining why he’s making $40 million a year in salary, you’re crazy.
If NE is punished for anything related to "Deflategate," the Pats would be the 4th team reprimanded this offseason. pic.twitter.com/svgtUhFl90
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) May 11, 2015
Brady and the Patriots aren’t dealing with early, patsy Goodell who lead a cover-up and actually destroyed all the SpyGate evidence. They’re not even dealing with the chump Goodell of BountyGate, who got embarrassed in every subsequent court case afterward. This Goodell is not the same simpleton who thought Ray Rice should just sit two games after nearly punching his fist through his girlfriend’s head. Those guys altogether, the stooge, the chump, the patsy and the simpleton nearly got Goodell fired. The Patriots are dealing with full-on Vietnam-flashback PTSD Goodell and he’s going to swing for the fences if he feels any blowback from Brady’s camp coming. If anything, this punishment will be bigger than it has to be since Goodell can’t stand looking bad in another arbitration.
I know it flies in the face of all past evidence, Tom Brady, but it’s time to throw yourself on the mercy of the court and take your punishment. Goodell is a sniveling coward and there’s nothing more dangerous on Earth than a coward backed into a corner.
