Posted on by Jimmy Sullivan

Deflategate Needs to Go Away, For Everyone Involved

This isn’t ISIS; no one’s dying. – Tom Brady

A ruling in Deflategate is supposedly coming in the next day or two, which means that the story may finally, mercifully go away.  There has never been, in the history of American civilization, more of a fuss made by the removal of a half-pound of air from a football.  But, alas, the story has dragged on.  And on.  And on.

Tom Brady, the accused culprit in this never-ending saga, was initially suspended four games for his presumed role in the deflation of the footballs.  However, in a report published by attorney Ted Wells on May 6, it is stated that it is “more probable than not” that Brady and the Patriots knew that the balls were inadequately inflated.  And you know what “more probable than not” means; it isn’t a 100% certainty that Brady and the Patriots staff were doing this on purpose.  For example, it was more probable than not that the 2007 Mets were going to win the NL East; of course, they choked away a seven-game lead with 17 games left to play and missed the playoffs.  And it was more probable than not that the U.S. hockey team would lose to the U.S.S.R. in the 1980 Olympics.  That didn’t happen, either.

To demonstrate the ridiculousness of the report and the entire story itself, the entire thing hinges on a series of text message exchanges between Jim McNally, the attendant of the officials’ locker room and Patriots locker room assistant John Jastremski.  They went like this, in no particular order, per NESN:

McNally: Tom sucks…im going make that next ball a (expletive) balloon

Jastremski: Talked to him last night. He actually brought you up and said you must have a lot of stress trying to get them done…

Jastremski: I told him it was. He was right though…

Jastremski: I checked some of the balls this morn… The refs (expletive) us…a few of then were at almost 16

Jastremski: They didnt recheck then after they put air in them

McNally: (Expletive) tom …16 is nothing…wait till next sunday

Jastremski: Omg! Spaz

Jastremski: Can‟t wait to give you your needle this week 🙂

McNally: (Expletive) tom….make sure the pump is attached to the needle…..(expletive) watermelons coming

Jastremski: So angry

McNally: The only thing deflating (Sunday)..is his passing rating

Jastremski: I have a big needle for u this week

McNally: Better be surrounded by cash and newkicks….or its a rugby sunday

McNally: (Expletive) tom

Jastremski: Maybe u will have some nice size 11s in ur locker

McNally: Tom must really be working your balls hard this week

McNally: You working

Jastremski: Yup

McNally: Nice dude….jimmy needs some kicks….lets make a deal…..come on help the deflator

McNally: Chill buddy im just (expletive) with you ….im not going to espn……..yet

To be fair to Wells and the NFL, the texts do portray the equipment managers, and especially Brady, as being pretty aware of what was happening.  But we can’t be sure that these two weren’t joking, and we can’t be sure that they are credible sources, either.

But the story has become such a joke.  The NFL and Brady are fighting over a small piece of air.  Brady was suspended four games by NFL dictator commissioner Roger Goodell, and Brady filed an appeal of the suspension almost immediately.  The drama that ensued was insane; Pats’ owner Robert Kraft said he wouldn’t fight the penalties levied against his organization after saying he would demand an apology from the league if his team was found innocent.  More on him later.

We later find out that Brady destroyed his phone to potentially hide the deflating evidence.  The NFL’s autocrat “independent arbiter”, Roger Goodell, upheld Brady’s suspension on July 28, at which point you would figure the story would be over.  And if you figured this, you would be so wrong.

The day after, Kraft would pull back his support in the league and Brady would file another appeal.  This one wouldn’t be heard by Goodell but rather by Richard Berman, an independent judge, in New York.  Berman is expected to rule this week, and there is virtually no likelihood of a settlement between the two parties.

The story has become tiring; heck, it was tiring 24 hours after it broke.  It’s a silly controversy.  Worst of all?  The Patriots won the Deflategate game 45-7 over the Colts; meaning, they probably would’ve won the game without the air being taken out of the balls. In this case, though, their reputation precedes them, and the finger will be pointed, just like it was during Spygate, at Brady and the former HC of the NYJ.

And the NFL is not blameless here, either.  How could they want this story to go on forever, especially at a time when the public opinion of Goodell is as negative as ever?  With Brady being one of the best players in the game, why would the league want to provoke what seems like a witch hunt against him?  And why would the NFL be wasting so much effort and energy with Deflategate when it has far, far bigger problems?

These bigger problems were addressed by Nate Scott of USA Today’s For The Win this morning:

This is arrogance of the highest order. The NFL has major issues (and you better believe the release of Concussion on Christmas Day is going to be a major issue for the league) and the league’s commissioner is in a protracted legal battle over whether or not he can suspend one of his star players for four games instead of one or two.

Yes, Commissioner Goodell is wasting league time and resources to try and keep one of his most marketable stars off the field. This doesn’t even make good business sense. All those sports marketing reporters can’t wipe Goodell’s chin and explain to us how what he’s doing is actually good for the bottom line. It isn’t.

This is about showing off the power of The Shield, and not allowing one player to show up the Commissioner, who fought long and hard in those CBA negotiations to have the total power to do whatever he wants. Goodell earned that right, and he’s not going to give it up just because no one in the actual sport cares. This is his show.

Concussion.  About that.

Concussion‘s trailer hit exclusively on MMQB.com yesterday, and it looks like it could be a PR disaster for the NFL.  It stars Will Smith as Bennet Omalu, a doctor who became famous for discovering the brain disease CTE.  CTE has served in part to claim the lives of former players Junior Seau, Dave Duerson, and others.

The movie will likely showcase the league’s years of denial in terms of concussions, and it may be all we are talking about this winter; the movie will be released on Christmas Day.  But this isn’t what Goodell is worried about right now; he’s worried about a little chunk of air.

This story has gone far past its saturation point.  The public and the players have had more than enough (a Bleacher Report poll said 70 percent of players don’t consider the Pats cheaters, and most players simply don’t care about Deflategate at all), so why can’t the parties involved make up and compromise?

In terms of winners and losers in this scandal, well, there are only losers; it’s a no-win situation for everyone involved.

Which is why Goodell, Brady, Kraft, and everyone else involved need it to go away.

One Reply to “Deflategate Needs to Go Away, For Everyone Involved”

  1. Pingback: We’ve Made It: A Summation of Deflategate – Sully's World of Sports

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