Deflategate - Capt. Clueless strikes again

[PatsFan2003]

What is Romo's playoff record at this point? 2 and 9?

How about them Cowboys...

 

[TxHeat]

So here we are..3 days from the draft and STILL no report. Wouldn't put it past Goofdell to lob a bomb at the Pats sometime Thursday afternoon.

 

[Southieinnc]

So here we are..3 days from the draft and STILL no report. Wouldn't put it past Goofdell to lob a bomb at the Pats sometime Thursday afternoon.

I had the date of the draft wrong. Hard to keep track of the dates there vs. here!
I called 2 days before the draft - that would be your Tuesday?
(it is already Tuesday here. I'll check in the morning at 5AM)

 

[TxHeat]

I had the date of the draft wrong. Hard to keep track of the dates there vs. here!
I called 2 days before the draft - that would be your Tuesday?
(it is already Tuesday here. I'll check in the morning at 5AM)

Southie - that would be today if your prediction is correct.

 

[BigKen]

Goofball was interviewed on the PBS Charlie Rose Show yesterday. Charlie asked him directly, "When will there be a decision on Deflategate?" Goofbell said, "Shortly." Rose then asked, "Why is this taking so long?" Deadballs answered, "Because we need to get all of the information available." Rose asked, "Why is that taking so long?" Goodyfeel said, "We're also checking to see if it may have happened in other games."

From the point of view of ME............The NFL couldn't hang anything on the Patriots in the AFC Championship game so they've expanded the Ted Wells investigation back to 2007 to see if Bill Belichick may have farted in church.

 

[TxHeat]

New Goofdell bullshit. Like I said..this will come down on Thursday afternoon.

Day 100.
It has been 100 days since the NFL opened its investigation following the AFC Championship Game, where the New England Patriots reportedly used deflated footballs. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell thought in March that it was "coming to an end." On Tuesday, he had a similar optimism about its conclusion, saying to CBS This Morning that it won't be long.
“What we’re trying to do is just make sure we’re thorough,” Goodell told CBS. “The most important thing here is: Was there a violation of the rules? And if so, how did that occur? We have a responsibility to the 32 teams — not just to one team, to 32 teams — and our fans, and the general public here to make sure that things were done fairly. I think it’s hard because you want to make sure you have all the information. One of the things that he would be asked to look for: Was it just one game?”
Goodell didn't ask these questions to insinuate that he had answers. When asked if there was suspicion as to whether balls were deflated in more than one game, he said "there's no suspicion of anything."
The Patriots had denied any use of deflated footballs.

 

[BigKen]

If these questions aren't answered in Wells report, it will have been waste of time

• 
  
  Mike Reiss, ESPN New England Patriots reporter

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- It has been 103 days since the NFL appointed attorney Ted Wells to investigate the New England Patriots' underinflated footballs from the AFC Championship Game, and word is that Wells has reached the red zone.

In an appearance on ESPN Radio’s “Mike & Mike” program from the NFL draft, commissioner Roger Goodell said Wells has concluded the investigation phase and is now writing. The report, similar to the 148-page Wells’ report on the Miami Dolphins' bullying scandal from the 2013 season, is expected to be lengthy.

In preparation for its release, these are the areas that should be decisively addressed; otherwise, it will have been a waste of time and resources:

story initially broke, it was reported that the NFL found 11 of the Patriots’ 12 game balls were inflated significantly below the NFL’s requirements. What were those exact levels? Along those lines, is it instead true that “just one was two [PSI] under [and] many of them were just a few ticks under the minimum?" This information should be on Page 1 of the Wells report because it hits at the heart of context.

Specifics on how balls were tested before the game. NFL Vice President of Officiating Dean Blandino said at the Super Bowl that referee Walt Anderson “gauged” all footballs before the game. Specifics on this process are crucial. Did Anderson use a pump? Was it a hand test? We already know the exact PSI of each football was not documented upon inspection, and without knowing the exact starting point, it makes it difficult to compare Patriots footballs to Colts footballs from that day.

Footballs after pregame check. After Anderson approved the footballs, where did those footballs go? Who was monitoring them? The Foxsports.com report that a game-day employee brought the footballs into the bathroom for about 90 seconds raised suspicions, with the report calling him a "strong person of interest." What happened in those 90 seconds and who is this "strong person of interest?"

Specifics on how balls were tested at halftime and historical context. Patriots footballs were tested at halftime of the AFC Championship Game and that is when the league determined underinflated footballs were used. Who conducted that test and how was it conducted? Is any air pressure released from a football when tested? Has the league ever tested footballs at halftime of a game before? At the Super Bowl, Goodell said he was unaware of whether the league had ever tested air pressure of football at halftime of a game, and any historical context along those lines is notable.

Role of science. In an unforgettable January news conference, Bill Belichick cited science as a reason a properly inflated football could lose air pressure due to variables such as weather and temperature. What do experts tapped by Wells say about that?

More on Mike Kensil. NFL Vice President of Game Operations Mike Kensil was at the AFC Championship Game and directly involved with the investigation. Kensil and members of the Patriots organization have had some testy exchanges behind the scenes over the years, with some around the team previously questioning if Kensil had an anti-Patriots agenda. With more than 100 days to investigate, any potential bias from Kensil should be covered by the Wells report.

Role of game-day employee dismissed by NFL. ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported that a game-day employee hired by the NFL to collect footballs for charity handed an ineligible ball to an official to put into play during the AFC Championship Game. That game-day employee has since been fired. How is this related, if at all, to the issue of underinflated footballs being used in the first half?

Colts’ role. The Washington Post previously detailed how Bob Kravitz, the Indianapolis-based reporter who broke the story, got the initial tip via this text message: “Call me now..Very important!!!!” If it is determined that Kravitz was tipped off by the Colts, which led to a media firestorm that reflected poorly on the league and the Patriots, will there be any NFL discipline as it relates to the league’s integrity of the game policy? Colts general manager Ryan Grigson previously mentioned he had privately expressed concern to the NFL about underinflated footballs before the AFC Championship Game.

NFL’s handling of investigation. Patriots owner Robert Kraft expressed outrage at the Super Bowl because of media leaks he felt came from the NFL office, saying he expected an apology if the league couldn’t “definitively determine that [the Patriots] tampered with the air pressure on the footballs.” At the March owners meetings, Goodell said, “If there was anything that we as a league did incorrectly, we’ll know about it in that report.” We’ll be curious what type of spotlight the Wells report puts on the NFL in this regard.