petemily
Member
To repeat -- the pressure of the balls is evidence AGAINST cheating. Make your case about shifty-seeming behavior all you want. But to deserve to be taken seriously, it has to be strong enough to OUTWEIGH the scientific evidence.
Read Troy Vincent's comments. He explains there was more to the violations than simple Guilt/Innocence.
""Another important consideration identified in the Policy is 'the extent to which the club and relevant individuals cooperated with the investigation.'"
As well as
"Finally, it is significant that key witnesses -- Mr. Brady, Mr. Jastremski, and Mr. McNally -- were not fully candid during the investigation."
Here he lays out, this is not the "first time, the team has run a foul of the competitive rules.
"The first is the club's prior record. In 2007 the club and several individuals were sanctioned for videotaping signals of opposing defensive coaches in violation of the Constitution and Bylaws. Under the Integrity of the Game Policy, this prior violation of competitive rules was properly considered in determining the discipline in this case."
Being this is the case, the fine/suspension, etc. cannot simply be Vacated. They can be "reduced", but a fine/suspension/loss of draft picks is unavoidable, at this point. This is spelled out under a Policy on Integrity of the Game & Enforcement of Competitive Rules., which the Teams(Owners)/Players signed under the CBA (I believe it's correct,but I could always be wrong).
I know it sucks to lose your starting QB, but other teams have survived it. Just be glad the Patriots have one of the easiest Schedules in the league.