Jack Attack Tuesday – The Insanity of Deflated Footballs
Jack Attack Tuesday
The Insanity of Deflated Footballs
It’s difficult for me to be objective in this matter, but I am going to really try here. I’ve been here defending the wall since this story broke with a few moderate mentions here and there, most notably when Luke invited me to the Binge SportsCast to give some thoughts on the sordid saga of Deflategate, or how I will now and forever refer to it, Deframegate.
There’s a lot of venom being spewed in all directions right now and I feel like it’s important to look at everything in perspective and get this out of our collective consciousness before real football finally starts. Look, I get it. The Patriots have (unless you’re the Giants) successfully bested you some time in the past decade-and-a-half. They are the Scarface of the NFL in the eyes of everyone not living in New England or central Florida (there’s a huge demographic of New England transplants living down there). At some point over the past 15 years the Patriots probably at least beat you, if not completely dismantled you morally and spiritually. The hatred for them rivals that of America’s Team, the Dallas Cowboys, which was also brought on by a run of solid wins. Look, success breeds envy, and if you want to cheat yourself of enjoying one of the greatest athletes of his sport go to work, then good on you. Nothing I say will change that, and I don’t aim to. Pissing in the wind isn’t a hobby of mine.
While the media has been the true center of this entire story, I think it’s an important thing to observe this whole debacle from a distance. There are may suspicious goings on throughout this whole affair. As a die-hard Patriots fan, even I will admit that. McNally taking the game balls into the bathroom before play is a little odd, but so is finding out that the NFL edited a supposedly “Independent” investigation before it was released to the world. Brady destroying his cell phone doesn’t look great, but when you read in the Wells report that Ted Wells told him he didn’t need the phone, nor would that effect his decision, it makes you suspicious as to why the NFL is outrightly lying about what is happening here.
As a fan of football, all I really want is to go to games, enjoy myself and smack talk with friends and family via fantasy football every year. Personally, I don’t think that’s too much to ask of the sport. I’ve spoken before about my adoration for the team and Brady in particular because I have a connection to this team from an early age. It’s frustrating hearing people try and convince me that the team are a bunch of cheaters. The truth of all of this, though, is that for those who actually know the details of Spygate, that was an issue of arrogance on Belichick’s part, and even his statement earlier this year at the press conference regarding air pressure measurement affirms his stance that the rule they broke was, in his eyes, silly. But in the case of Spygate, you had a situation where the team was caught, told to move their cameras to another angle and carry on. Belichick refused, and his ego unfortunately led to that scenario. I understand that, I can move on from that. Moral of the story there is don’t be an arrogant prick.
Cut to the AFC Championship Game against the Colts this year. The Patriots manhandled the Colts for what is becoming an annual party with a blowout win. The next morning, a story gets out about balls being under-inflated and Brady says on sports radio “Well, I’ve just about heard it all.” with a laugh and verbal shrug. Fast forward a few months and Brady is suspended for being “at least generally aware” of football deflation. Think about that, NFL fans. If tomorrow Peyton Manning’s limo driver kills someone in a car accident after dropping Peyton off at home, wouldn’t it be insane to think that Peyton was “generally aware” of the crime, and likely to be thrown in prison alongside the driver? That is the precedent Roger Goodell and the league are standing on at the moment. At this point in the game, court documents and emails have confirmed that the NFL and, specifically, Commissioner Goodell, are lying through their teeth. They’re doing this because they know they can, and backing down now would make the man look even more useless.
While nothing is likely to be done about this, I believe the league’s true intention with all of this hoopla was to keep the NFL in the news throughout the offseason and, most importantly, deflect the real issues that need to be addressed. Does anyone care about domestic violence now that we can point at Brady and the Patriots and cry “Cheaters!”. The NFL’s concussion issue, a potentially $700,000,000 lawsuit, hasn’t been mentioned since January (to my knowledge) because it’s a lot more fun and satisfying to look the other way and try and get one over on the World Champions. Sheeple, take notice, we’re being played.
Was Brady “generally aware” of deflating footballs? My answer is no. I don’t think the guy had anything to do with it, and frankly I don’t see the evidence to be damning towards him. Can anyone prove, one way or the other, that anything happened? Where you fall in this whole debacle is largely based on your level of butthurt. I will say though, that for the first time, I sympathize with Saints and Dolphins fans. If this level of incompetence was similar to what you folks went through in the Richie Incognito and Bountygate scandals then I have to give all of you fans an apology, because if your team was railroaded the way mine is being right now then the NFL has a much more damning issue than some footballs with low air pressure.
#FreeBrady #DefendTheWall #FuckTheJets #ForAGuyWhoHatesHashtagsThisIsALotOfHashtags