ESNY

Sure, Roger Goodell and the NFL took their sweet time to answer the appeal, but Tom Brady is the real culprit in this Deflate-Gate mess.

By Robby Sabo

If it hadn’t been realized over the last six months, it’s now completely official: Tom Brady has gotten sucked into the culture that is fly entrenched within the New England Patriots organization.

Unfortunately, we’re not discussing that winning culture this organization has exhibited so very often over the last 14 seasons. We’re speaking of the ugly side, the unsavory side. The dark side that involves the philosophy of “deny, deny, deny, and deny some more.”

Deny until your vocal chords physically can’t produce sound anymore. Deny so violently that all blind followers (Patriots fans) start fighting the battle for you. Deny, even though deep in your heart you realize you’re making an incredibly stupid decision.1nfl2

When Deflate-Gate first came down, much of the overwhelming sentiment regarding the manner was in favor of backing the Patriots. The “smart” and “edgy” onlooker decided to curry favor with Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft and company for many obvious reasons.

After all, this is only an equipment violation, and Roger Goodell and the NFL are coming off one of the worst years in public relations history.

The fashionable thing to do was back the Pats.

Furthermore, high priced lawyers up in Foxborough are pretty damn good at their jobs. They’re a flock of people who know exactly how to handle these very situations.

It’s too bad Brady doesn’t set a meeting with one of these smart litigators, because he’s going down a road he’ll regret forever.

Remember this statement following the AFC Divisional Game against the Baltimore Ravens? Brady said this in direct response to Ravens head coach John Harbaugh who called out some of the Pats interesting offensive alignments in New England’s 35-31 playoff victory last January.

WEEI Boston, Baltimore Sun:

“Maybe those guys got to study the rule book and figure it out,” the quarterback said at the time. “We obviously knew what we were doing, and we made some pretty important plays. It was a real good weapon for us. Maybe we’ll have something in store next week. I don’t know what’s deceiving about that. [The Ravens] should figure it out.”

Strike one.

If somebody calls out another professional on knowing the rules inside and out, and does so in such a smug fashion, you better not get caught with your hand in the cookie jar. You need to be completely above any and all suspicion.

Many have wondered why this specific Patriots controversy has been so publicized when other cheating issues such as the Cleveland Browns cell phone mess and Atlanta Falcons crowd noise issue wasn’t dragged out.

Well, folks, if you can’t figure out the answer to this, I don’t know what to tell you.

In both the Browns and Falcons situations, each organization took their punishment and moved on. The Pats and Brady continued their brainwashing ways and decided to insult the intelligence of the league.

It started with Kraft demanding a public apology in the brashest of ways at the Super Bowl, and has continued until today in the form of Brady’s personal conquest.

This is exactly the extreme gall many are coming to despise.

Furthermore, if anybody thinks this punishment of a $1 million fine, loss of draft picks, and four game suspension has a lot to do with the act in Deflate-Gate itself, then I have a few flying pigs to sell you.

This situation has everything to do with the Patriots organization thinking they are bigger than the league. Not cooperating and covering up what would’ve amounted to just a fine for an equipment violation is exactly the reason Goodell came down so hard.

The league has every right to punish based on an uncooperative nature.

What do Patriots fans think all other 31 owners are saying behind the scenes? These guys are sick and tired of New England doing whatever they feel like and getting away with it.

Rewind the clock to 2007.

Via NFL.com:

  • November 19, 2006: Packers catch Patriots employee Matt Estrella with a camera on the sidelines and tell him to leave the sideline. Packers later catch Estrella filming from a tunnel and remove him from the stadium completely.
  • December 18, 2006: CBS analyst Charley Casserly alleges that Patriots were warned by League to stop using a camera to steal opposing signals.
  • September 9, 2007: Camera and videotape seized from a Patriots employee who was stationed on the New England sideline and suspected of filming New York defensive coaches who were relaying signals during the Patriots’ 38-14 victory at Giants Stadium.
  • September 12, 2007: Belichick apologizes “to everyone who has been affected.”
  • September 13, 2007: Patriots and coach Bill Belichick were fined a total of $750,000 and lost a 2008 first-dound draft selection.
  • February 2, 2008: Reports surfaced that an unnamed source has claimed a New England Patriotsemployee secretly videotaped the St. Louis Rams’ pregame walk-through the day before Super BowlXXXVI.
  • February 2, 2008: Matt Walsh, a former Patriots video assistant suggested to ESPN that he has information that could have exposed the Patriots prior to the situation at the Jets game.
  • February 2, 2008: Senator Arlen Specter wants to know why NFL destroyed Patriots spy tapes.
  • April 1, 2008: Rule allowing defensive headsets passed by NFL owners. The vote was 25-7. A total of 24 votes were needed to pass the proposal. The Patriots were one club that helped sway the vote. The team voted against a similar proposal last year, but voted for it this year. The proposal last year garnered 22 votes.
  • April 1, 2008: Owner Robert Kraft and coach Bill Belichick made the rounds at owners meetings apologizing for and explaining the videotaping scandal. In an emotional speech before NFL owners, Kraft and coach Belichick apologized for the franchise’s involvement in the scandal.
  • May 8, 2008: Matt Walsh sent eight tapes to Commissioner Goodell that show the Patriots recording the play-calling signals of five opponents in six games between 2000 and 2002.
  • May 13, 2008: Matt Walsh met with Commissioner Goodell who said that he learned nothing new from Walsh.

The venom starts here, with Spy-Gate.

The fact that the public wasn’t allowed to see any of the alleged tapes creates a situation that Goodell and the league simply cannot overcome. It forces everybody to believe the league didn’t want their top team, a dynasty, to be smeared in the public.

To also realize a new rule came from it (radio signals in the defensive captain’s helmet), just adds the tasty sugar on top.

To many, Belichick and Kraft got away with murder here. They were slapped on the wrist and told (I assume) to never, ever get involved with another controversy from here on out.

Considering this, could you imagine the league’s (and every other team’s) anger once Deflate-Gate came to light?

Early Wednesday morning, Brady spoke. In response to the league upholding the four game suspension, he posted this on his personal Facebook account:

I am very disappointed by the NFL’s decision to uphold the 4 game suspension against me. I did nothing wrong, and no one…

Posted by Tom Brady on Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Strike two.

Instead of ending this nonsense and putting it behind him, Brady seems adamant on taking this thing to court. And amazingly, there are still many who are hoodwinked and bamboozled by the words that spew from the New England camp.

If Brady is truly a man of his word, then we’ll watch this fight play out in court over the next god knows how many months, years. Perhaps, though, this is exactly what the NFL wants.

Can you imagine some of the stuff that might come out if people are forced to tell the truth on the stand?

Brady cannot blame anybody but himself in this situation. He’s carrying on the ridiculous Pats tradition of denying, deflecting and brainwashing. It’s not helping matters, it’s crushing reputations.

There’s no chance in the world Goodell and the NFL are perfect. At the same time though, they don’t claim to be (not anymore at least). The Pats, on the other hand, do claim perfection. They never take a misstep and are always singled out by way of elaborate “stings.”

Don’t be one of those weak minded followers. The evidence doesn’t need to be “perfect” in order to suspend in the NFL. Use common sense. The evidence wasn’t perfect due to the countless measures New England took to make sure it wasn’t perfect.

The Pats have spun the narrative in the media to make sure the public believes there must be hard evidence. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Brady and the Pats history and uncooperative nature have everything to do with Deflate-Gate; and they’ve decided to continue this madness.

As Bart Scott once so eloquently said after a playoff win in New England: once Brady officially takes the NFL to court, the entire league will say “can’t wait.”

Taking this to court will ultimately lead to Tom Brady’s strike three.

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Robby Sabo is a co-founder, CEO and credentialed New York Jets content creator for Jets X-Factor - Jet X, which includes Sabo's Sessions (in-depth film breakdowns) and Sabo with the Jets. Host: Underdog Jets Podcast with Wayne Chrebet and Sabo Radio. Member: Pro Football Writers of America. Coach: Port Jervis (NY) High School. Washed up strong safety and 400M runner. SEO: XL Media. Founder: Elite Sports NY - ESNY (Sold in 2020). SEO: XL Media. Email: robby.sabo[at]jetsxfactor.com