(CNN)It
turns out there's a pesky little gremlin lurking around in the Patriots
equipment room deflating footballs. Mystery solved. We should have
known all along there was a logical explanation for the "Deflategate"
scandal gripping the Sport Nation.
That's
pretty much what New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and his
coach Bill Belichick, would have us believe after their less-than
illuminating press conferences yesterday. Both men claimed they were
just as stumped as us over how exactly 11 out of 12 of the team's
footballs used AFC Championship game against Indianapolis had been illegally deflated below regulation specs.
"When
I came in Monday morning, I was shocked to learn of the news reports
about the footballs. I had no knowledge whatsoever of the situation,"
said a famously crotchety Belichick. "I was completely totally unaware
of anything."
His quarterback,
appearing equally puzzled, wanted everyone to know that he's no cheater:
"I would never do anything to break the rules. I believe in fair play. I
have no knowledge of anything ... no knowledge of any wrongdoing ... I
don't know what happened."
Really Tom? It's hard to believe -- almost laughable, really -- that Brady, who is in his 15th NFL season
with six trips to the Super Bowl and three Super Bowl wins, noticed
nothing wrong. This is a guy who's known to micromanage every aspect of
the game, including the ball. And he's on record saying he prefers a
soft football. How could a pro like this notice nothing wrong?
The
NFL, which according to ESPN reports, had been put on notice by the
Colts going into the AFC Championship game that the Patriots may have
used "soft balls" earlier in the season, said it is conducting a full
investigation But with the Super Bowl less than two weeks away, we've
heard nothing from them, nor apparently, has Brady, he said yesterday.
So it's easy to understand why fans and even pro athletes are not buying Brady's story:
"It's obvious that Tom Brady had something to do with this," said Hall of Fame QB Troy Aikman on
his Dallas radio program, even before the Brady-Belichick press
conferences. "So for the balls to be deflated, that doesn't happen
unless the quarterback wants that to happen, I can assure you of that.
Now the question becomes: Did Bill Belichick know about it."
The
evidence is clear: Eleven of the team's balls were illegally deflated
and they didn't get there by themselves. All the talk about cold weather
being the culprit? Forget it. Not only was the temperature in the 50s
on game day, but if weather was a factor then the Colts' game balls
would have also deflated. That didn't happen.
Brady,
always the polished pitchman, is playing the innocent victim role
perfectly. Perhaps this is all just a conspiracy put out there by
Patriots haters, Brady suggested yesterday. Good try but most reasonable
people do not believe in conspiracy theories. And hopefully, even fewer
people believe in invisible gremlins. So there must be another
explanation.
That leaves the
Deflategate spectacle in the hands of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
The scandal has provided plenty of jokes for late-night television and
Twitter. But cheating in the NFL, a $9.5 billion a year industry with an overall market value of $46 billion for its 32 teams, is no laughing matter.
It's
been a rough year for the integrity of the game. Goodell has admittedly
made botched calls over several cases involving domestic abuse, with
the Ray Rice scandal being the most egregious. And this season has been
littered with debatable play-calling in crucial game situations.
This
is no time for stalled investigations. A ruling on Deflategate after
the Super Bowl would be a huge letdown, and signal that cheating, no
matter how blatant, is no big deal in the NFL. Goodell should act
swiftly and announce sanctions against New England before the Super Bowl
takes place in Phoenix on Feburary 1. Fans are not the only ones
calling for the commissioner to clean this mess up.
Earlier this week, Nevada Sen. Dean Heller
called on Goodell to restore the credibility of the game. "I am seeking
decisive actions ensuring all teams are playing according to the
rules," Heller said in a statement. He recommended the league work with
the NFL Players Association to resolve the issue ahead before the Super
Bowl.
Let's be clear: The Patriots are second-time offenders when it comes to cheating. Back in 2007, Belichick was fined
the NFL maximum of $500,000 and the Patriots were ordered to pay
$250,000 for spying on an opponent's (The New York Jets) defensive
signals. In the end, the team's assistant video guy took the fall and
was the only person fired in the incident. The Pats also lost a draft
pick in 2008.
"This episode represents a
calculated and deliberate attempt to avoid long-standing rules designed
to encourage fair play and promote honest competition on the playing
field," Goodell said at the time in a letter to the Patriots.
Goodell
got it right back then: He handed out the biggest fine ever for an NFL
coach and he sent a clear message that cheating would not be tolerated,
or excused away. This time around, despite the billions of dollars
attached to the Super Bowl, Goodell needs to go further. At a minimum,
the commissioner should:
-- Disqualify the Patriots from the Super Bowl
-- Strip the team's AFC Championship title
--
Fine, or suspend Belichick, who despite his claims to the contrary
should have known about the deflated balls -- and even if he didn't,
he's ultimately responsible for everything that happens on the field.
And
if it can reasonably be argued that Brady knew or should have known
based on his NFL expertise that the football has been tampered with,
then he too should face tough sanctions.
Since
there's no precedent for disqualifying a Super Bowl team, Goodell would
have to put a plan in place. It makes sense to me that the next best
AFC team would go instead of the Pats, which means the Colts would play.
And no, it doesn't matter that New
England beat Indy, 45-7. The score is not the point when a team cheats.
And if winning -- by any means necessary -- is really all that matters
these days in the NFL, then we might as well throw out the rule books
and stop preaching about the "sanctity of the game."
It's
2015 and it seems the Patriots still think the rules don't apply to
them. They haven't learned their lesson. This time around the
commissioner must send an even stronger message so there's no confusion.
The Patriots should be benched for Super Bowl XLIX.
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