Grapple Raven

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Posts posted by Grapple Raven

  4. Posted · Report post

    Brady's lies like a Persian rug!  Check out his comment in the interview with Bob Costas before the Super Bowl below:

     

    "In addition, we believe it is unlikely that an equipment assistant and a locker room

    attendant would deflate game balls without Brady's knowledge and approval. Based on our

    interviews and assessment of McNally and Jastremski, we also do not believe that they would

    personally and unilaterally engage in such conduct in the absence of Brady‟s awareness and

    consent. Brady himself appeared to recognize during a nationally-televised interview that it was

    unlikely that equipment personnel or others would deflate footballs unless they believed it was

    what Brady wanted. A transcript of an interview of Brady by Bob Costas telecast on February 1,

    2015 contains the following exchange:

     

    Costas: Another question frequently asked, whether it be an equipment

    guy, a ball boy — whatever — hard to believe that that person

    wouldn‟t deflate the ball beneath 12.5, the minimum allowable,

    without at least having the notion that that‟s how Tom Brady wants

    it, whether you told him that or not. Is that a fair assumption?

    129

    Brady: Absolutely, I think that‟s — absolutely — you know, I could

    understand why people feel that way. You know, there‟s an

    investigation going on. I‟m sure all the things will come out. It‟s

    been a lot of speculation. And I think that‟s what led to my hurt

    feelings. You know, hopefully the facts come out. And — you

    know, we understand that — you know, whatever happened,

    happened. And you know, it‟s not going to have an effect on this

    game. And you know, we can move forward."

     

    Obviously, he didn't think that anything was coming out, because if he did that is one of the stupidest comment he could EVER make. He obviously thinks the organization will protect him. 

     I personally can't believe he thinks he will actually get away with this, but he does. Guess that what happens when you have an owner and coach in bed with the NFL Commissioner for such a long time.

     

    "Further, Brady has acknowledged publicly that he likes game balls inflated at the

    low end of the permissible range. The inflation level of game balls clearly is important to Brady

    as demonstrated by his reactions when he believed that game balls were inflated at an

    undesirable level. Brady personally was involved in the 2006 rule change that allowed each

    visiting team to supply its own game balls in accordance with the preferences of its quarterback,

    and it is reasonable to infer that during the process of advocating that rule change, Brady was

    likely to be (or become) familiar with the NFL rules regarding game balls, including the 12.5 psi

    minimum inflation level, although Brady denies having been aware of Rule 2 or the minimum

    inflation level until 2014 (despite approximately fourteen years as an NFL quarterback).

     

    During his interview, Brady denied any knowledge of or involvement in any

    efforts to deflate game balls after the pre-game inspection by the game officials. He claimed that

    prior to the events surrounding the AFC Championship Game, he did not know McNally‟s name

    or anything about McNally‟s game-day responsibilities, including whether McNally had any role

    relating to game balls or the game officials. We found these claims not plausible and

    contradicted by other evidence. In fact, during his interview, Jastremski acknowledged that

    Brady knew McNally and McNally‟s role as Officials Locker Room attendant. Similarly,

    McNally told NFL Security that he had been personally told by Brady of Brady‟s inflation level

    preference."

     

    Tom Brady isn't so terrific after all!

     

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  6. Posted · Report post

    Tom Brady has gotten his britches caught on his own boot strap!

    ~See pages #16 - #20 of the Wells Report

     

    I can not believe that Brady actually told the investigative committee that he didn't know McNally's name or anything about McNally's game day responsibilities, including whether McNally had any role relating to game balls or game officials, when McNally had been employed by the Patriots for 20 yrs...unbelievable!!!

     

    Tom Brady needs to be suspended for an extended period of time, imho.

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  7. Posted · Report post

    Ian Rappoport makes me want to puke.  Stating that they can't penalize the rest of the team by suspending Brady...  why not???  Every time you suspend a key player you're doing that... like Bell, like Peterson, like RR.  Lots of players get suspended...  What makes Brady special???

     

    The Patriots maybe penalized due to the fact that as much as they want to protest that they cooperated in the investigation THEY DID NOT!  When the investigation team wanted to speak with McNally for a second time to clear up some of the messages the Patriots would not allow it, and the investigation team strongly believes that the Patriots didn't even let McNally know that the investigation team wanted to talk with him a second time.   That is a violation of the NFL rules.

     

    "The Patriots provided cooperation throughout the investigation, including by

    making personnel and information available to us upon request. Counsel for the Patriots,

    however, refused to make Jim McNally available for a follow-up interview requested by our

    investigative team on what we believed were important topics, despite our offer to meet at any

    time and location that would be convenient for McNally. Counsel for the Patriots apparently

    refused even to inform McNally of our request. We believe the failure by the Patriots and its

    counsel to produce McNally for the requested follow-up interview violated the club‟s obligations

    to cooperate with the investigation under the Policy on Integrity of the Game & Enforcement of

    League Rules and was inconsistent with public statements made by the Patriots pledging full

    cooperation with the investigation." ~Page 20 of the Wells Report

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  8. Posted · Report post

    Gotta believe they did it In our game...  YOU JUST GOTTA COBRA.

    "Jastremski believes that he gave McNally the requested gear—a hooded sweatshirt and

    a pair of sneakers—sometime around January 7, 2015, shortly before the divisional playoff game

    between the Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens." ~ Page 83 of Wells Report

     

    Hmmm, sounds like McNally was paid off in "requested" gear for the Ravens game like he was for other games.

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  11. Posted · Report post

    Cam Worthy  http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ravens/ravens-insider/bal-ravens-signing-undrafted-east-carolina-wide-receiver-cam-worthy-to-threeyear-contract-sources-say-20150505-story.html

     

    He is bookend to Justin Hardy with about 3" more in height, lol. Great sure hands, natural hands catcher, great on jump balls and back shoulder throws, tough gritty player.

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWBP5qviTK4  Watch from 17:00 mins in and you'll get a good idea of the kind of player he is.

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  19. Posted · Report post

    It's hard to make a case in favor of the Patriots at this point, but I'm not sure there's enough evidence to really punish them as a team. Innocent until proven guilty without a reasonable doubt. I don't see any evidence that proves the Patriot organization is undoubtedly guilty. I don't see any evidence against Belichick or Kraft, so I can't say the team should be punished. There's too many people involved. What if the incident is all on Brady and a few staffers? You can't punish the team for Brady's shenanigans. There is plenty of evidence against Brady, though, if you ask me.

     

    "The NFL will apply a low standard of proof to the Deflategate investigation, which means that the NFL doesn’t necessarily need an air-tight case to conclude that the Patriots broke the rules." 

     

    When applied to American Law, the NFL Rulebook standard compares to that of a civil case which is "preponderance of evidence" meaning that it is a lower standard of proof as defined as "more likely than not" that something occurred, as compared to a criminal case which holds to a much higher standard of proof by "beyond a reasonable doubt" which connotes that evidence establishes a particular point (to a moral certainty) that it is beyond dispute that any reasonable alternative is possible.

     

    This is from the actual NFL Rulebook as explained by PFT as to the difference in the standard of proof that would be applied by the NFL in its investigation cases:  :http://profootballta...to-deflategate/

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  22. Posted · Report post

     

    Thanks for posting that allblackraven.   This certainly makes this saga more interesting on several levels.

     

    Since Jim McNally tried to introduce this unapproved football to the alternate official who oversees the Special Teams footballs, this is yet ANOTHER incident since it is different that the game balls used by the offense. Hmmm!

     

    Breakdown:

     

    1) It certainly would allow Belicheck and Brady to absolve any knowledge(making it easier for them to deny) since McNally was paid by The Kraft Group verses being paid out of Stadium Operations or the NFL.

     

    2) It is interesting that McNally is paid by The Kraft Group, BUT "McNally is not listed in the Patriots' main switchboard directory."  Strange that you wouldn't have the contact number of the person responsible to the NFL officials locker room in your directory.  Especially since he has been employed as the official's locker room attendent since 2008!  This imo looks like an attempt to cover up something as you might could believe a clerical error had occurred but not for that length of time, lol.

     

    3) Also, this is another interesting comment from the story: "The alternate official, Greg Yette, became suspicious when he noticed that the football McNally handed him did not have the proper markings on it, three sources said. One of those sources added that Yette found it surprising that the officials' locker room attendant was on the field, trying to hand him a ball, because officials' locker room attendants don't typically have ball-handling responsibilities during NFL games."

     

    4)This article also points out that it was the assistant official Yette  who also notified the NFL's vice president of game operations, Mike Kensil, who was at the game in the press box.   This makes a second notification to Kensil that there was something wrong with the game balls that hasn't been reported before.  It was told before that the Colts General Manager Ryan Grigson told league officials (reportedly Kensil) in the second quarter of the AFC Championship Game that the Patriots might be tampering with footballs.  So that would make twice Kensil was notified if both reports are correct.

     

    5) Also, according to this report Kensil decided to personally go down to the officials' locker room at halftime of the Patriots-Colts game to check the game balls, in part, because of the suspicions McNally's actions raised.

     

    6) One source said Kensil personally checked the PSI (pounds per square inch) levels of all 12 footballs the Patriots had for use on offense and found that 11 of those 12 were underinflated by "one to two pounds." They were reinflated to the league-required level and were returned for use in the second half.   This is interesting on two points, first it verfiies that the PSI was indeed checked by an NFL league official, and secondly, it disputes Rappaport's earlier story about "just a tick".

     

    7) Three sources said that McNally has worked Patriots games for a decade, and has been in charge of the officials' locker room at Gillette Stadium since at least 2008.  Interesting that this guy was hired in the year immediately following Spygate!

     

    If this article is true, it is not looking good for the Patriots, imho!!!

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  24. Posted · Report post

    Too many conflicting reports ... too many "sources" without names. I'll wait until the NFL releases its report. I do love that Pats fans yell 'bull' on every report that comes out, until one that comes out that they like, then it's genius reporting. :)

    Here's what I do know, though. If you have all these balls and they are just a tick or two below regulation (which btw means nothing since depending on the pressure gauge that can be 0.2 PSI, 0.5PSI or 1.0PSI) why would you require a 3+ week investigation to determine what happened?

    If we're talking about a tenth or two PSI difference from regulation on these balls and the NFL dragged this out this long, then we are looking at the NFL perpetrating fraud on the public to garner interest in the SB (probably not the legal definition of fraud, but you know what I mean). And if that's the case, some people need to start being fired within the NFL hierarchy.

     

    I agree DMH, about wondering why this is taking so long...wouldn't it be surreal if this investigation had been under wraps for awhile and the Patriots have been under a season long investigation? lol  Dreamin' I know, but you have to admit that would be classic.

     

    I have no doubt that the NFL wanted to put this to bed during the SB for nothing but the sake of profit.

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  25. Posted · Report post

    As I suspected on the chance that the Patriots might win the Super Bowl,  the NFL would begin to lay a foundation for a cover up and it started right before the game this afternoon with this report by Rappaport.

     

    This report has a lot of misinformation and facts that do not add up from the previous report:

     

    1) The person of interest is now being referred to as "a game day operator" rather than a locker room attendant.  He is now being referred to as "elderly" (possibly to infer there wouldn't have been time to deflate any balls by some who is older) lol.

     

    2) The time frame has been extended from 90 secs. to now 98 secs. for the videotape in the restroom.

     

    3) This report doesn't mention the possibility of another person in the restroom as some previous reports from other sources suggested.

     

    4) The first reports said the locker room attendant was hired by the NFL, now this report says the game day operator WAS hired by the Patriots, and ONLY specifically for game day.  (That sounds really strange if you ask me.)

     

    5) In the video Rappaport says of the 11 balls, one was under by 2 lbs., THAT ball is the leagues possession, several were under by 1 lb. and several more were "just a tick below" the requirement of 12.5 and those footballs were RETURNED to the Patriots to be put back in circulation with the rest of the Patriots game day balls. 

    (Now I don't have a clue what in the hell "just a tick below" means in terms of PSI, but lets be honest...all 11 are below 12.5, lol.  However later in the video he goes on to say 1 was 2 lbs. under, 3 or 4 were under 1 lbs., and 3 or 4 more were just a tick under...lets do the math...that doesn't add up to 11 balls people if you took the max. of 4 in each of the two groups plus 1, lmao.  Why all the fudging with number of balls and the amount of air in them? )

     

    In the actual story by Rappaport he says this: "Eleven of the 12 footballs used in the first half were judged by the officials to be under the minimum of 12.5 PSI, but just one was two pounds under. Many of them were just a few ticks under the minimum." 

    (Confused yet??? I bet they are hoping we are.)

     

    6) There is video of the man entering and exiting the restroom, but it is unclear if there is a "clear shot" inside the restroom.  (Now this would imply that there is a shot from inside the restroom not previously reported. If there wasn't a video inside why the need to classify as to whether the shot was a clear one?  What as opposed to no shot?, lol Hmmm.) 

     

    7) Now they are saying "that it appears" that the league has the football intercepted by D'Qwell Jackson that he handed over to the league by the Colts equipment staff.  (Well they either have this ball or they don't? Which is it?  Even if you add the other balls to this one it only comes up to a total of 10!  What happened to the 11th and 12th balls?)

     

    8) Now, we are going to add more confusion to this matter by turning the remaining leftover footballs back to the Patriots that have Walt Anderson's initials on them to be put back in circulation with the Patriots other game balls, OF WHICH Anderson officiated for them two other times this season and those also have his initials on them....which would now total 30 some balls with ole' Walt's initials on them,  yeah okay!  Never be able to differentiate those balls again.  Geeze.

     

    Moral of the story...we are designing a cover up folks!  I hope I am wrong about a cover up, but it isn't looking too good right now.  I guess we will just have to wait and see.  But this does present a real problem for old Roger Goodell... whose credibility with the league is hanging by a thread, and now that the Patriots won this SB, let's just suffice it to say he is between a rock and a hard place!   And this whole dilemma just makes me nauseous!!!

     

    I have done a lot of research on this, read every article I can get my hands on, and in the commentary above I broke down how Rappaport's report post SB conflicts with the original report on this issue before the SB...Rappaport's own article and video are even conflicted, lol.

     

    However, what is not conflicted by either report are these facts:

     

    The footballs that are in possession of the NFL investigators are the D'Qwell Jackson's intercepted football and the Patriots football that was under PSI by 2 lbs.  Bottom line, it doesn't matter how many were at what PSI, ALL 11 out of the 12 balls the Patriots used in that game in the first half,  WERE DEFLATED below what the NFL rule calls for!!!  

     

    The Colts and Patriots footballs were checked before the game and were marked by the referees and were deemed by them to be properly inflated for the game by NFL Rule Book standards, when the Colts and the Patriots footballs WERE checked for proper PSI pressure by the officials at HALFTIME only the Patriots footballs were not at the NFL Rule Book standard that they were at the beginning of the game.  That is when they were re- inflated to the proper PSI and returned to the game for the second half. 

     

    It isn't that complicated people, lol.  That is cheating!  Now whether the NFL will do the right thing and nail them for it is the question.

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