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NFL Drags Feet in Deflate-Gate Investigation
by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700
Copyright
January 23, 2015
All Rights Reserved.
Dragging his feet on what to do with the New
England Patriots in the so-called Deflate-gate scandal, NFL Commissioner Roger
Goodell wants no part of a disruptive political storm before the Feb. 1 Super
Bowl. When the New England Patriots
62-year-old coach and 37-year-old quarterback Tom Brady & Co. shellacked the
Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game Jan. 18 [45-7], no one imagined
the controversy exposed by defensive back D’Qwell Jackson when he picked off a
Brady pass late in the second quarter. Jackson noticed the football felt a little too soft for a standard NFL game-ball inflated
to 11.5 to 12.5 pounds per square inch of air pressure. When the ball was measured at 10.5
ppsi, it was brought to the attention of league officials at half-time where
they found 11 of 12 Patriots’ game-balls under-inflated at least one pound of
air pressure below the NFL standard.
Less than two weeks before the Super Bowl, NFL officials don’t want to
mess with the biggest money-making event in professional football. NFL officials have been reluctant to act decisively fearing that if New England were
sanctioned for cheating it would open up a can of worms before the Super Bowl. Sports media has gone wild over why
the NFL hasn’t acted decisively, instead letting the investigation proceed at a
snail’s pace. “Evidence thus far
support the conclusion that the footballs were under-inflated were use by the
Patriots in the first half,” said NFL officials, confirming that NFL Executive
Vice President Jeff Pash is working with Ted Wells of the Law firm Paul Weiss to
conduct the investigation. After
completing press conferences Jan. 22 denying any knowledge of the deflated
footballs, Patriots’ Coach Belichick and quarterback Brady acted clueless about
the obvious rule violation.
In Belichick’s news conference, he confessed to knowing nothing about
proper football inflation, while, simultaneously, admitting he routinely alters
footballs in practices and informing the press he’d check game-balls for proper
inflation in the future. Belichick looked like a deer caught in the headlights
before abruptly ending the press event after only 11 minutes. Several hours later Brady stepped up
to the microphones, giving a more free-wheeling ramble for how he had no clue
how 11 of 12 Patriots’ game-balls were two pound under-inflated. Insisting he “didn’t alter the ball
in any way,” Brady showed he was well-coached by clever PR-types before the
press conference. No one believes
Brady himself let the air out of the footballs.
Telling the press he “didn’t alter the ball in any way,” shows he’s
playing his cards close to the vest, refusing answer the most basic questions.
Telling the press, “I have no knowledge of anything.” Brady, and
Belichick earlier, want the media to believe they had nothing to do with
deflating 11 of 12 game-balls. “I
don’t know what happened over the course of the process with the footballs,”
Brady asked the media to believe his story.
Given the balls were vetted by NFL officials before the game, the
deflation had to come from the ball-boy, equipment manager or some unnamed
stealth individual. Unlike the more
cautious Belichick, Brady tossed caution to wind, not realizing that his words,
if proven false, could keep his otherwise stellar career out the NFL’s Hall of
Fame. “I have questions, too,” said
Brady. “There’s nobody I know that
can answer the questions I have,” acting just a clueless as any other fan trying
to figure out what happened. Like
Brady, Belichick also confessed, “I have no explanation for what happened.”
NFL officials led by Jeff Pash knows that despite Belichick and Brady’s
denials, there’s an explanation for what happened. Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame
quarterback and Fox Sports NFL color analyst Troy Aikman didn’t buy either
Belichick or Brady’s story. “It’s
obvious that Tom Brady has something to do with this,” said Aikman. Former Oakland Raiders’ Hall of Fame
Coach and NFL analyst John Madden agreed with Aikman that any change in
game-ball pressure, “that would have to be driven by the quarterback,” meaning
Brady. “I have no explanation for
what happened,” Belichick cleverly tries to put on the record a deliberately
false statement. Brady’s comment
that “I have no knowledge of anything,” opens him up to outright lying to the
press and potentially league officials.
Sooner or later, Belichick and Brady will have to answer to NFL
officials.
Admitting, “I have no explanation for what happened,” Belichick hopes to
avoid a potential media trap of making false and misleading statements. Those that have followed Belichick’s 40-year NFL career closely know that he has an
explanation for everything. Running out of what-ifs, Belichick hopes to avoid looking like he covered up or
stonewalled an NFL investigation. “We are not commenting on the details of the review at this point,” said NFL officials,
unwilling to commit to anything other than acknowledging that basic facts
regarding deflated footballs are not in dispute.
NFL officials waited patiently allowing Belichick and Brady to go on the
record before asking them both more details of what happened. “It’s a very competitive league. Every team is trying to do the best
they can to win every week,” said Brady, essentially giving the rationale behind
deflating the footballs.
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