More reactions to Tom Brady, Wells report, DeflateGate
Since the Wells report was released on Wednesday afternoon, with its findings that it is "more probable than not" that New England Patriots personnel deliberately deflated footballs used in the AFC Championship Game between the Patriots and the Colts last January, reaction has been pouring in. Here's some of what's been said on social media and around the web, beginning with today's update:
Updated to include reactions to Tom Brady's remarks at Salem University, as well as more reactions since the Wells report was released:
Detroit Free Press columnist Drew Sharp says the blame in DeflateGate is being focused too narrowly:
Goodell is truly the Puppet Master.
He engineered a probe that exonerated the New England Patriots organization as a whole but singled out Brady as the probable orchestrator in the improper deflation of footballs during the AFC Championship Game last January. The level of competitive criminality was already laughable, especially in relation to the other chicanery that goes on behind closed doors in sports. But even more ridiculous is how the more than 200-page Ted Wells report painted an image of Brady arrogantly avoiding full cooperation with the investigators. He refused to submit cell phone records.
But how can anyone promote a perception of Brady thinking he's above proper league protocol without formally calling into the question the entire Patriots' organization for cultivating an institutional climate of selfishly stretching limits until rules are ultimately broken?
St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz writes Brady should "deflate his ego:"
"All Brady had to say was this:
"'I like the footballs a certain way to get the right grip, and I didn't think it's a big deal, because other quarterbacks do it. We've been able to win a lot of games here, and it wasn't because of the condition of the footballs. It's just me being finicky, and maybe a little superstitious. But fact is, I've thrown all sorts of footballs during my career _ slightly inflated, slightly deflated, whatever.'
"Brady could have taken much of the air out of this overly inflated controversy. But he's still refusing to deflate his ego and own up. With a chance to smooth the damage to his rep, this normally smart quarterback stubbornly continues to run the wrong play, and it may be too late for an audible."
Brady's former teammate and current ESPN NFL analyst Tedy Bruschi doesn't believe Brady would direct deflation of footballs:
49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick also expressed support for Brady:
Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports writes Brady's virtual silence on the Wells report during his appearance at Salem State doesn't bode well for the NFL:
"Tom Brady, in a long scheduled appearance at Salem State (Mass.) University on Thursday evening, said virtually nothing about deflate-gate, which means he said plenty about how he will likely move forward.
"... He did note that there is "a process going forward right now. I'm involved in the process."
"Expect that process to focus on the Wells Report and everything about it, which isn't where the NFL would like this fight to play out.
"... Brady's lawyers must love this stuff because it shifts the focus off of the uncomfortable core arguments of the case and onto the fairness of the investigation. They'll be able to go on and on with this one. There are holes all over the place, few of which have anything to do with the basic conclusion.
"... This shouldn't be a judgment call left to a bunch of faceless Manhattan lawyers.
"It's not fair to Brady and the Pats, who are put in a hostile place. It's not fair to the Indianapolis Colts and the rest of the league that deserve a truth that should be accepted."
NFL analyst Mike Silver, speaking on NFL Network following Brady's answers to interviewer Jim Gray's questions about the Wells report, said that "this was a failure on Tom Brady's part:"
"I understand that he's getting love in that context, and he's saying, 'People are going to hate me no matter what.' There is something you can do if you care about your legacy. And really, you have two choices and you're going to have to do it at some point if you don't want this to forever stain you. Choice number one: Answer the questions and give us a viable, logical explanation, which your agent charged was coming -- basically, this investigation was wrong -- or (b), come clean, apologize, and I think we'll forgive you."
With Tom Brady scheduled to speak at Salem State University tonight, the Washington Post's Adam Kilgore tweets:
USA TODAY Sports' Nancy Armour says Tom Brady's agent got one thing right:
"Tom Brady's agent may have been off-base in his blistering criticism Thursday of the Wells report on Deflategate. But Don Yee got one thing right: What's contained in the report is a significant and terrible disappointment.
"Tom Brady, the NFL's Golden Boy and Madison Avenue's perfect pitchman, has proved to be little better than Lance Armstrong, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire and everyone else who broke the rules in search of an edge.
"Brady may not have tampered with the footballs the day of the AFC Championship Game, but he was "at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities" of those who did, according to the Wells report. In other words: The two New England Patriotsemployees who let the air out of the footballs did so with Brady's knowledge and, more likely, at his behest."
Joe Posnanski of NBCSports.com thinks DeflateGate has been blown way out of proportion:
"But the responses in the aftermath of the report – "Brady's Legacy Forever Stained," "Brady Proves to be a Liar," "Brady should be suspended for a year" – suggest that we all might be losing our minds a little bit. It's a little bit of air to make a football easier to grip. If the NFL has decided that from now on tampering with the football to make it a bit easier to throw is a capital offense, fine. Change the rules. Prevent teams from doing all that stuff to make them easier for quarterbacks to throw. Hire people to guard the footballs the way they guard the Oscar results. Have the league in charge of all the footballs so that they are exactly the same for every team.
"But it's clear that's not how the NFL felt BEFORE Tom Brady and the Deflator Twins were caught. No, before that they just wanted footballs that made quarterbacks happy. A 243-page report on footballs being deflated … what is wrong with us? I looked online to see if this was longer than the 2014 NFL report on Player Health and Safety. It is … by more than 200 pages."
William Rhoden of the New York Times writes that New England's prior history with undermining the integrity of the game should come into play here, and the NFL's punishment should reflect it:
"This is not just a football issue. In many walks of life, success is about gaining the edge, whatever the consequences.
"That is why this is such an important moment: This is the second time the Patriots have crossed the line that separates gamesmanship (like using a deceptive formation) from clear-cut rules violations, and it can only be called what it is: cheating.
"Those who defend Brady argue that the Patriots would have beaten Indianapolis anyway. That misses the point.
...
"No player is worth the price of having fans lose faith that what they are watching is legitimate."
Matt Bonesteel at the Washington Post points out that the standard for determining guilt, and therefore punishment, in DeflateGate isn't as high as some people think:
"The Wells investigation was not a criminal trial, where a person has to be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Instead, think of the Wells investigation as a civil trial, where only a preponderance of evidence is needed to determine guilt. In other words, if a jury (or, in this case, an NFL-appointed team of lawyers) thinks there's a 50.1 percent chance you did it, they're going to find you responsible. This is why the Wells report is couched with all the "more probable than not" language: It didn't have a smoking gun, but a whole lot of everything else."
Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports thinks we won't be seeing a harsh penalty levied against New England:
Based on some of the NFL's recent investigations, expect this to be the latter – a hammer that falls on a few, but falls short of charging the franchise with a mortal sin. And that alone will likely limit the extent of this punishment.
So who takes the brunt of the hit? Most likely Patriots equipment assistant John Jastremski and "officials locker room attendant" Jim McNally – two individuals whose text messages implicated them fairly clearly as conspirators in any ball deflation.
SI.com MMQB's Peter King gives his opinion as to what type of penalties the NFL may levy on the Patriots:
"I don't think the sanctions will be as harsh as the 2007 penalty for the Patriots' taping opposing sidelines to try to steal signals. That discipline amounted to two fines totaling $750,000 and the loss of a first-round pick. Because there's no evidence the Patriots organization or coaching staff had anything to do with this—and because the last three team discipline cases didn't involve a draft choice or choices—I wouldn't be surprised if Goodell puts the onus on the two employees and Brady more than the team. But there's one other factor here. Goodell could conceivably say: This is the second time I've had this same team in the principal's office for fudging with the rules. I'm going to come down hard, and maybe that will ensure it never happens again."
Andrew Brandt of SI.com's MMQB argues that DeflateGate isn't a minor issue; he says it's a big deal, and should be dealt with by the league accordingly:
"I have heard the comments that this is no big deal, the equivalent of a parking ticket. While that may be the view of some, it is not the view of either the NFL or the competing NFL teams. From the league and team perspective, this strikes at the watchword of the commissioner's office—integrity—and the feeling that every team is operating without advantage. I admit that I've been around the NFL for 20 years and had no idea about the rules and procedures governing ball pressure before January. However, as with any rule's enforcement, I get it; it's what the teams agree to submit to. If a league is going to stand for anything, it is the foundation that no team is gaining a competitive advantage by playing outside the rules, no matter how great or miniscule the transgression."
Jackie MacMullen of ESPN suggests that Tom Brady could have avoided this whole mess (and, perhaps a tainted legacy) by doing something very simple right after the AFC Championship Game: saying he did it.
"What if he simply explained, "I've always prepared my footballs a certain way. I've done it for years. If I've compromised the integrity of the game, I'm truly sorry. It was never my intent."
"Maybe -- just maybe -- there would have been no investigation. There would have been a flurry of bad ink and then we would have moved on to the next scandal, because there are so many more salacious topics than balls with a psi between 12.5 and 13.5.
"'He would have been better off,' observed former Patriots quarterback Scott Zolak. 'He could have said, 'These are my balls, I get them ready the way I want. No one has ever put a gun to my head and said, 'Make it 13.5' [psi].'"
"The NFL places a premium on transparency, even if the league isn't all that transparent itself (see: Ray Rice). When the NFL asks for your emails, your text messages and your phone calls that relate to Deflategate, you would be wise to hand them over. Because if you don't, you aren't cooperating.
"If you don't, people think you've got something to hide."
Chris Christie, governor of New Jersey and a die-hard Cowboys fan, defends Tom Brady in an interview with IJReview:
Prop bets on DeflateGate punishment:
According to oddsmakers at footballbettingcenter.com, the following are odds for various DeflateGate punishment scenarios:
Tom Brady Punishment Odds:
- Not Suspended: 5/2
- Suspended 1 game: 2/1
- Suspended 2 games: 5/2
- Suspended 3 games: 8/1
- Suspended 4+ games: 15/1
New England Patriots Punishment Odds:
- Loss of Round 1 draft pick in 2016: 3/2
- Loss of mid-round draft pick(s) (Rounds 2-4) in 2016: 1/1
- Fined under $1 million: 1/1
- Fined over $1 million: 2/1
Bill Belichick Punishment Odds:
- Suspended – 4/1
- Not Suspended – 2/9
Robert Kraft Punishment Odds:
- Suspended – 5/1
- Not Suspended – 1/6
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Twitter reaction:
Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman has changed his social media profiles to display Tom Brady's jersey:
Statement from Patriots owner Robert Kraft, via the team's official Twitter account:
Kraft's statement, in part, reads: "While I respect the independent process of the investigation, the time, effort and resources expended to reach this conclusion are incomprehensible to me."
Per Star Colts insider Stephen Holder, the Colts had no comment:
More from Holder:
From Star Colts insider Zak Keefer:
Star columnist Gregg Doyel isn't buying the notion that this was a scheme hatched by a locker room attendant and an equipment assistant:
Who are McNally and Jastremski? The perpetrators or the fall guys, depending on your perspective. Jim McNally is the officials' locker room attendant for the Patriots, and John Jastremski is a Patriots equipment assistant. It was that duo, the Wells Report concluded, and not "wrongdoing by Patriots ownership, Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick or any other Patriots coach," that led to the deflated footballs.
Might even be true. Right here is where Belichick could use the benefit of the doubt, but — and this is unfortunate for him — he doesn't deserve it. Spygate, all that. The NFL concluded he knowingly broke NFL rules by illegally taping the New York Jets' sideline in 2007. Why did Belichick cheat? Ask him, or go with this: Because he's a cheater.
Seven years later, the Patriots cheated the Colts — well, it is more than probable that they did — and I'll be a son of a …
Colts linebacker Erik Walden had a warning for anyone who plays the Patriots:
You can count on Colts punter Pat McAfee for a take:
Here's McAfee on the texts between the Patriots equipment assistant and locker room attendant regarding Tom Brady:
And, of course, no reaction piece would be complete without a reaction from Rob Gronkowski, who had no comment when asked about the Wells report, but instead, flexed when a reporter asked him for a response:
49ers wideout Torrey Smith had this reaction:
From national sports reporters and observers:
Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report writes that Brady lied, and that's the simple truth:
"Flash back to when the accusations first surfaced and Brady swore he did nothing wrong. 'I didn't alter the ball in any way,' Brady said at a press conference. 'I have no knowledge of wrongdoing.' Brady looked uncomfortable. It was the most uncomfortable I've ever seen him in front of a camera. Now we know why. Because he was lying. ... This report is legitimate, stunning and bad for Brady. This will impact his legacy greatly."
ESPN's Linda Cohn points out that it doesn't really make any sense for New England to be trying to gain an illegal advantage:
Chris Chase of USA TODAY Sports argues that it doesn't matter who was responsible for deflating footballs, the Patriots' brass is culpable:
"No, the report didn't reveal some massive Watergate-style cover-up, but told us what we generally expected: Some assistant managers were messing around with the football, likely at the behest of Tom Brady. It's not cause for a football death penalty, but it's still cheating and shows the Pats haven't learned a thing in the decade since their dalliance with illegal videotaping of teams."
Mac Engel of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram lays out what he thinks NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell must do with Brady, Bill Belichick and the Patriots:
"If Goodell does not want to look soft on crime, the real Patriots must do the time. The Patriots need to lose multiple draft picks, including a precious No. 1, and Brady and Belichick must at least miss half the season.
"Don't buy that Belichick did not know. This is as offensive as Enron CEO Ken Lay's claims that he had no idea that his top employees were breaking the law to the benefit of millions of dollars for his own bank account.
"Anything less than a serious suspension for football's most celebrated B&B and Goodell will look like the country club president who plays favorites to those who play in his foursome."
Ian Crouch of The New Yorker argues the undertaking of the DeflateGate investigation was fairly pointless:
"Cell-phone records, video surveillance, Princeton physicists, two hundred and forty-three pages? What exactly was the point of all of this? Even in the most heated days of the national Deflategate obsession, nearly everyone agreed that Tom Brady could have been throwing shot putts and still beat the Colts. Former players who weren't busy expressing outrage were coming forward to point out the many ways in which footballs have been tweaked over the years by quarterbacks to suit their preferences or to gain an advantage. If the N.F.L. was so serious about the integrity of its footballs, then why did it allow each team to supply its own?"
Shannon Sharpe is concerned about the message that would be sent if the Patriots weren't punished severely:
Bart Hubbach of the New York Post notes how the deflated footballs didn't appear to impact the AFC title game, since it was a blowout, but also wondered aloud how Brady, assuming he directed the deflation, could think that was OK:
ESPN's Darren Rovell tweeted out a picture of the signed football Tom Brady gave the equipment assistant from the Wells report (the ball he threw to surpass 50,000 career passing yards):
Former NFL linebacker Shawne Merriman is skeptical that any punishment will be handed out:
ESPN NFL analyst Mark Schlereth: