Tom Brady Suspension Megathread - Day 4

Everyone focusing on the science is just drawing attention away from the fact that Brady and the Patriots laughed in the face of the league for investigating it, laughed in the faces of reporters who wrote about it, and proclaimed that they didn't pay any attention to the inflation of the balls.

I get that there's a science behind the natural deflation of a football over the course of a game, but those text messages are very difficult to ignore. Legally, maybe they don't do much in the way of incriminating Brady, but common sense and logic tells me that they are the remnants of evidence from a scheme to deflate footballs after they're approved by the refs. That is the violation, and I do agree that in terms of its effect on the game, it's probably minor. However, there's still an effort to circumvent a rule, and now a sloppy coverup and denial.

You can approach DeflateGate in two ways:

1) Focusing on the science of deflation and the effect that a deflated ball has on the game, while also defending the Patriots against the letter of the law and legal system. I.e. Pointing out that there isn't any direct evidence or perhaps not enough to convict Brady in a court of law.

This approach is fine, but I really could care less about either of these as a fan of the game. I subscribe more to this approach:

2) Focusing the lies and downright insulting explanations from the Patriots, while being rightfully upset that there was yet another effort made by the Patriots to circumvent a rule.

I do think all of this circumstantial evidence is pointing to an infraction and a coverup, and while it may not defy science or win in a court of law, it matters to me as a fan of the game.

/r/nfl Thread