Deflategate: The Punishment

Deflategate%3A+The+Punishment

The Patriots have done it again. On May 6th, the full “Patriots Wells Report” by investigator Ted Wells was released. The report consisted of over 200 pages of detailed findings regarding the supposed deflation of footballs by the Patriots during the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts.

In short, the report found that it was “more probable than not that New England Patriots personnel participated in violations of the Playing Rules and were involved in a deliberate effort to circumvent the rules.” What the report concludes is that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady not only lied about being involved with the ball issue, but also most likely was the one that wanted the balls that way. Wells wrote of Brady, “We found [his] claims not plausible and contradicted by other evidence,” basically saying that Tom Brady definitely did it.

Findings including text messages between ball boys and Tom Brady, video surveillance, and records of the pounds per square inch (PSI) of the balls were all found and used as evidence. Prior to the AFC Championship game, Patriots locker room official Jim McNally was seen on video surveillance entering a bathroom with the bag of game balls, likely where he deliberately deflated them. The investigations determined that Tom Brady was, “at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities of McNally.”

Jim McNally and John Jastremski, a locker room attendant that was responsible for preparation of game balls, were believed to have received money, sneakers, and signed Tom Brady memorabilia in exchange for deflating the balls to Tom Brady’s liking.

The NFL has suspended Tom Brady for the first 4 games of the 2015-2016 season. But that’s not it, the NFL also fined the Patriots organization $1 million and took away a first round 2016 draft pick and a fourth round pick in the 2017 draft.

After the initial punishment was announced, one of the main arguments that fans and NFL analysts alike had was the fact that there may have not been a significant amount of evidence in order to issue such a harsh punishment. Though the balls were found to be a little bit deflated, many people believed that the amount that they were deflated by would not have effected both the way that the Patriots played and the outcome of the game.

The question whether or not Tom Brady and his team’s legacy will be stained also arose. The fact that Brady appealed his suspension shows that maybe there’s a chance that he actually didn’t have any involvement. However, the fact that Brady has not publicly came out and said anything about the scandal seems a little bit fishy in the eyes of most.

Longtime Patriots fan and WHBHS student David Cable’s thoughts were with his team in their darkest hour. Cable said that the scandal is,“a stain on our reputation, but if we cheated we deserve it.” When asked for his thoughts on Tom Brady, Cable shared that he still believes Brady is a Hall Of Fame caliber quarterback. Cable does not think that the deflation of the balls had any effect on the game because 3 of the Patriots 6 touchdowns during the game were rushing, meaning that Tom Brady didn’t even throw the ball on the play.

“The deflate gate scandal angers me not only because the patriots cheated the game of football, but also because it was against my beloved team, the Colts,” said Indianapolis fan and sophomore Matt Pesce. “It would be different if this was the first time but they also had the Spygate scandal a couple years back. I definitely believe Tom Brady was involved in the deflate gate scandal. I think he had the balls deflated so that he could have a better grip on them in the cold weather.” stated Pesce. Though he was enraged that the Patriots would dare cheat against his team, he still believes that the Patriots would have won, even though they had an unfair advantage. Pesce also stated that he thinks Tom Brady will still have a “legendary legacy,” but it will be tainted by this incident.

The punishment comes as a reminder to not just the entire NFL, but everyone everywhere that cheating is not ok. Maybe this time, the Patriots will have learned that cheating, especially in the NFL is not ok.