ESPN’s Chris Mortensen was scheduled to appear on this morning’s Dennis and Callahan/Minihane show, but cancelled in the wee hours of the morning.

WEEI said that Mortensen sent in the following message:

“You guys made a mistake by drumming up business for the show and how I would address my reporting for the first time, I will not allow WEEI, Kraft or anybody to make me the centerpiece of a story that has been misreported far beyond anything I did in the first 48 hours. Maybe when the lawsuit is settled, in Brady’s favor, I hope, we can revisit. Don’t call.”

Man. Talk about “not a good look.”

After reading the message, John Dennis then reported that a source (Hi Jonathan!) told him that Mike Kensil was Mortensen’s source for the grossly erroneous Tweet the night after the AFCCG.

That’s not really a surprise, but Dennis is the first to actually report that it was definitely Kensil. Tom Curran (and others) had speculated about it, and Curran followed up Dennis’ report with the following:

It’s interesting how certain people are trying to make the claim that since Brady won’t talk about the case, he must be guilty.

Mortensen won’t talk. Has anyone heard from Kensil? How about Jeff Pash? Dave Gardi?

They must be guilty.

———

Tim Benz signs off at WEEI – Chad Finn with a look at the departure of the mid-day host.

Benz always seemed like a short-timer, never quite fitting in here despite being raised in CT and summering in Maine. His habit of starting every sentence with “Patriots fans aren’t going to like this….” and ending each sentence with “the perception outside of New England is that the Patriots are cheaters due to Spygate” probably didn’t endear him to many either.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

243 thoughts on “Chris Mortensen Bails On WEEI Appearance”

  1. Tanguay being absolutely destroyed by Minihane and JD. Love it.

    BUT JOHN IF HE WAS INNOCENT HE’D HAND OVER HIS PHONE! HE’S GUILTY OTHERWISE.

    Where to begin..

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    1. I think there is a HUGE majority of people who will do what that one caller called in and said, that if Gary gets the 10-2 slot he will switch to the Sports Hub.

      Like

      1. My favorite this morning was at about 7:40 during headlines.
        Tanguay reads a story about some guy who had a botched surgery on his penis.

        Dino says :”And what happened”

        Tanguay says: “I don’t know, I just rip’em and read’em.”

        Minihane says “Great show prep”.

        I lost it in my car, I was laughing so hard. Here was Tanguay admitting he was Ted Baxter. It was classic.

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          3. Bernadette was the treasure…Ted was just along to read the news with his golden pipes. Murray Slaughter…now he deserved a spin off more than Phyllis, Rhoda and Lou Grant.

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        2. Between Minihane’s shredding of Bart and how he wrecked Tanguay, that’s how you question someone (hint hint Dan Lebatard).

          Sorry, I just have no tolerance for these garbage, grabass interviews. Turn on ESPN if you want that dross.

          Like

    2. The old “he couldn’t pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were written on the heel” line is a perfect Tanguay description.

      Like

  2. (A bit like Bruce’s takedown on Tomasse)

    D+C got on Tony Mazz’s fraternal twin Bart Hubbach from the NYPost.

    Lets revisit some quotes from him:

    The NFL is billing the investigation by Mueller as “independent,”
    though that appeared increasingly dubious as more facts emerged
    Thursday.

    Not only is Mueller being paid by the league, but he also won’t have
    subpoena power, the probe is being overseen by Giants co-owner John Mara
    and Steelers chairman Art Rooney and Mueller is a partner in the same
    law firm as Ravens president Dick Cass.

    That was October 4th, 2014.

    So, he’s skeptical of how independent these investigations are, as anything with a pulse and an IQ above their shoe size is.

    Has far too many Tweets to search but this came up c/p on a board

    ‏@BartHubbuch Roger Goodell just released a statement on the report that cleared him by saying he “accepts its findings.” A true profile in courage.

    On December 10, he, like everyone, questioned his discipline/investigation:

    So Goodell is no longer the judge or jury, but he is still the
    executioner. Which is amazing, considering his recent bumbling has
    resulted in Goodell being publicly upbraided by predecessor Paul
    Tagliabue over the Saints’ Bountygate debacle and by a former federal
    judge last week for overreaching with his punishment of Rice.

    It remains puzzling why Goodell even wants to continue with a conduct
    policy or create even more of a quasi-judicial system instead of
    leaving that to the actual judicial system, as Tagliabue and Pete
    Rozelle insisted on doing.

    The NFL is just a sports league, not some sacred institution or a system
    of government. But Goodell and the owners showed Wednesday they intend
    to forge ahead anyway, cocksure in their overblown righteousness and
    self-importance

    Archive: http://nypost.com/author/bart-hubbuch/
    Twitter: @BartHubbuch

    Look, he’s one of many. In a market hostile to this one, but its just another example of where these guys are 100% skeptical of the NFL and Goodell. And, I get that they were different, but the two cases with AP and Rice HAD VIDEO PROOF. So far, we’ve got conjecture. We can squabble over that all day and have fun debates. I get that the NFL’s system isn’t the legal system but most people want some proof before they convict someone. However, this is now years and multiple bungled investigations–really bad bungles. The fact he’s still in power and the NFL hasn’t been completely disgraced is an entirely other discussion.

    Just some excerpts. He tends to be more animated on Twitter, if you have free time and want to waste it finding what a hypocrite he is. Some of us have actual work, since its how we put food on the table, you know?

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    2. That interview this morning was f**king incredible. Dino and Kirk took this clown to the woodshed. It’s literally amazing that guys like Hubbach, Tanguay, and Mazz breath the same air as the rest of us.

      Absent of a shred of proof they have resorted to things like “he LOOKS guilty.”

      Like

      2. Over/under on time it takes for one of them to cite a Ouija board reading as proof of Brady’s guilt: 3 days.

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      1. A third possibility: Look at how f—ing arbitrary and capricious Goodell is! Do you want to be the next innocent player laying out hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight the bully? Keep your head(s) down, son(s)!

        Edit: Look, I’m Bart Hubbuch! “Nobody in the bank told the five men with the machine guns that it wasn’t okay to steal! Why? BECAUSE THEY’RE ALL IN ON THE HEIST, THAT’S WHY.”

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        1. I forget who first asked this but it’s the same Q you wonder if some owners, besides Tom Benson, are asking..

          The fact you’re not is scary..

          Sorry, but also nobody wants in on this toxic mess. Supporting Brady, even right now, is toxic in the world of PR.

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      2. It really should be easier to sue morons like this for defamation. These pr*cks get away with murder because they can hide behind the “journalist” label. It’s disgusting.

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      1. Irsay, “the shiny side of the DVD makes a great place to cut your pills up into powder form. Don’t ask how I know this. But, even with the medical grade pills I get, it still doesn’t really help you watch the final game.”

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  4. Has Bruce been kidnapped by John Tomase? Do we need to do a Kickstarter to get him released? I’m starting to get worried….

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    1. Bruce, I think we do need a new post to pollute the comments of. This one’s getting full!

      Kinda, uhm, a number of big media things over the past week, right? I cannot wait to comment on Larry Lucchino stepping down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      Like

  5. Since some idiots are talking about conspiracies like Brady “falling on the sword” for Belichick, here’s another. It’s based on the dubious assumption that there are actually people in the NFL office with real integrity and have wanted to get Goodell out for a while. These wouldn’t be in the “we don’t eat until Roger eats” crowd like Kensil/Gardi/Pash/Vincent. They saw the bungled Ray Rice case as the final straw that would convince the owners that a trained chimp could make more money for the NFL given how there is no limit to the amount of cash TV networks will throw at them. These were the people who leaked correct information to Ian Rapaport on the true PSI readings and to Adam Schefter with the fact that a corrupt league official was stealing game balls meant for charity as ESPN was going off the rails on some Kensil fantasy about kicking balls. Goodell survived the Rice and Peterson debacles so what to do? Find something that Goodell and all his moron henchman would explode over, something that would drive a permanent wedge between Goodell and Kraft, and ultimately prove completely embarrassing to a judge once this mess gets out of the league office. And to top it all off, go after one of the few players with a squeaky clean life that nonetheless, 90% of the national fan base hates because of his success at everything. It helps that there are no victims in this other than our collective intelligence.

    Every detail that has come out of this process has exposed the NFL as completely incompetent. More will come out. They act inconsistently, make things up, lie, cover up their lies, and then lie some more. And the release of the appeal confirms all of that. Given the predictable incompetence, if someone in the league office wanted to orchestrate a fiasco to wake up the owners to the tire fire of Goodell, they couldn’t do it better than what has happened since the second quarter of the AFC title game.

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    1. while Mort’s reporting deserves ridicule, I’m semi-surprised that that fake k-ball report hasn’t been brought up more in recent days. That one was just as bad, if not worse in ways

      Like

      1. Especially since it is the one provable confirmed case of corruption that night and it is 100% on the NFL. While the league office has been the most corrupt and shady since Jan 18, ESPN has tried really hard to come close.

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    2. It’s completely mind-boggling that EVERYONE, from fans to most of the media, can see that Goodell is a complete effing disaster, and that his tenure as Commissioner has been a total embarrassment; everyone, that is, except his 32 employers (maybe that’s down to 31 now, but I still have my doubts about that since Kraft seems to be putting the blame on the underlings, and not his buddy). Blows my mind. He’s a national embarrassment as a sports commissioner, and everyone but his employers can see it.

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      1. Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. – F Scott hit the nail on the head here – we don’t get it b/c we can’t get it and our inability to get probably makes them chuckle if they even deign to pay attention to us.

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        1. Both of you guys make a good point, in different ways. I guess that’s why Bettman survives to this day and Selig lasted as long as he did…and why Stern was allowed to stick around 10 years longer than he should have. Goodell is just the latest in a long line of sports commissioners who have stayed on the job beyond their real-world expiration date(s). Still, his incompetence is simply astonishing. It far outweighs the foibles of the other guys I mentioned. He’s a total embarrassment.

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      2. The owners didn’t become billionaires by admitting they made mistakes. Most stubborn group of people on the planet. The only argument they come up with is “Goodell has made them a lot of money.” Anyone could make them money. It is the only television product left that people have to see live. That’s it. Even someone as brain dead as Goodell can sell that.

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  6. In response to what Bruce said on Twitter:

    Couldn’t sum this one above up better:

    https://twitter.com/BartHubbuch/status/629366375220408320

    BTW, check the back and forth between him and Minihane going on right now. It’s priceless.

    Again, Dan LeBetard, this is how you do an interview with idiots in the media.

    Like

    1. Just a general note: the more we care about local brain-dead yahoos like Bart Hubbuch and Bart Kravitz, the more outsiders will care about local brain-dead yahoos like Shank and Tony Mazz.

      Hubbuch covers the Jets and Giants for the NY Post. Tom Brady could cure cancer, bring peace to the middle east, and personally hand Hubbuch a $255m winning Powerball ticket, and he’d still want him suspended 174,777 games for being 14 seconds late to a mandatory press conference. Don’t feed or retweet the trolls.

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      1. It’s the sad thing we always debate on, right?

        “Don’t feed the trolls..”

        I don’t know what’s the best thing since I tend to just ignore things that bother me. Most of this is the internet, so if you can’t take it, don’t be on, right? Why I wind up calling them out–and, its just my take? What Bruce said above–which, is true if you have ever met anyone or know folks in the industry. I’d rather call them out and mock them like the losers they are. That bothers them more than anything and damages their ego. Otherwise, they just continue to assume that they’re as essential as the 21% of o2 in the air is to your existence.

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        1. See, I don’t think it’s bothering the Hubbuchs of the world at all. It’s validating them. Hubbuch is, in reality, a yapping Pomeranian desperately trying to please and/or get the attention of his NY football fan masters. By playing up the nonsense he’s tweeting, he is now — in his own mind — a true Paladin of the Shield, protecting the Truth from the mindless TAHHMMY FROM QUINZZYYY hordes who swallow whatever pabulum the Cheating Cheatriots cheat out of Cheatlette Stadicheat in Cheatboro.

          And don’t we have enough to take on locally without importing our idiots from abroad? You don’t bring a date to a whorehouse, son….

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          1. “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing” – Sir Edmond Burke

            There are very few sentiments I believe in more strongly than this one. I say go after each and every one of them, as hard, as fast and as often as we can. Let’s raise an army if we have to…but I think every ridiculous accusation needs a counter. Every moronic comment needs to be mocked. Every moron exposed. Its why we all participate in this forum.

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          2. AHHHLLBERRT IN RWWOOODE AHHHLAND AND STEVE IN FAHHHHL RIVVAHHH ARE OFFENDED THAT YOU DID NOT MENTION THEM IN YOUR RESPONSE

            Ever see the pranks people pull, and post a video on YouTube, where they call up different Chinese places–the fast food ones–and wind up having them talk to each other?

            Yeah, it’s mean.. blah.. blah.. it’s funny.

            I always wondered if T+R or someone could have two of these guys, or any of the trolling all-stars who call both stations like them call in and wind up talking to each other without knowing it. That’d make for some awesome radio.

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  8. Dave,

    Could this be a gamechanger? (have to click the Tweet to see the ?)

    If the appeal transcript was this bad. Lets assume that his notes are what most of us think they are and absolutely toxic to the NFL. I cannot imagine the NFL ever wants those out there, right?

    And, by not doing that, judge rules he’s not independent, which undermines most of the investigation, right?

    Like

    1. Not really a gamechanger. Relevant and interesting for us readers and from a PR standpoint (i.e. one more thing the NFL has lied about), but largely irrelevant to the legal issues in the case.

      Functionally, the factuality (or lack thereof) of the Wells Report isn’t at issue. To the extent discussion of the Exponent analysis and the other evidence presented therein was included in the Brady hearing, it was (I believe) to support the “the arbitrator was biased” element of the NFLPA’s claimed causes of action; specifically, to argue that a reasonable and unbiased arbitrator could not have reached the conclusions reached by Goodell-as-arbitrator on the facts presented by the Wells Report. Whether or not Wells was an independent party with respect to the NFL doesn’t really matter in that case: whether he was a noble, incorruptable independent soul or a raving partisan, either he presented enough evidence for a reasonable conclusion or he didn’t.

      I do think it will be under-the-radar relevant in the case, though — but not for legal reasons. To be blunt, the Wells Report reads like a prosecutorial brief; i.e. an item of advocacy. If it’s been entered as an exhibit (and I’m not sure it has — but I’d certainly assume that it has), the judge will see that. ANY person with a law degree (excepting Lester Munson) would see that. Adding a claim of privilege with respect to the author of the report adds another layer of doubt about why, exactly, the report was prepared. Each little brick builds an impression that this was not a good-faith investigation into what happened, but an adversarial charge designed to justify the ends (punishment). And that would definitely impact an analysis as to the impartiality of the arbitrator and the appeal process, in my book.

      I can’t honestly conceive of a situation where a rational jurist would find for the NFL in this case. The gross arrogance with which the NFL approached the process is mind-boggling.

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      1. Understood.

        As we’ve gone through this all, from a non-lawyer perspective, if part of their “defense” was the PR element. They’ve won that clearly, right? I have to wonder how much they banked on that because of what happened in BountyGate and the stuff in Miami. BG wound up being a debacle, but after the fact, and by then the country had moved on from it. With Incognito, they presented him as the meanest bully in the world, but you ask any ex-player and that’s what lockerrooms are. However, they won the day in the PR war and, sadly, that’s all that matters.

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  9. I was just tweeted a link to some moron in Buffalo who wrote a blog post for the local CBS station describing the Patriots’ “legacy of cheating.” He includes the formation vs. Baltimore, the tuck rule, and – get this – the snowplow game.

    It’s official. People have lost their goddamn minds.

    Like

    1. I love the fact that l can see the snow plow hanging in Foxboro. Pissed Shula off 30+ years later. 30 years from now . . . While I admire Brady and his six Lombardi . . . I hope to see a few signed “under inflated ” balls that were a precursor to the threepeat.

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      1. Leaving aside the fact that Tom Brady was 5 years old and Belichick was coaching linebackers in New York at the time, the snowplow was perfectly legal. Not to mention, per wikipedia: “Miami coach Don Shula protested furiously but the field goal was good. On the following drive by the Dolphins, the use of a snowplow to clear a spot for the Dolphins to kick was offered, but Don Shula refused because he was certain his protest of the game would be upheld.”

        Tuck rule? Stupid rule, but the correct call, and had nothing to do with the Patriots anyway. Blame the officials for that one. And of course, using trick plays is as old as football itself.

        You just can’t talk to people like that, though. I didn’t even try, so the bozo sends me a photo of excrement. I kid you not. These are the “CHEATRIOTZ!” clowns.

        Like

          1. Twitters a great way to get the news you want and see what the conversations and topics are. Trying to debate/argue on it? Usually bad. The great thing is you can just add/remove people at any point.

            Like

          2. Oh, believe me, I wasn’t trying to debate. This lunatic was just striking out at everyone, like a rabid skunk. I ignored him. As I said, you can’t talk to such people. They’re basically tantrum-throwing 2-year-olds.

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          3. But, I think as you said, it’s just fun to point out the ignorance. Some people really make themselves look worse on Twitter. It’s part of the fun!

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        2. Do you know how I respond to “Tuck Rule” truthers? I tell them I don’t refer to it as the Tuck Rule Game: I instead refer to it as the Charles-Woodson-uncalled-illegal-blow-to-the-head-penalty game. CHARLES WOODSON GAVE BRADY AN OPEN-HANDED, HARD SLAP TO THE HEAD. That’s what jarred the ball loose. Brady was never “stripped” of the ball; he had his bell rung by Woodson’s blatant penalty, which the refs missed. If they get THAT call right, the “fumble” call never gets reversed because the 15-yard penalty against the Raiders supersedes it anyway. The video (if you see the right camera angle) clearly confirms this. And yes, even back in 2001 when defensive players still had more latitude, what Woodson did was considered a penalty.

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    1. Watched that segment. Gresh looked like he wanted to take Volin and Felger and smash their heads together.

      Like

  12. Anyone know if Bruce is still alive? It’s been over a week since the last post…would love some consistent content

    Like

    1. He is alive…he has been tweeting. He has 3 young kids and it is mid summer. I am sure he has more important things to do…its not like the part of NH he lives in has more than 4 weeks of summer anyway. He should enjoy them while he can.

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  13. Gary Tanguay idiotic point of the day today. He believes or at least he said he believed (around 8:40am) that McNally and Jastremski are secretly being paid, in cash, by either a minion of Robert Kraft or a minion of Tom Brady. It is the only explanation as to why they are keeping Beliechick’s and Brady’s secrets.

    Minihane to his credit responded…what if they did not actually tamper with the balls and are therefore denying having done anything that broke a rule because they did not do anything that broke a rule. Tanguay’s response…they are guilty so someone is buying their silence. I would have switched to 98.5 but I don’t understand a damn thing those young’ins do over there.

    Like

    1. I’m all for conspiracy theories but you’re not telling me TMZ hasn’t already communicated to them that they’re a briefcase with 100k in it for an interview or information? (Or, the NFL, if they used the same tactics MLB did during the A-Rod stuff in Florida.)

      That’s the only reason I don’t think it’s true.

      Like

      1. Agreed. TMZ would have blown this thing open with $ for McNally if anything was there. That and Brady volunteering to deny it under penalty of perjury gives me 100% confidence that it was the weather and this is all bs. Tanguay is scraping to be noticed.

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    2. People might actually be telling the truth? What a weird concept. I know we have become so jaded by Goodell’s lies that we assume everyone is lying, but it doesn’t help one’s sanity to presume everyone is lying about everything all the time.

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      1. It kills me that the one logical explanation in this whole thing…that the Pats did not tamper with the balls and that all the denials are truthful has never once entered the conversation.

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        1. No, no it hasn’t. Even people defending the Patriots and trashing Goodell say things like “I think something happened with the balls. Brady said something and they decided to do X.” If only McNally just brought the balls directly to the field.

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  14. This post is now so old that every time I check it, I’m expecting a video of Chevy Chase saying, “Tonight’s top story: Chris Mortensen has still bailed on WEEI.”

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  15. Anybody want to start a pool on the date when Jim Murray will give up on being the only guy in the world to go with “Ball-ghazi”. Keep trotting it out there, Shepp wannabe.

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  16. For those still sober/up here, looks like some new legal docs filed tonight:

    Dave, any thoughts there?

    I mentioned him before but he seems to be on par with McCann and a “must follow” for understanding the legal stuff going on?

    Like

    1. That’s the gist of the counterargument (what Volin posted). None of it is inaccurate, and it’s absolutely what the NFL should be arguing. However, it’s not necessarily the full story. The NFLPA’s argument is more holistic; that the process as a whole was fundamentally unfair or biased. In the Garvey case cited, there wasn’t a question of process or bias — the arbitrator flat-out made a mistake. The issue was the distribution of the lump sum settlement that players got in the 80s from the collusion suit against MLB. The players and the union agreed that an arbitrator would decide who was eligible for a payment, and how much they’d be entitled to. I forget the details, but the arbitrator selected used a different or incorrect methodology to determine that Garvey was not entitled to an award, and he sued. The court — a bit surprisingly, to be honest — basically ruled that it wasn’t the court’s job to oversee an arbitrator’s factual accuracy — if you agreed on someone, and the process was followed, you’re stuck with the loser you picked if he screwed up. More or less. The actual opinion was a little more legalistic.

      Here, you have a party arguing that the arbitration itself was a sham — that you have a party acting impermissibly under the CBA, then “arbitrating” his own actions. The NFLPA properly objected to him as arbitrator (which is important — if they had not objected to bias at the time of the appointment, there probably isn’t a case here), so the bias argument is preserved and is still a valid ground for vacation of the award. And the process argument (which involves both a consistency and a validity of the punishment argument) still attaches.

      So basically, Volin’s cited language demonstrates how the courts give a great deal of deference to a VALID arbitration award; i.e. one that is free of bias and gave both parties minimal due process in its procedure. The courts, however, readily vacate INVALID arbitration awards, where there is obvious bias or conflict on the part of the arbitrator, or where due process has not been followed (e.g. where the arbitrator refused to hear/view highly probative evidence despite the requests/attempts of the aggrieved party to present it). And the validity of the arbitration as a whole is the relevant issue in this case. (Or at least the realistically relevant issue. The judge could always distinguish Garvey and Saint Mary Home and find a way to vacate this under some sort of fundamental fairness concept — which has been done — but that’s inviting an appeals court to overturn you, which is a very bad thing for a judge.)

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      1. That makes sense.

        I can fall two ways on that because if I sign a contract, I am bound by it. Or if part of a union, fall within the CBA.

        My question would arise with something like this. If you can prove and show compelling evidence that despite this, the person who “oversaw” your case is biased, used bad evidence, is there a remedy? (As in it’s a case like this where I think there are mountains of evidence.)

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  17. Wonder why, Ben? (Comments are funny)

    John Dowd (of the Dowd Report with Rose/MLB) produced a site on everything. Lots of strong language.

    Since people try to dismiss anyone defending Brady if they find out you’re a Patriots fan, he’s an admitted Steelers fan.

    New link: http://www.deflategatefacts.com/

    Like

    1. Probably nothing. Corps usually like board members to cycle on and off periodically; it might just be Kraft’s turn in line.

      Like

  19. Florio, an attorney, gets it:

    “Basically, the NFL hopes to use “conduct detrimental” as a catch-all donut hole, taking advantage of the absence of a policy that specifically spells out a fine for football deflation to paint with a broad brush (and to discipline without accountability) when the many policies negotiated by the NFL and NFLPA over the years, from the fine schedule to the PED policy to the substance-abuse policy to the Personal Conduct Policy to the various other policies under which players can be disciplined, say nothing about a suspension for knowing about, having involvement in, or personally carrying out a scheme to deflate footballs.”

    http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/08/08/conduct-detrimental-vs-equipment-violations-in-brady-vs-nfl/

    Of course there was immediately a comment (and I strongly advise against reading PFT comments on a regular basis,by the way) that the equipment violations say “including, but not limited to,” a $25k fine. And then they smugly preen, thinking they have won the day.

    Except then the lawyers, who actually know stuff, point out that this is beside the point. If Goodell had explicitly punished Brady for tampering with equipment under that provision, the NFL could argue that the plain language of the penalty does not limit punishment to a $25k fine. Which is true! But that does not — repeat, it DOES NOT — give the commissioner carte blance to impose ANY penalty for violation of that provision. And — he did not punish Brady under that provision anyhow. (Which is part of the main thrust of the PA’s case.)

    Goodell could have, but did not, punish Brady under the equipment violation provisions. And since he did not, the language of the equipment violation penalty provisions IS TOTALLY IRRELEVANT.

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    1. Every attorney and the two judges (although one was a family court judge so I am not so sure he counts) I have spoken with agrees completely with Dave. They are uniformly convinced that this is one of those cases where an arbitrator will be over ruled. So as this gets more dragged out…my question: Is the Brady team considering a defamation case? From the legal people I have spoken to he seems to have grounds. I wonder if that is the next direction this story goes.

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  21. Just wondering, with the NFL now saying that the investigation did not have to be independent, does Kraft, who vacated team money and draft picks under the assurance that it would be a “fair and independent” investigation, have any recourse to recoup the lost resources?

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    1. If the NFL loses this appeal case, Kraft, at the very least, has to publicly lobby to have the team penalties rescinded, especially in light of the NFL’s duplicitousness, which has now been made public with the release of the transcripts. If I were Kraft, I would perhaps even make a public offer: “We’ll accept a small fine for McNally breaking protocol by taking the ball bag into the restroom, and then we’ll make a charitable donation on our own equal to 10 times the amount of the fine (so let’s say a $50K fine, and then a $500K donation on top of that). As for draft picks, we insist we did nothing to those balls, but if you want to dock us a pick for the equipment being non-regulation at halftime, we’ll accept a 5th rounder….just like the Falcons got for admittedly pumping in fake crowd noise. We also will not admit any wrongdoing, but we think this is a fair settlement offer given the fact that we’ve been completely exonerated by the facts that have come out since May.” Of course, Goodell will dig in his heels because he knows the Pats have no legal recourse, and he also knows public opinion and the will of the other 31 owners are on his side. If there were any integrity in the league office at all, the team penalties would be automatically rescinded once Brady’s suspension is overturned; but, of course, we know that Goodell’s NFL doesn’t roll that way.

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      1. The NFL would say that the appeal was overturned because of the NFL not following protocol not due to Brady/the Patriots being found innocent of wrong doing.

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        1. Exactly, which is why I said Goodell will dig in his heels about the Patriots’ punishment. However, Kraft should, in my view, still come out and publicly lobby for the team penalties — were are not only unwarranted but completely batshyte insane/over the top in nature — reduced, and reduced significantly. Or, he should at least publicly demand that the NFL produce credible evidence that there was anything done to those footballs. If Brady wins, Kraft will have some momentum — at least in the media — on his side. I don’t think it will go anywhere, but at least he’ll get it on the public record. What’s the NFL going to do to him at this point? Are they going to punish him for speaking his mind? That would look REAL good after the latest public beating that moron’s league office has taken.
          Eh, I can dream anyway.

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    1. Normally I would say WEEI can not be so tone deaf as to give Tanguay a show. But they hired Tomasse and keep putting him on the air on Sundays. So anything is possible.

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  23. I thought Gerry Callahan poised a fascinating question this morning. He wanted to know when each member of the “punish the Pats” Press will finally admit they were wrong as more and more information about how the NFL handled this investigation comes out. For example D&C is going to have Chris Russo on tomorrow and Callahan is expecting a very different Dog this time around…one who might admit that reading the Wells report and rebuttals as well as the deposition might make more sense than bombastic sensationalism.

    He suggested that it is only a matter of time before we see a mia culpa fro guys like Shaughnessy and others. He did say that Maz won’t because he is not smart enough to realize he has been wrong all this time.

    I thought it one of the more interesting segments I have heard in a long time…partially because it is inside media chat and partially because the tide on this story is clearly turning and Boston is a big enough and loud enough market that the national guys cannot ignore it.

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    1. Nah, you won’t see it. People will still think the Pats/Brady did SOMETHING because why else would the league go after them so hard? Last couple of weeks it was “But what about the text messages?!”. It will always be something unless there’s a defamation lawsuit that Brady wins or a letter of apology from Goodell/the NFL.

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      1. Callahan’s point was we are already starting to see it. He used John Dennis as an example. Mike Florio is another. He thinks that in face of the actual facts there will be a lot of turning on the NFL and its bad info.

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        1. When this is over, I’d love for Florio to be asked why he changed.

          Yeah, he was against us at first. And, we speculated his source being Kensil’s son, given the previous employment with PFT. But, he also started to change right when the Wells Report came out. He isn’t like many casual media who only started to change now when they saw the testimony and compared it to what has been said and in TWR. And, I’d speculate part of that is because the PR-trend is changing, a minority of people who actually used their brain and compared what’s been said/TWR to the testimony, and others who just hate the NFL and its another reason for them to write a slam column.

          So, I know people point it out, but he seemed to actually read and examine TWR and that was the change point. Why?

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          1. If you listen to his guest appearance on Big Lead writer Ryan Glasspeigel’s podcast he mentions that during the SB49 pregame he was on the phone with a league source attempting to get the actual PSI measurements. This was right after Ian Rappoport came out with the “few ticks” report which ran contrary to the Mort fable. I think at this point he started to smell it and when TWR came out it confirmed his suspicions.

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          2. Depending on how deep this all goes, it’d be interesting if someone did an actual “30 for 30”-style thing on this, similar to how ESPN did the one on the single day in July (OJ Chase, Rangers parade in NYC, NBA finals). Yeah, I know ESPN isn’t going to do that because they’re a prime player in it. Wonder if Simmons might when he’s @ HBO.

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    2. I liked how he compared it to the old Brady/Bledsoe debate, and how eventually everyone, even Borges, had to admit that Brady was the better QB.

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    3. There’s no chance Russo has read anything. We’re gonna get the same screaming, raving lunatic – “He did SOMETHING, guys!! He’s guilty!!!” “I don’t have time to read all that!”

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      1. I think Russo is smarter than that. He survived 17 years of Francesca so if anything he knows how to survive. Besides he is a Giants fan not a JETS fan. I think he will be different this time around. More contrite. More willing to criticize the commish’s office. I doubt he will apologize for past comments but I do think he will make far better observations.

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    4. I once read a thesis on why/how we are with politics. I’d argue it’s the new modern-day religion. One thing the people with a brain can agree is that it’s polemic. The crux of the piece was when there’s no consequences for being wrong, people dig in deeper when even small things are pointed out.

      In this instance, there is no consequences for being wrong. Hating the Patriots/BB/Brady is also the “trend”, but I think the PR war has shifted in the past two weeks with the various releases. For the casual media, who jumped in and wrote or said something, even not really caring, I wonder if they’ll change their mind when it becomes popular and trendy to do so. They’ll pen a piece on what a joke the NFL is, so they can be assured they’re back on the trend train.

      I think that depending on what comes out, you might have many, but your hardcores like Doyel/Kravitz/Hubbach/F+M/Tanguay/etc. will never. They will always think something happened and the NFL just screwed up. There are no consequences. They can never apologize and life revolves on. They’ll be able to blame it on the NFL being incompetent, but BB/TB/Patriots did something illegal.

      And, to me, if it comes to where the judge notifies the NFL that it’s clearly going to lose, the last thing they want is more coming out. We all have theories here. If anything, I think it can be proven so far that Wells worked backwards to prove what the NFL wanted him to prove. Take that a step further and if the motive here were to be examined? That’s when I think the NFL folds real quick. The last thing they want is a real outside body investigating “what really happened”

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  26. Wells is apparently being sued for defamation by the Dolphins’ coach who was fired in the wake of the Incognito investigation. Paging Mr. Dorito Dink. Mr. Dorito Dink, Mr. Kraft is on Line 1….something about funding a legal team on your behalf (quietly, behind the scenes, of course).

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