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.

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Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

243 thoughts on “Chris Mortensen Bails On WEEI Appearance”

  1. Something tells me that Kensil is “pissed” at Curran because he’d hoped that his little scheme, and his involvement in it, would never be exposed to the public eye. He’s pissed that people who never knew his name before January now know he’s the source of all this b.s., the biggest defamation/frame job in sports history I doubt he’s “pissed” because he’s innocent and he’s being falsely accused of something. That’s the kind of thing that he and Goodell’s other minions in the league offices usually do to others. Scumbag. If I were Brady, my pre-court settlement offer would be this: full exoneration; full retraction of ALL penalties, including those against the team; public apology for the lies and smears the league deliberately put out there to massage their PR image; and Vincent and Kensil, at the very least, hitting the unemployment line. Meet all of those conditions, Roger, and I won’t sue your pathetic organization for more than a billion dollars in damages for defamation of character.

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    1. “Tom, you can’t just jump to a conclusion based on bias, unnamed sources and innuendo! Who do you think you are, me?”

      Like

  2. Benz “short timer” . . .oh man 🙂 I wonder if all the EEI staff signed his booster seat and presented it to him as a going away gift

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    1. I had heard that his father’s role with the Jimmy Fund had helped him break into the market and out of curiosity googled him. His dad is an impressive human being.
      That said, he never fit in here. There are way to many on the airwaves that bash the home team. Be original.

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      1. No clue who hired him.

        Maybe it was a “Salk was just a dumbass. Lets try this again?”

        Lets be clear–like, crystal clear:

        You cannot import “talent” into this market. You can’t. T+R are exception to the rule but I think the nascent stage of 98.5 helped that. They’ve also adopted many of the “New England” ways around here. This is a special and unique market. If you do not get nor understand that, good luck.

        If Benz and Salk were not object lessons here, I’m not sure what is.

        Reality: Benz was setup to fail. He adopted the “Pittsburgh Way”. despite whatever BS PR you want to spin about his mothers, fathers, cousins, daughters, twice removed sisters being from here and all were lifelong Sox and Pats season-ticket holders, had Bruins ink from every limb, cut their wrists in a Wicca ceremony prior to 2004 to erase “the curse”. Whatever.

        It’ll never work. If you “HATE” what sports is like in this region is about, the last thing you want to do is work here (unless Boston Glove appears in the top left of your paychecks).

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  3. Mortensen was used by Kensil; that much is obvious. That he will not address the situation makes it even more obvious that ESPN is doing the NFL’s bidding.

    Mortensen’s job has made him wealthy and famous. He’s not going to throw it away by standing up to his employer. Who cares if he helped start a shitstorm that’s smeared the reputation of the greatest player in the NFL? Mort still gets his checks.

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    1. I disagree.

      I think ESPN is not carrying the NFL’s water. I think they have operators who are (Mort) and operators who aren’t (Adam Schecter). The issue as I see it is that ESPN does not have someone making sure that what is being attributed on their letterhead is accurate. Having such an obvious issue is not something they like as they want to believe they are a News outlet. I would not be surprised if there are conversations going on in Bristol about how to get ESPN out of the story…which will probably mean hanging Mortensen out to dry….that is just my speculation.

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      1. Sorry, but I totally disagree with you here. Just watching the ESPN crawl a couple of evenings ago as my husband was watching the soccer roundup was making me gag. ESPN is not a news outlet; it’s the NFL’s lapdog. And for the most basic – and base – reason of all: money.

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        1. We will agree to disagree. DO I think more people at ESPN hate the Patriots than are fair…sure. DO I think it is corporately driven. No. Do I think corporate is doing enough to restore a sense of balance…absolutely not. But if it was as you say then Schecter, Matt Light and some others would not get on the air.

          Further, ESPN thinks they are a news organization. I am not saying they are or that they are good at it…but its what they believe. As such they should be looked at and held to that standard not the Entertainment standard.

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          1. From friends there, their “news” operation is none different than how it works for the rest of the industry. Here’s how “news” (all sides) works:

            When a partner (side you’re on, etc) does something, you “follow along” and don’t ask questions. You pretty much know what that is by the tone set from the higher ups. People who don’t fall in line with this are reassigned, denied resources, told to do something else, etc. Or, if it takes it, flat out given a career advise meeting. The folks who don’t play along with this? You’ll be softly driven out in a manner where they’re not violating labor laws or could face a lawsuit.

            OTL/Bob Ley is the one “investigative” unit left in Bristol.

            If the actions by the Patriots over the past few days haven’t made that crystal clear, I’m not sure what would. I think Kraft realized that the folks on his side are us here and the rest of the folks in New England, not the 31 other owners.

            The NFL could have not only stopped but cleared the leaks up really quickly. Look at how fast SalPal did a 180 with the owners. That took, what, 48 hours?

            So, Park Ave didn’t call Bristol and say “yeah F- the patriots” but they just followed along and took direction. With the Mort stuff recently, I’m wondering if that’s going to change. I’m wondering if they’re fearful of the team or Brady suing them now.

            So, what happens if Schefter is this “white knight” but can’t use his ESPN position to do something? That’s when you leak to kites and blackbag sources.

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          2. I’m glad to know it’s having some effect, at least with some people. I just read Wetzel’s article and saw little beyond the “CHEATERZ!” responses in the comments. People are such sheep – they’ve bought the NFL’s story wholesale.

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      2. “ESPN isn’t carrying water for the NFL; they have Adam Schecter” = “This country club isn’t racist; it has two black members!”

        You can carry a couple of independent voices and still be completely in the bag for the league.

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        1. Dave, I disagree. I think if ESPN saw that the fans all thinking the Patriots were the good guys in all this then they would be all Patriots all the time. What ESPN is guilty of is programming a message based on poll numbers and not integrity. Having said that they do put some counter voices on the air in an attempt to present the other side. Could they do better…yes…are they carrying the NFL’s water…I don’t see it. That is the NFLN. Where I am disappointed in ESPN is that in the Mortensen case they have no one who seems to be taking responsibility. They need to answer for that. However I think paralysis is more a problem than a concerted effort to be in line with the NFL because of a direct conspiracy. They don’t know how to get out of this without looking foolish and they do not want to look foolish.

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      3. You keep a few ‘independent voices’ on either because they’re not demanding too much money, have actual sources or just don’t want to seem like you’re too bias. It’s like each of the cable news networks. No secret what side each one roots for, but they gotta keep around the “other side” person, who usually isn’t too articulate, to have on various shows to kick around.

        I think ESPN is not carrying the NFL’s water.

        http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2013/8/23/4650568/roger-goodell-espn-pbs-concussions-documentry-league-of-denial

        The execs have a good idea of where not to go. When someone there forgets that and tries to play boyscout, one thirty-second call and it’s over.

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    2. I’m wondering who pulled it. Why? It has to do with what could happen in the future.

      Since we’re without a Woodward/Bernstein thus far, I wonder if ESPN might turn here once it becomes more abundant to the public that this has so much wrong about it.

      ESPN could easily “benefit”. OTL segments, 30for30s, SportsCenter leading nightly. Right?

      Play one side until public opinion shifts. Then play the other side. Be the “leader” in coverage all the time. Public ignores the fact you flipped sides when it was politically/PR conveinent for you. Politics 101 there.

      But, then face the fact another network or outfit might pick up where you could have been, and get destroyed on coverage?

      However, we saw how something similar went down with the concussion stuff. Goodell makes a call to Iger/Skipper and the entire project is abandoned and staffers issued gag orders.

      Makes me wonder..

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  4. With a few hours to think on the Mortensen Bail *copywrite to me*, I think the PR battle has got to start turning pretty soon. If the reports are correct that Kensil fed Mort bad info 6 months ago, and that over the last 6 months the league did nothing to correct/retract that report, Mort did nothing to correct/retract that report and ESPN has done nothing to correct/retract the report then there appears to me to be a concerted effort to not only “get” the Patriots by the press but it originated in league offices. I do not care which owner you are, this cannot possibly be something that you want to see happen to one of your partners…the deliberate and false allegation that eventually costs the league $5 mill + in a sham investigation and one of your fellow owners $1mill +2 draft picks.

    I have said this before and I will reiterate. Where the heck are the responsible adults. Why isn’t some one…Mara, Rooney, Jones etc standing up and saying: “enough. Goodell you work for us…not the other way around. We followed you off this cliff because you assured us Tom Brady did something nefarious. At this point it is clear that nothing that is not explained by science happened. Further it is clear that your office deliberately tried to DEVALUE one of our franchises by purposely accusing them falsely. This stops now”.

    Wells was supposed to investigate the NFL’s involvement in this fiasco. That clearly never happened or it would not have taken 6 months for the Kensil leak revelation to come out and be confirmed. Jeff Bash and Mike Kensil should not have a job. Neither should Walt Anderson. Yet it is Tom Brady in court trying to prove a negative. This continues to be the most infuriating non scandal evah!

    Likewise…I think ESPN should be looking long and hard at Mr. Mortensen’s future. Its clear he published false info he was fed. He has not retracted his report even though the NFL said it was wrong in the Wells report no less. Then he has to audacity to Bail on an interview where they were going to ask him about this because he does not want to be used by WEEI or Kraft. When did Kraft buy and start operating WEEI? When did Mort get so thin skinned he cannot defend his work? Worse…why would ESPN allow an employee to talk to an affiliate like that?

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    1. I think that the only way the PR battle truly turns is if the major outlets, sports and mainstream media, begin to report on this. So far, not a peep from NFL-N nor BSPN (not surprising). Who does that leave? Bill Simmons? Network news?

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      1. A major newspaper could do an in-depth investigation (and despite my issues with it, the Globe is a major newspaper that has done significant investigative pieces. Not holding my breath though). Yahoo? Deadspin? SI? CNN?

        None of the networks will do it because they all have NFL programming, which as we know gets huge ratings. Simmons maybe when his ESPN contract ends in a couple months, though HBO has Hard Knocks and Ballers, which must have some agreement to use team logos.

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  6. For the millionth time….why would Mort hope that the issue be resolved in Brady’s favor unless he knows it was a screw job?

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  8. Another roach scurries away when the sunlight is about to hit it. This should prove to everyone this was total setup by the NFL. I hope people start going after the weak links in this chain.

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    1. Wow….does Pash not come off as just another disingenuous scumbag in a league office full of them? Unreal. I’m sure the media will just yawn at all this. Oh, and I love his butt-hurt final response, making the Patriots’ lawyer out to be the bad guy (or gal) in this case.

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      1. Makes me just really want to see the emails in/out of the league office and to the Ravens… bet it’s more of a “how do we get out in front of this?”

        I wonder what made Kraft change his stance? I have to think its because he realized that those other 31 guys in the league will never be his friends.

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  10. Actual Tweet today from brainless Berty Breer: “For better or worse, I don’t think I can remember a pro sports franchise acting the way the Patriots have this week. Really amazing.” OK Breer, I’ll bite. What’s amazing about how the Pats are “acting” this week? Your employer has been lying about them, smearing them, and essentially waging war against them for six months, and the Pats’ owner, up until a few days ago when your employer, once again, stabbed him in the back, had basically been playing ball for the previous two months in the hopes that it would help his quarterback. Now he’s decided that your employer cannot be trusted, even when dealing with a 21-year owner who has helped make the NFL what it is today. So, he’s finally decided to fight back, and you, Mr. Breer, who has never made his anti-BB/anti-Pats feelings much of secret, call them out for “acting” in a “really amazing” way. Historically amazing, you think, judging by the words you chose. Get bent, moron. You are a joke. It still boggles my mind that someone with so few brains and so little journalistic credibility could get such a high-profile national gig. You should still be typing up obituaries for the Podunk Daily Times.

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  11. On a day when Mortensen is publicly called out, and the Patriots fire a broadside at the NFL, the Worldwide Leader is as silent as the grave.

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    1. Reiss might have r/t’d it and he’s got a following but many are local.
      I’d say that Florio over at PFT helped make it national. Thanks to that, you can’t pull a “oh, I didn’t see it.”

      Thus far, I don’t see anything from ESPN. But, lets go down the list of big nationals (Peter King, etc.) and see how long it takes them, if they say anything at all.

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      1. Just saw an AP story, a general roundup of the state of the NFL going into training camp.

        “Just a month after Commissioner Roger Goodell handed him the Super Bowl MVP trophy, Brady refused to hand over his cellphone when the NFL delved into allegations the Patriots surreptitiously used underinflated footballs in the AFC championship game.

        Brady sued the league after Goodell upheld his four-game suspension this week, with the commissioner ruling the NFL’s biggest name destroyed his cellphone to obstruct the inquiry by investigator Ted Wells.

        Judge Richard Berman, who has been assigned to the case, told all sides to “tone down their rhetoric,” and wrote, “The earth is already sufficiently scorched, in the Court’s view.”

        Brady’s suspension is the enduring footprint of an offseason in which the shield was sullied on a seemingly daily basis.”

        The rest of it is how other players have “sullied” the league.

        The NFL’s PR machine must be very happy.

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    1. I listened to Dale and Holley on Friday. They were generally fine but Dale kept harping on this point, repeatedly saying “Judge Berman’s not going to like this” as if he knows Berman personally or is a legal expert.

      A lot of the issues we discuss here, from the hot takes to the witch hunts to the poor logic to the reporting errors, come down to this: most of the people in the sports media really aren’t that smart.

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  13. Benz is gone?..had no idea he was on the way out. Shows how out of the loop I am. Still a HUGE fan of this site but I rarely post anymore cause I really don’t care what the sports media is babbling about anymore… Deflategate “coverage” pushed me over the edge. Other than a select few Reiss, Curran, Price (ONLY in print, never on one of the shows).. I have completely cut the sports media out of my life… It’s been quite refreshing!… and still feel I’m as knowledgeable about the local teams as I’ve ever been, which proves what I’ve known all along, 98% of the sports media is useless bullshit

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  14. Was watching the Basketball Without Boarders game on BSPN this morning. They aired an ESPN Fantasy Football commercial with a guy saying “He can’t be the commish, he’s softer than the balls in Foxboro.” Yup, ESPN is letting this die…

    I don’t remember commercials making fun of PED users, women beaters, etc. Personally I think a funnier line would have been, “He can’t be commish, he knows the rules worse than the Baltimore Ravens.” But hey, what do I know?

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  15. This today from Florio over at PFT:

    Fifth, it’s clear that Judge Berman won’t be inclined to keep any
    documents under seal, based on this sentence: “I always have
    considerable difficulty approving any sealed documents, given the keen
    public interest in these matters and the public’s right to know.” In
    other words, the full transcript of the Tom Brady appeal hearing
    eventually will be released, if the case isn’t settled.

    That’s a win for the NFLPA and Brady. Although the NFL would say that
    the parties agreed to seal the transcript, a source with knowledge of
    the situation tells PFT that the NFLPA agreed to seal the transcript at
    the insistence of the NFL.

    I recall a few days back that it leaked Brady was the one who wanted everything sealed. Then it came out yesterday that Brady was the one who requested his appeal hearing in NYC be under oath. Now we find out that it’s the NFL, and not Brady, who want it sealed.

    Yeah, again, this is getting interesting. Lets apply your default thought but the same one when it came out Brady wanted the docs sealed: “Only guilty people and those with something to hide want things sealed.”

    Yeah, not much there because it’s not anti-Brady/anti-Patriots

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      1. Felger is a bigger fraud than Goodell and the NFL. Both have the same level of integrity, none. The sheep eat up Felger’s nonsense and I have no idea why.

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        1. I sit around at the beach and at cookout this weekend and still the sheep buy into the f and m philosophy. They did something, what about the phone, the deflator and all the other nonsense I hear from them when I check in each day to see if anything real is happening. But no the land of make believe loves at 98.5.

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  16. From Chad Finn:

    Yes, please.

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    1. I hope and pray that if (hopefully when) Brady and/or the Pats start filing lawsuits against the NFL, Goodell, ESPN, etc. they file those lawsuits on September 10, 2015.

      Kraft, Brady, Belichick & the Pats got their taste of incendiary mob in the two weeks before the SB. Let the the NFL, Goddell and ESPN feel the heat with national attention.

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        1. Defamation is a REAAALLLY tough road to hoe, though. McCann is correct — but actual malice requires you to show knowing falsehood WITH an intent to do harm via dissemination of that falsehood. Also, you have to show that the false statement did, or potentially does, colorable damage to you. Some things are considered de facto defamatory — like falsely saying “he’s a baby rapist”, where the statement is so offensive to character that damage is presumed. This, though, would not be, so Brady would have to prove some tangible damage arising from the falsehood. And the fine/suspension doesn’t count — it has to be third party damage.

          Not impossible… just difficult.

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          1. I’m surprised Rovell hasn’t found some firm that already has the financial damage caused by it calculated down to the millionth of a dollar calculated.

            With what the Patriots released on Friday, if he or the team did do something, would you think they’d settle just to avoid the embarrassment?

            I never thought of either as the types who would do it just to do it, but they’d rather just have the record set straight.

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          2. Question, since I respect your views on legal matters: Does NYT vs. Sullivan pertain only to media cases, or does it pertain to all defamation suits? I would agree that any suit against ESPN likely gets tossed out of court because of the Supreme Court ruling, but what about a suit against the NFL? It seems pretty clear, to me, that the league deliberately leaked false info in order to establish a “Patriots and Brady are guilty” narrative throughout this entire affair. And not only that, but they also failed to correct the false info that they leaked in order to set the public record straight. As for actual defamation or damage taking place: ESPN is running fantasy football ads with the line “softer than the footballs in Foxboro”, and “deflate” jokes and references are still making their rounds across many media landscapes. Brady’s picture, for that matter, now appears at the top of every “teaser” about “biggest sports scandals in history” or “heroes who turned out to be zero’s” (sic) allusions on TV shows. To me, as a legal non-expert, it seems obvious that the NFL has engaged in deliberately defamatory acts here. I know that the media can always use the weasel excuse that their “sources” misled them and that they, the media never acted with deliberate malice. But what about the NFL?

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          3. It (NYT v Sullivan) pertains to defamation actions regarding public officials. Curtis Publishing v. Butts controls defamation actions by public figures, and Gertz v. Robert Welch Inc controls defamation actions by private figures. Curtis requires actual malice, but expands actionable conduct to reckless disregard of truth (from the stricter “known false” standard in Sullivan). Gertz allows states to set their own standards (short of strict liability), but if actual malice is not a part of the state’s standard, only actual damages are recoverable (and not punitive or emotional damages).

            It’s a very, very tough road to hoe.

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          4. He probably has enough of an argument on the “reckless disregard for truth” portion of this for at least his initial argument against the NFL to move forward. If the rest of it is that hard to prove, then he’ll probably forego any lawsuit. Too bad. I mean, it’s clear that from a non-legal/court system standpoint, deliberate defamation on the part of the league has occurred here. Brady is never going to get his public reputation back; and the Patriots’ already “tainted” reputation because of the equally ludicrous and overblown situation from 2007-2008 has been damaged even further by the malicious, lying toads in the league office. Damn shame there’s no real legal recourse for either of them (Brady or the organization). I guess Belichick’s tell-all book, after he retires, will be the best broadside against Park Avenue (and Bristol) that Pats fans can hope for at this point 😦

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        1. Arguments are much more persuasive if one can avoid childish, misogynist putdowns. Insulting someone by calling him a woman is tiresome, and a good way to alienate half your audience.

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          1. I understand what you’re saying and you can’t defend it, but you know that’s what is on Barstool and basically par for the course with Portnoy?

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          3. Whining about it and then reading BSS is like hating water but going swimming. It’s Barstool, not the NY Times. If it’s tiresome you know it’s entirely avoidable on your part, right?

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          4. I don’t read Barstool regularly. I know what it is. I read a link posted on a topic that interests me. And made one, resigned, comment. If I wanted to whine, I’d do a lot much better job than that.

            BS made a cogent argument, but undercut themselves with bullshit. Can’t they be more clever and creative, rather then used that tired, moronic “you’re weak, so you’re a GIRL!” insult? I’m surprised they didn’t say Goodell had cooties, and throw in a couple of nyah nyahs for good measure.

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  20. I never paid much attention to Greg Dickerson before but was he always excessively deferential to the point you want to vomit?

    Every time I hear him hosting a show, when discussing any other media member, they’re basically the best person in the world. They always produce compelling reads, Pulitzer-caliber journalism, etc. etc. It’s almost sickening. And, he’s said this about some pretty horrible people in this town and nationally.

    Part of me wonders if its just a front because he’s trying to get a job, and you can’t take a flamethrower to the media if you’re not one but want to become one, but it’s so excessive.

    His name was brought up as a potential 10-2 on WEEI host.. I think we found out a long time ago that if you are or your personality is Eeyor, it won’t work.

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    1. The pats should request every team they play have their air pressures checked at halftime and after the game just to troll this stupid point of emphasis.

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  23. Florio continues to do actual investigative work:

    It’s now clear that ESPN, through multiple league-office sources, was indeed disseminating misinformation. And ESPN still has not adequately answered for that, beyond Adam Schefter’s recent suggestion that Mort was indeed lied to by multiple high-level sources.

    http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/08/02/in-january-mort-told-weei-he-reconfirmed-psi-info/#comments

    Oddly, Portnoy found this 1 days ago though but I don’t see credit on the link above:

    http://www.barstoolsports.com/boston/flashback-to-the-time-chris-mortensen-appeared-on-weei-during-superbowl-week-and-defended-all-his-lies/

    Again, lots more questions for the NFL than the others involved.

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  25. Apparently the Kensil “is he employed or not” started thanks to a Reddit thread? (Listening to Arcand now on WEEI)

    Mike Kensil is no longer on NFL Operations website.. from Patriots

    Which caused a VERY PROMPT response from the NFL:

    http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/08/02/league-no-change-in-kensils-status/

    Insane.

    And, Florio continues to hammer Deflategate. His latest I saw today is basically an executive summary you’d give to someone of why this should have ended in a “don’t have enough evidence” a long time ago:

    The possibility of a slow leak doesn’t exonerate the Patriots. But it’s another reason for concluding based on the information available to Ted Wells that the evidence of cheating prior to the AFC Championship Game is inconclusive.

    The sheer volume of the evidence generated by Ted Wells allows for a 243-page decision supporting any outcome Wells wanted to reach. Whatever outcome he wanted to reach, the end result should have been that the evidence is inconclusive.

    http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/08/02/nfl-supervisor-of-officials-acknowledges-slow-leak-possibility/

    Likewise, he was on Jason McIntyre’s podcast. Hit the 08/02/2015 episode and go 39 minutes in:

    http://www.ysrpodcasts.com/jason/

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  26. One of the benefits of the Old Big Show going off the air was the greatly reduced air time of Steve Buckley. Whoever thought putting buck and Tanguay not he air with John Dennis in a fill in capacity should have their head examined. It was excruciating radio for the 15 minutes I listened.

    One other aside…the Red Sox picked the perfect time to move on from Larry Lucchino…the team is horrible and no one is talking about them…. Deflate gate dominates the airwaves. No one has had time or interest in a Larry Lucchino retrospective.

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    1. Buckley’s column after TWR release was hilarious. A baseball writer portraying Brady as the scum of the earth for doctoring balls (even though he didn’t) was great irony.

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    2. Agreed. Sports knowledge has passed Buckley by, he couldn’t keep up, so he mostly argues sports history or legacy or “he should.” Tired. And easily ignorable.

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    1. I have sampled various espn shows today. M and m, 1st take and his and hers. They are completely ignoring the released emails choosing only to talk about the screaming a. smith cellphone. New lows in journalistic integrity, cannot wait for my 5 minutes of 98.5 at 2 to here more of the same.

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      1. Brady has to sue them. It probably gets tossed out because of the odious NYT vs. Sullivan Supreme Court ruling, which makes it nearly impossible for these media jackals to get their well-deserved comeuppance, but he still needs to send a shot across their bow, at least to warn them about any future transgressions on their part.

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        1. NYT v Sullivan only applies to stories about public officials. See Curtis Publishing v. Butts.

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      2. I think this is the closest they’ll get:

        Yeah, it’s Bayless.. but, he still has 1.0M+ followers. He didn’t link the emails, though.

        I still think ESPN made sure to notify production heads not to touch it. If they put a memo out, TheBigLead or another site with moles would have leaked it. Can’t do that.

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        1. Thanks!

          Unrelated note: Portnoy is right when he says that the HitchBOT thing is the most Philly thing ever. 100% true.

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    2. I’ve been fairly sympathetic towards Mort as I don’t think he had malicious intent, but backing out of an interview only to do one in a “friendlier” environment where he won’t get challenged is pretty spineless. If you aren’t going to give up your source who fed you a lie, at least go out and take your lumps as you are taking responsibility for the lie at that point.

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  30. If you hear the sound of a truck backing up, don’t be alarmed. It is just Felger and Mazz on the radio trying to soften their Deflategate position. And they are failing miserably.

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    2. Thanks for letting me know since I quit listening to that show last Oct. The flager will back up the bus onto the jackal known as mazx lol

      Like

    3. No clue what their latest is but it seems like the transition, local and abroad, has been:

      Guilty as sin. Suspend Brady/BB for a year->4 games is fair->2 game suspension after appeal is about right->he should just settle, admit guilt, take 1-2 games->and the latest is: I think they’ll both settle with variations on games, just a fine, admitting of guilt, etc.

      Patriots releasing the emails really shifted it to the latter. Have to wonder if we’ll get some more.

      Like

  31. For those of you that have walked away from the Felger and Mazz show, you have missed a lot..and it is my duty to update..Mike (the Felger of the duo) has been working on his sunburn/tan since he snookered CBS (parent company of 98.5 the Sports Hub) to let him go to Las Vegas to cover noted domestic violence abuser Floyd Mayweather.

    Please view only if you are over the age of 18.

    His take, boxing is going to take off. Yup, right again. Well, almost. Any idea when the last boxing match was. No biggie.

    Soccer is going to be a huge US sport, surpassing baseball, etc.. No biggie, we’ve all been wrong before.

    Brady should just say he is guilty. Why?

    His show today was embarrassing.

    Like

    1. I havent been listening the last few months. What was embarrassing about the show yesterday? Are they softening? I thought this was the low point of the Boston Media

      Like

    2. Guys at SoSH have been saying that Marshall Hook has made Mazz turtle this past week. Going at him with both barrels and Mazz has been reduced to a puddle.

      Like

      2. Hook has been quite good. To the point where I am thinking he would have been a better fit with Zo than Bertrand. I like his voice, thoughtfulness and willingness to explore all sides of a conversation. So far he has been one of the more surprising newer voices in the local market.

        Specifically he did not back down to Mazz rather he kept putting him in the box where Mazz would retort…”but something did happen”.

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  32. I just read Volin – what a freaking turd. Now that the information about the NFL’s unwillingness to set the record straight has been revealed, he is suggesting that both sides have screwed up. That the Patriots should have admitted they had guys deflating footballs. As an engineer, it astounds me the number of people who ignore science. The science says the balls were not outside the results expected by the Ideal Gas Law – CASE CLOSED. Why should the Patriots or any team be fined for the NFL’s failure to under basic science; and worse yet, for the NFL to set rules that violate the laws of science. If one takes 12 balls and puts them at the low end of the specification, they will be outside that specification when brought into a cold environment? This is not rocket science. Think about how many games have been played with balls outside the rules – my guess is 75% since the rule was enacted. Yet everyone of these mediots is ignoring that simple fact.

    Back to Volin – what exactly is the wrong doing by the Patriots and TB that needs to be admitted? It seems mediots of his ilk are now back tracking to “TB and Patriots just need to admit something” – which is funny because if they admitted that, or settle for anything, these morons will then use that to label them cheaters. “See I told you they did something, they just admitted it.” To say they should have admitted something back in February is disingenuous since the records now show the NFL was allowing erroneous information by Mortenson to stand in the public domain without correction. Knowing that I would not have admitted anything either.

    Volin reeks of a guy just making noise for clicks…like most of them the truth seems to be negotiable if it does not align with their agenda.

    Sorry for rambling – this is getting so old…

    Like

    1. The science doesn’t say anything because the measurements were suspect and not done in a controlled fashion. The observed readings can support whatever conclusion you want to make that reasonably fits the data. None of which are supported by “science”, because the readings themselves aren’t reliable.

      Just want to clarify that.

      Like

    2. They (the media, most of them) want Brady and the Pats to “admit to something” because it suits their narrative. Period, the end. The truth is irrelevant. The narrative is all that matters.

      Like

    3. In the aftermath of the Salem witchcraft trials, many of the accusers apologized and did public penance for their roles, as did Jonathan Corwin, one of the judges.

      Judge Jonathan Hathorne, OTOH, did not apologize for his role and never acknowledged culpability.

      We have among us many spiritual descendants of Judge Hathorne. Plus ca change, plus ca meme chose.

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    4. The question you ask is the question a number of us have been asking for 6 months. What exactly did the Patriots do?

      Tony Mazz and Mike Felger say they “know they did something”. When asked what that something is they always say…”took the top off the ball”. Meaning they think someone stuck a pin the ball after the refs measured. Except there is no evidence that happened. It clearly did not happen on the road. And the only reason why it is considered to have happened in Foxboro is because Dorrito Dick took the balls into the bathroom for 100 seconds. There is no evidence of a pin anywhere. No witness. No video tape, no admission. Nothing. The science points to there having been nothing nefarious done to the call…but we are currently $10 mill into this mess ($5 mill on Wells report, $1 mill fine, $3.5 mill Brady loss in pay, $500K on lawyer fees and other incidentals) and those that are persecuting the Pats have no evidence, no crime and worst of all no common sense.

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      1. Add in the fact that it wasn’t 100 seconds: you’re referring to the time from when he exited the first door entering into the tunnel to the field and when he exited the second door, the bathroom door — what isn’t factored in is the time it took the obese old man to tote 24 balls down the hallway/tunnel, open the bathroom door, enter, lock the door (much was made of him locking the door for some reason) and then after his “bathroom break,” unlock the door, return to hallway/tunnel.

        Why this time gap isn’t factored into the Wells Report is just one more piece of evidence of bias.

        Like

  33. Some good “vs” radio this morning on D&C. Dino vs Jason Page and El Pres vs Tanguay. As a defender of the wall I say General Portnoy and Commander Dino won two battles for us this morning.

    Like

  36. Guys…. Gary Tanguay thinks the law is on the NFL’s side.

    http://www.csnne.com/new-england-patriots/the-law-may-be-on-roger-goodells-side-against-tom-brady

    People with actual law degrees notwithstanding, I’m not sure why we’re continuing to talk about this, as Brady has clearly already lost. Gary said so!

    P.S. — Pet peeve: the narrative becoming the judge “ordered” the NFL and Brady to negotiate a settlement. The judge didn’t “order” anything other than an August 12th conference. Judicial orders have the full force of the American government behind them, and can be enforced accordingly. The judge REQUESTED that the parties engage in good faith settlement DISCUSSIONS prior to the conference. This is NOT AT ALL UNUSUAL — if the parties can settle their differences themselves, the court doesn’t want to waste its time.

    If the NFL or Brady says “eff you, I’m done talking with [the other party]”, there is NOTHING the judge can do to force them to the table. However, as any attorney will tell you, it’s STRONGLY inadvisable to directly ignore a judge’s request, even if it’s just a request and not an actual bench order. Why? Well… if Tom wants to get an injunction to play pending the resolution of the case, that’s a remedy at equity, not at law. (History lesson: legal remedies stemmed from the King; equitable remedies came from ecumenical courts. Long story.) And in equity, there’s a doctrine of “unclean hands”; i.e. a petitioner for relief is not entitled to relief if he acted in a way that caused or amplified the harm he’s petitioning to relieve. And if you’re going to request an equitable remedy, you’d better make sure the judge knows you’ve been acting in good faith. And ignoring a request to engage in good faith settlement discussions…. yeah, that’s not going to help you out. (The argument would be: you’re refusing to discuss the issue in good faith, and that’s extending the pendency of the case.)

    Of course this is all moot, because Lester Munson says there’s no way Brady can possibly win the case.

    Like

    1. It boggles the mind. It really does. The NFL can smear the Pats high and low, front and back, over and under (you get the picture), and lie REPEATEDLY about this situation in order to paint them in as bad a light as possible in the court of public opinion, but the Patriots are the A-Holes for pushing back and, moreover, they deserve to be punished even more than they already have? And they haven’t even pushed back THAT hard, if you think about it. They merely tried to counter some of the NFL’s worst P.R. smears. It’s unreal. Who is this guy anyway? A fan? A mediot from another town? 30 years from now, when Brady is an old man and everyone involved has moved on (and the Patriots’ dynasty is a thing of the long-lost past), no one would believe this story if you sat down and told them every detail. I mean, no one would believe it. There are still rumors out there that Pete Rozelle screwed the Raiders (out of spite for Al Davis) out of trading for John Elway back in ’83, but they’re just rumors and there’s no real proof. There is a TON of proof of the NFL’s malfeasance here, and football historians of the future will simply shake their heads in dumb amazement that something like this could be allowed to happen…..not only be allowed to happen, but to be orchestrated by the league office. This has been a complete nightmare, and it’s not over yet.

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  38. “Tony, all of this stuff with Brady, between the legal filings and Wells Report.. you know how many Patriots honks, toadies and members of Thorton Nation have printed the the thousands of pages from it? Do you realize how many trees that requires for all of that paper? He clearly hates trees, Tony. This just confirms it. Therefore, I think this confirms his guilt as a Republican. He can hide no more from that.”

    YARM!!!!!

    Like

  40. Tanguay – “Brady is guilty as hell!!” Ranks up there with the gem he yelled, and he did yell, at Gresh, during the Thursday Night postgame when they beat the Jets 26-24 last year. “This team is going nowhere, Andy! They are what they are! They’re not going to get better!”

    If he lands at ‘EEI 10-2, I will burn the f**king New Balance building to the foundation.

    Like

    1. Kirk put it best this morning:

      Out of the list Finn printed, if he’s not off it already, I’d be scared

      Like

  42. The latest pile of media dung is being put forth by Ben “trollin” Volin. The Colts/Ravens conspiracy is full of holes throughout. If everyone knows the patriots fool with kicking balls how come the heads up email needed to be sent?? And most of all do they not use “k” balls for the kicking game that are right out of the box? The same ball type that a league official was trying to poach and sell for personal gain during the game?? I am sure the 98.5 boys at 2 will buy this latest “scoop” as gospel.

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  43. OK, so, at least 80% of the national media, including influential names like Bayless, read the appeal transcript and realize what rational people have known all along: the NFL is lying, Wells is lying, and this whole thing was concocted out of thin air by Kensil, the Ravens and the Colts in order to “get” the Patriots. But then there’s Felger and the douche crew (and guys like Breer, but he’s even more worthless than Felger), who infer one thing and one thing only from the transcript: BRADY IS A LIAR! BRADY IS GUILTY! Felger is a professional troll, nothing more. I cannot understand his popularity. I simply cannot understand it.

    Like

    1. I think Steph put it the most succinctly:

      Won’t stop the truther’s in town, though.

      Like

      1. Good Lord, there’s a Giants troll in the Twitter discussion still pushing that completely debunked narrative about the Patriots “impossibly low fumble record.” Somebody wake me when this nightmare is over, please.

        Like

    1. Kirk is re-tweeting all the Tanguay hate right now. Pretty funny stuff. Same with Ordway last night. I know Kirk said on the Section 10 podcast that he likes Gary but completely understands why everybody else hates him, but don’t you wonder what his colleagues in town think about him?

      Like

    2. He tried to catch McCann being contradictory and when that didn’t work went silent for the rest of the interview. Volin even said “you fell asleep there, gary” and Gary replies “Nah, I just don’t believe him.” So he doesn’t believe the Patriots, Brady, McCann. But the Wells Report and Goodell? Seems legit to me!

      What the F*CK are WEEI thinking? Do they think Gary will be their version of Felger and/or Mazz? Stay away from that garbage. Don’t mimic those a-holes. Be different. That’s why D&C and Dale & Holley are pulling in solid ratings. I don’t understand it at all. Don’t play a soundbite of Dale ripping “trolls” on the other station and saying they (D&H) are different from that, and then put Tanguay on the air as your #1 fill-in.

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  45. Who is screaming this louder, Tanguay, Felger, or Mazz? Tom Brady did SOMETHING!!!! He’s a LIAR!!!!

    After working with Volin and Tanguay I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Dino ends up back on the sauce and in rehab. Hell, I wouldn’t even blame him. What an absolute sh!tshow.

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    1. Yes, Tony, Belichick is so well loved by league officials and other teams that they’d totally sweep stuff under the rug if there was any evidence connecting him with whatever happened, and say “we didn’t find any connection to Kraft or Belichick” in their ginned-up frame report.

      /facepalm

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        1. The whole point of this nonsense was to get Belichick and shame Kraft into firing him (or triggering some arrangement post 2007 whereby BB gets banned if the Pats get convicted of “cheating”). It blew up in their face but they had to justify the media frenzy so they went after Brady. Anyone who doesn’t realize this is a complete liar or brazenly stupid.

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          1. TRUTH. This is, was, and always will be about trying to nail BB. When they couldn’t, they had to find another fall guy, and serving up “Dorito Dink” and the guy whose name sounds like Yastrzemski wasn’t going to cut it from a media/PR standpoint. Ergo, Brady, who should be the poster boy for the league, had to be sacrificed.

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  47. As I stated the other day. The truck is backing up on the Sports Hub. Felger must be losing ratings points. He is claiming today a Brady victory after release of yesterday’s information.

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        1. One more thing. I am sick of all these hosts saying they are paid to give their opinion. Not true. They are paid to give an opinion that can get them ratings. Whether it is true or not.

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          1. Yup. If Felger and Mazz are half as smart as they think they are, both of them have to know that there’s zero credible evidence to support the NFL’s dog and pony show….not to mention the fact that there was zero reason for the NFL to make such a big deal out of a supposed rules violation that they never cared about before; the same violation, caught on camera, that warranted only a “please don’t do that anymore” memo to the Panthers and Vikings just a few weeks earlier. Same deal with Spygate. Before Goodell rode in on his white horse, his two predecessors didn’t give a rat’s ass about taping signals. They knew it went on, and they also knew that it was merely a high-tech way to do something that is done during every football game in the country, from high school on up — scouting opponent’s signals. Hell, the NFL knew the Jets had done the same exact thing in Foxboro the year before, and they did nothing — they sent out a memo and actually rewrote the rule (which shouldn’t be legal, by the way) in that memo. BB’s hubris in ignoring the memo certainly invited the hit job, but the penalty was excessive, especially given that no team, ever, had been punished for filming signals (several teams had either been caught or simply did it out in the open, and no one care). The penalty created the impression that the league considered it to be a crime against football humanity the likes of which had never been seen, and it also created the, “well, we all know the Patriots are cheaters….pattern of cheating….habit of pushing the rules envelope” meme that inspired “deflategate” in the first place. Those two drive-time jackals have to know this. If they don’t, then they’re pretty stupid (and I don’t believe either of them are stupid).

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  48. You know, I hate to be gossipy… but I can’t believe there isn’t one person (besides me, of course) who’s dared speculate that the reason Brady destroyed THIS cellphone, and not the other ones he apparently still had….. is that Tommy had a little side piece going during the season, there were incriminating photos or texts on that particular phone, and he knew with 100% certainty that if the NFL got its hands on the phone or its contents, that info would be released.

    It’s certainly a plausible theory.

    Like

    1. Well if Ryan Reynolds believed there was a step up from Scarjo then I guess anything is possible…however until I see proof I am thinking I am not going to even remote consider that possibility.

      I think the theory that the NFL gave out his number in the wells report is the reason he destroyed the phone and moved on…that and the Samsung’s regardless of what the advertisers want to say about the “Next Big Thing” are absolute crap.

      Like

      1. Except he destroyed the phone long before the Wells report. He destroyed it right after confirming with Wells that he wouldn’t be asked to provide, and would not be punished for failing to provide, the physical phone as part of the investigation.

        The counterargument to my argument would be: if that were the case, you’d be an idiot to give it to your assistant to take care of. Do it yourself! And take the cannolis!

        Like

    3. It’s not implausible. I think Brady is a loyal family guy, but most men could live 1,000 years and never be faced with even 1% of the temptation Brady is faced with every day. Gisele is a stunningly attractive woman, but she’s also in her mid-30s now…..Brady has 22-year old, Playboy quality tail after him 24/7, I’m sure. I don’t want to believe that’s the case, but you can’t rule anything out…..none of us (well, at least I) will never know what it’s like to be him: rich, famous, handsome as hell, and desired by 80% of the eligible young hotties on the planet (conservative estimate…could be 90% or higher).

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      1. I think it’s just reasonable speculation.

        Outlandish? Sure.

        Happens all the time to.. everyone.

        We love Tom here so it’s blasphemy, right. But how the hell do we know?

        I don’t think so but none of us are also privy there. And, as the world turns, some pretty f’d up stuff comes up with people.

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        1. It’s actually not outlandish since celebrities have affairs all the time. But there is no evidence at all (or even other rumors) that Brady is having one and no evidence that is the reason for not surrendering his mobile phone. If a some radio host or writer proffered this theory he would be rightfully hammered on this page. I am still holding out hope that Dave’s post was just mocking the absurdity of this whole debacle.

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        2. See my comment below: The guy has “opportunities” flying at him left and right, 24/7, 365 days per year — opportunities that guys like me would never see even if we lived to be 1,000 years old. I do believe he’s a loyal family man and probably wouldn’t do anything like that, but man….it takes an amazingly strong will to fight off the temptations a guy like TB12 is faced with every single day. With that said, I do believe Dave was being at least a little facetious in his original post.

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      2. I’m just asking the question, Tony!

        The point is: there are multiple reasonable explanations for destroying the phone: some banal, some scandalous, some strange. The media has completely ignored the possibility of ANY explanation other than “there was evidence of the Cheating Cheatriots cheating with cheating on that phone”. Which is puzzling. Even with Ray Rice, you had Stephen A. out there with his stupid “bitches need to take responsibility” nonsense.

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  49. Not sure if someone is compiling the lies and such, but the sheer # of things proven wrong now is insane. I was hoping the context site would do something like this, since it’s bits and drabs from media who are actually using their brain to local fans who have pointed out at least two dozen lies/inconsistencies.

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  50. I wondered what “national guy considered neutral” would be the first to post something like this. Could call him a pats homer, due to his education, but I wondered if and when you had someone like this, and how long before others have to fall in so they’re with the mob. It begins:

    Hi, ESPN!

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