The NFL’s release on PSI testing in August:

At designated games, selected at random, the game balls used in the first half will be collected by the KBC at halftime, and the League’s Security Representative will escort the KBC with the footballs to the Officials’ Locker room. During halftime, each game ball for both teams will be inspected in the locker room by designated members of the officiating and security crews, and the PSI results will be measured and recorded.  Once measured, those game balls will then be secured and removed from play.

For these randomly selected games only, the back-up footballs will be used for each team during the second half. Approximately three minutes prior to kickoff, the KBC along with a designated Game Official will bring the back-up set of game balls to the on-field replay station to be distributed to each club’s Ball Crew.

At the end of any randomly selected game, the KBC will return the footballs to the Officials’ Locker Room where all game balls from each team will be inspected and the results will be recorded.

All game ball information will be recorded on the Referee’s Report, which must be submitted to the League office by noon on the day following the game.

First paragraph: the PSI results will be measured and recorded

Third paragraph: all game balls from each team will be inspected and the results will be recorded.

Fourth paragraph: All game ball information will be recorded on the Referee’s Report, which must be submitted to the League office

Translation: We know we’re right and we’re going to nail the Patriots. They’re in big F___ing trouble.

In October, NFL Spokesman Greg Aiello told Tom E Curran about the PSI data:

A determination on how it will be shared has not been made yet.”

Translation: Welp, the early results haven’t been exactly what we thought, but we’ll spin it accordingly.

Today, Roger Goodell went on The Rich Eisen Show, and when asked about the PSI testing, had this to say:

No, Rich, what the league did this year was what we do with a lot of rules and policies designed to protect the integrity of the game, and that’s to create a deterrent effect. We do spot checks to prevent and make sure the clubs understand that we’re watching these issues. It wasn’t a research study. They simply were spot checks. There were no violations this year. We’re pleased that we haven’t had any violations and we continue the work, obviously, to consistently and importantly enforce the integrity of the game and the rules that are designed to protect it.

Translation: The data in no way supported our preconceived notions. We need to minimize this.

It wasn’t a research study. They simply were spot checks. There were no violations this year.

Let that sink in for a minute.

The audacity, the arrogance of that statement.

The league devotes a big section of its August Operations release to outlining specifics of the procedures that will be followed, including the note that all reports are due into the league office by noon the day after the game.

But according to Goodell, this was no research study, it was just spot checks. Meant to be a deterrent.

There were no violations this year. A bold-faced, pathological lie, given all that we’ve learned about the Ideal Gas Law this past year, and the NFL’s insistence that it simply doesn’t exist.

Roger Goodell vilified Tom Brady by leaking that he had destroyed his phone, insinuating that there was important information on it that would’ve made Brady look bad. Today, Roger Goodell essentially confessed that the league has destroyed data that would’ve made the NFL look bad.

Because if the data was in the NFL’s favor, would this have been the outcome?

Nope.

But if they released data that supported the Patriots, it would’ve gone against the case they’re appealing in federal court next month, and the cry to restore the Patriots draft picks would’ve arisen. They couldn’t let that happen.

I’ve been hoping beyond hope that the Patriots have been doing their own PSI testing this season, and waiting to spring it at the appropriate time. It’s a pipe-dream, but now would be the perfect to drop that.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

110 thoughts on “Roger Goodell Is A Pathological Liar – But We Already Knew That”

  1. I’ve been hoping beyond hope that the Patriots have been doing their own
    PSI testing this season, and waiting to spring it at the appropriate
    time.

    Like when the Colts did it last year during the AFCCG? Wouldn’t that be a NFL rules violation? Oh, right..

    From Dan Wetzel:

    So all the data was recorded on an official referee’s report, which was sent to New York in a timely fashion where the pertinent information – or presumably entire referee report actually – just … vanished?

    August 2015: we specifically demand this data.

    February 2016: no, no, we never wanted the data, why would we?

    So the NFL got the info … but didn’t? Or it still has the info … but doesn’t care to look?

    Bob Kraft, we’re still waiting for the next move. We don’t forget.

    And, if any media member wants to permanently cement themselves in a prominent LCD-news org, making millions a year and never having to do anything again, you continue to be reminded of what’s out there.

    Like

    1. Kraft needs to go to the mattresses now over those draft picks. At the very least, he needs to make a public appeal about them, without getting into any legal talk, because any “appeal” would be summarily dismissed by Der Fuhrer’s office anyway. Just go public, reinforce the fact that Ideal Gas Law proves nothing was done to those footballs, and try to get the media to plead his case for him. Most of them, save for the illegitimate trolls like Hubbach, Kravitz, Gregggggggggggg Doyel, and Shank, now realize that the NFL made up this entire thing, and many would be willing, I think, to pen a few editorials on behalf of restoring the picks, at least (no one really cares about the million bucks; it’s sofa change to Kraft, and the fans just don’t want to see their favorite team’s competitive position damaged by having a first rounder stolen for no reason whatsoever).

      Like

      1. Kraft is an owner who gave the finger to 1500 long-time season ticket holders so he could put in a lounge and lessen the homefield advantage even more. That tells you all you need to know.

        He wouldn’t dare do what you said because then he might not get invited to as many parties or be as gladhanded by other owners or be told as often how important he is.

        Like

        1. I still have something called hope. It decays by the day, though.

          Maybe it’s useless, to him, because look at half the dolt owners in that league. We don’t even know some of the others coming up, but I can’t imagine they’re better. Enjoy the money while it lasts, even if it means he has to move out of the area once its over.

          Ride it out till the sports/cable bubble is over and then mea culpa?

          Capitulation Day: May 19th, I think it was.

          Like

          1. I agree with all of you. Kraft will do nothing. BB might make a snarky remark when he announces the 2nd round pick — or a trade prior to or during the draft. Something like, “the league decided we don’t get to pick in the first round this year, for some reason that I can’t fathom, so we thought this move was the best one available for our team under the circumstances.” I never thought I’d say this, but BB has been more willing, it seems, to talk about this bag job (not to mention the BSPN hit piece against the team after the Berman decision late last summer) than other members of the organization. Very un-BB like, but then again, he probably sees the end of his career road finally beginning to come into better focus, and he’s also probably tired of the b.s. accusations, so he’s letting his freak-flag fly a little more than usual of late. I, for one, welcome it. Would love to see him make a comment like that around draft time.

            Like

        2. “That tells you all you need to know.”

          That he’s a savvy businessman? Because that’s what it tells me.

          Like

      2. I would love for this to happen but won’t hold my breath. As much as Kraft is a better owner and seemingly a more decent person than Jimmy Haslan or Jerry Jones or Jim Irsay or Jerry Richardson, he is still a prominent member in this self-important, insular club of 32 (more exclusive than the US Senate!). To create waves among other owners about an injustice that, as you correctly point out, has no chance of being reversed just doesn’t make sense for Kraft. It also keeps alive discussion of the deflategate investigation which, despite overwhelming proof that the whole affair was a total farce, was taken as gospel (and still is) by a vast majority of the American public and most national media. As a fan, i say screw Goodell and the other owners. But if i were advising Kraft i would say it’s time to move on.

        Like

        1. You’re right and don’t forget that John Kraft is getting the team. He doesn’t want to pass along a headache to him like Al did to Mark. Al’s been dead for 4 years and the owners are still fucking with the Raiders/ Mark Davis.

          Like

    2. Apparently a large section of the fanbase does forget. Like how Bob saved the team from moving to St. Louis or CT. Like having his team go from a laughing stock to the premier franchise in the NFL. Like hiring the greatest coach and QB of all time. Like getting the franchise to 7 Super Bowls and winning 4.

      Yes, the loss of a 1st and 4th rounder sucks but the man has literally no recourse to get them back.

      Like

      1. I hear you. I know he has no legal recourse here, and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if “the other 31” actually threatened to begin the legal process of stripping him of the franchise and forcing him to sell the team if he didn’t fall into line at those owners’ meetings in SF last May. However, he had to realize how that capitulation would look to his fan base, and he had to know how the jack-hole national media would spin it as “an admission of guilt,” which they did. Could he at least have threatened the media with defamation suits if they didn’t stop their b.s.? I know he would have had no chance to win such a suit, and I know he wouldn’t file one either, but he at least could have fired a shot across their collective bow and told them to knock it off. Or, how about threatening to deny access to certain media outlets? The point is that he had other options available to him other than standing up at that podium like a pistol-whipped mugging victim and actually PRAISING the d*ckheads in the owners’ room and saying that it was all-for-one and one-for-all. THAT, more than anything else, is what ticked off the fan base. A written statement — that omitted the “one-for-all and all-for-one” sentiment — would have been good enough to satisfy his back-stabbing co-owners IMO. And no…I don’t think he’s a bad guy and I do think he’s the best thing that ever happened to the franchise; and I still appreciate that he’s the Patriots’ owner, and not one of those Spaulding Smails-types who crap all over their fans and want to be thanked for doing it.

        Like

      2. I get what you’re saying. BK has done a lot to earn some trust. Yeah, he couldn’t sue. However, he had options here. He doesn’t have to stand by his man Goodell. He’s had plenty of opportunity and the NFL has given him the ammo to make noise in the media. I am sure after enough complaining something would have had to be done behind the scenes to get him to shut up. He could have taken the stance that there will be no silence until this was made right. There is little chance the owners would kick Kraft out of the club and little chance this would have affected the leagues bottom line.

        Instead he continues to be passive aggressive by saying nothing in public and allowing the ‘wells report in context’ website to exist and continue to be updated to this day. He isn’t taken the abuse. The fans are and although he didn’t create the mess he did make it worse for us.

        He saved the team. Awesome. Love him for it. However for the fans who love the Patriots he is partly responsible for the bag of dog poop that is lit on fire and placed on our porches every day since he publicly backed down.

        Like

        1. Would you really put it past that gaggle of clueless, petty, self-indulgent, jealous billionaires that make up (most of) the “other 31” to threaten Kraft over his ownership of the franchise? I wouldn’t. There are bylaws in place now (thanks to Al Davis’s constant shenanigans) that say, “for the good of the game,” the owners can vote another owner out/force a sale of his team. I’m guessing that they need 24 votes, and I’m guessing that some of his remaining friends in the club pulled him aside last May and told him that those 24 votes existed. I don’t know. I doubt he would capitulate that easily after being so defiant, not only during Super Bowl week when the whole b.s. was still percolating, but also in the aftermath of the release of Wells’ ridiculous hit job. He was defiant, and he was pi$$ed. Then he flies out to SF for the owners’ meetings and he suddenly becomes a recalcitrant lapdog? Doesn’t make sense. SOMETHING happened inside that meeting room, I think; but, we’ll never know until one of the folks down at Patriots Place writes a tell-all book after retirement/after they are no longer involved with the NFL. But, as I said before, I would like to have seen Kraft be more aggressive with the pathetic media, which was fanning the flames and spreading the NFL’s propaganda without giving a single thought to finding out out the actual truth.

          Like

          1. BK has publicly stated recently he wished he didn’t back down and he regrets it because at the time he thought he was making life easier for TB. Then Goodell dropped the hammer down on TB and that brought on the whole “shouldn’t have put my trust in the league” press conference. I feel like he was being genuine when he said that.

            Bottom line is he was wrong. His fight with the league and TB’s fight are entirely separate and he should have figured that out right from the get go and fought his fight differently.

            Like

          2. True. He probably did think Herr Goodell would go easy on Brady if he “cooperated.” This entire thing is such a joke. It’s painful to think that another wave of stories related to the subject is coming soon, thanks to the league’s ludicrous appeal of Berman’s decision. And, you know what? If Berman’s decision is upheld by the higher court, Hubbach, and Doyel, and others in the media will still be pushing the “this doesn’t exonerate Brady or anyone else in the organization” schtick, and they’ll keep on keeping on with their complete ignorance of the science and the actual facts, and their incessant trolling. It’s maddening as hell, and, in the end, the Pats are still heading into the offseason with an unfair handicap attached to their wagon; the fact that 31 other teams get to announce a first round selection in May, and they don’t, for absolutely, positively no reason whatsoever.

            Like

      3. I will forever be grateful to Kraft for buying the Patriots and keeping them here, building a new stadium with private funds, and hiring Belichick and giving him complete control. Not to mention being a key part in stopping the lockout. I will always defend Kraft against the media elite who call him cheap and launch other unfounded attacks.

        But the fact remains that by not fighting Deflategate he made the Patriots look guilty. That is something that directly contributed to the firestorm of Deflategate being even worse. He chose his billionaire buddies, who proved that they will do anything to backstab and betray him, over the millions of fans of the team. It will forever be a stain on his legacy.

        Like

      4. I get what you’re saying but when he didn’t make noise, it led to this:

        I know fans said that stuff before a better effort would have curbed some of this.

        Like

  2. In other “Cheatriots” news, our old pal Marshall “Shut The Faulk Up Already” says he “wants to see the tapes” the Patriots had during Spygate; because he’s still convinced that Tomase’s fake story about taped walkthroughs, or some super-duper extra secret decoder ring tapes from the November 2001 regular season matchup in Foxboro is the reason why his shortest-lived-dynasty-in-NFL-history Rams lost SB 36. Yes, Marshall, it was “the tapes.” That’s why your team lost. It wasn’t the three turnovers your greatest-offense-ever committed; it wasn’t the fact that your idiot coach, who was being DARED to call running plays by the Patriots’ defensive coaches, still kept chucking the ball around the Superdome all game long, even though it wasn’t working; and it wasn’t the fact that your defense allowed a 53-yard field goal drive to an offense — with no timeouts left — that hadn’t move the ball at all in the second half and had just 1:21 on the clock with which to work. Yes, Marshall….it was “the tapes.” It wasn’t any of those real-world reasons that I just mentioned. Oh, and the fact that maybe, just maybe, that Rams team wasn’t nearly as good as “legend” has made them out to be. After all, they completely disappeared from the NFL landscape, just about, after that SB loss (made the playoffs once more after that season, and went one and done). Oh, and Marshall: you’ve already “seen the tapes.” Jay Glazer showed the “original” Spygate tape the week after the incident in the Meadowlands, and Herr Goodell showed the Matt Walsh tapes to the entire assembled media wolf pack in May 2008. Get over it, grow up, and admit your team lost the damn game because it was outplayed and outcoached. What a whiney little tool-bag. And John Tomase…..EFF YOU. Why do you still have a job in journalism, and in the Boston market? Why? Only in government and in journalism can you be that incompetent and destructive, and still keep getting work (and better gigs, I might add).

    Like

    2. Not that I think most players take a Super Bowl loss well but in Faulk’s case he took it really hard. I’ll never forget one of those pre-game sit down interviews he did during the 2002 season. The man straight up started balling his eyes out and walked off the interview when he was talking about losing to the Patriots. I didn’t know then that too this day he would still be so mentally scared still about that game. I guess there would players on the 07 tema that could relate. The thing with Faulk though and I understand because it’s human nature, he puts the loss on something that’s out of his control and Mike Martz control. I think if he had to focus his anger and frustration on his coach and staff instead of the Patriots then he wouldn’t be able to cope. So instead of always be tortured about why his coach didn’t put the game on his shoulders or why they didn’t make any adjustments on offense until the 4th qtr, it’s much easier to focus all your energy on the “boogy man” and not the real problem that was Martz was not up Vermeil’s level. Vermeil loved Faulk. Martz was in Pete Caroll mode. He wanted Warner to be the star even though all convential wisdom says that you don’t throw on the Pats excellent backfield at that game. Just ask Manning.

      Like

      1. Funny that you mention Vermeil. My FIRST thought when I heard about Faulk’s comments was: “If Dick Vermeil is still the Rams coach on that day, they win the game and we’d never have to hear this crap from Faulk, even if the entire Spygate fiasco occurred exactly the same way after the fact.” Martz was a mediocre coach, period, and he got WAY too much credit for the Rams’ offensive success during that era. Vermeil has even said that the offense they were running was pretty similar (borrowed, was the word he used) to what Sid Gilman was running in San Diego back in the AFL days. St. Louis just had a galaxy of offensive talent back then; it would have been hard for any offensive coordinator to fail there. The fact that he flamed out as head coach in Detroit and then was far less successful as the O.C. in San Francisco later on proves that he was just the right guy in the right place at the right time back in 1999. He was nothing special as a coach, and his incompetence that day, not any Patriots “cheating,” is the main reason why the Rams lost that SB.

        Like

    3. Now we have the 03 Panthers drudging up “the Patriots cheated” and they want to “see the tapes.”

      For the love of God.

      Like

      1. And, of course, no one in the media brings up the fact that several players on that ’03 Carolina team were found to have been using PEDs that season.

        Like

      2. And….this may be a minor point, but it’s worth mentioning. What “tapes” would the Pats have had on Carolina that year anyway? They didn’t play in the regular season, and they didn’t play in the 2002 regular season either. Their last regular season meeting had been in Week 17 in 2001, which was George Seifert’s last game as Carolina’s coach; John Fox’s staff took over the following year, so any “intelligence” the Pats may have gathered during that 2001 game would have been useless given the change in coaching staffs. I do believe the teams met in the pre-season, either in 2002 or 2003, but what kind of useful info are you going to be able to glean from taped signals during a pre-season game? The entire narrative is sickening, it really is……and no one in the media bothers to go back and just check the teams’ schedules, like I did, to see if there was any validity whatsoever to these claims by ex-Carolina players. They just report the accusations and let them hang out there.

        Like

  4. I don’t think Goodell is a pathological liar. I think he’s a moron. He literally does not comprehend the things he talks about.

    Like

  6. Not that this surprises me – the “crucify someone in the news media, then ignore new evidence that exonerates them” template is well established – but the amount of “who cares” you see and hear now from the howling mob that wanted Brady’s head on a pike is impressive.

    You have to hand it to Goodell (or, more probably, some of his underlings) for understanding the thought process of fans and media. The NFL knew this would happen. There is no Woodward/Bernstein out there to expose the emperor. Fans will believe the CHEATERZ rhetoric because they want to believe it. Owners will be happy with the Pats being hamstrung as much as possible. And Roger will keep collecting his millions.

    Like

    1. Charlotte I somewhat disagree. Dan Wentzel, Mike Florio, Sally Jenkins even the NY Times with Kevin Hasset and Stan Veuger…all highly respected journalists have all exposed Goodell as a fraud on deflate gate. Heck even holdouts like SI and CBSsportsline have written highly critical pieces lately. other than agenda driven hacks like Russo, Lubbock and Doyle most of the press has come around to the fact that the Patriots did nothing wrong with the final straw being the NFL’s unwillingness to release the air pressure data…the assumption being it completely exonerates the Pats. As an aside…if it didn’t it would have leaked weeks ago.

      The issue is solely the 32 owners including Kraft who do not seem to care about the fans. They have a product that is seemingly immune from supply and demand rules. All 32 franchises are printing money. ABC (ESPN), NBC, CBS and Fox are all making money and using football to drive ratings with other shows. Heck they have made Sunday afternoon must watch television time when in the football offseason it is the baron wasteland of old movies, infomercials golf and NASCAR.

      Fans will believe what they want. Fans in Oakland believe it was a fumble. Fans in NE believe Ben Dreith was on the take, hallucinating or just incompetent. Fans in Miami want to know exactly what Richie Incognito did. Fans in NO want to know what Sean Peyton actually knew. It never ends. Roger collecting millions has a lot more to do with things we never see than it does with bad decisions he has made about personnel. Its too bad really…there will be a tipping point some day just probably not in my lifetime.

      Like

      1. But haven’t Jenkins, Florio and Co. been on this practically from day 1? Goodell doesn’t care. ESPN, SI (other than a few singular voices), and, more importantly, NBC, CBS, Fox have all moved on. The lasting impression that most of America has is of Lester Holt and Matt Lauer speaking gravely of the Patriots cheating. Now that the NFL has glossed over this with its “oh, measuring is just a deterrent” BS they’re counting on America as a whole having made up its mind and lost interest. And IMO they’re right.

        Like

      2. Personally, I don’t know if Ben Dreith was on the take, but I do know he was a Raiders fan later in life, so it stands to reason he was a Raiders fan in 1976, too!! Seriously, that was such a b.s. call. It’s not like the Tuck Rule, which was an actual rule being enforced automatically. That was a pure judgment call, and it was just awful. However, being the fair-minded fan that I am, I also fully acknowledge that the Pats should have salted that game away earlier in the 4th quarter, and failed to do so. They were up 21-10, and then had the ball in Oakland territory up 21-17 in the final few minutes, but they didn’t get it done (Russ Francis would tell you that was because he was being held, badly, on every play by Phil Villapiano, but whaddya gonna do?). Thus, Dreith’s call had an enormous impact on the outcome, when it should have been just a footnote. It’s another testimony to Belichick’s greatness when you consider that he gets the team to put stuff like that behind them and come back stronger, or at least as strong, the following season, whereas the events in Oakland that day in 1976 haunted those Chuck Fairbanks’ Patriots for the rest of the decade, and they underachieved badly during those years, and beyond.

        Like

  8. Well said/read, Bruce. Dale and Holley both said this is lawyers telling Goodell to dodge the questions and deny ever supplying the numbers because they make the NFL look really, really bad in this and it will kill their appeal. Listening to Thornton today, he’s back on the Wall ready to fight Goodell some more. I can only hope El Pres is out in Santa Clara manhunting Kensil again. I wonder….was Barstool denied a media pass this year because of everything the past year? Confronting Kensil, the countless blogs and rundowns of Goodell, getting arrested in NFL HQ. Would be interesting to find out if they were blacklisted somehow.

    Sidenote, just watched Greg Olson sit on the Barstool Bus with Pres and Big Cat. Hilarious stuff. 100% cheering for Carolina and Greg (and Kuechly too).

    Like

  9. Dean Blandino pretty much 100% contridicted everything Goodell told Rich Eisen, yesterday. LOL…this f*king league office, man. Wow.

    Like

    1. Ironic considering that Blandino was the first league official to publicly lie about this con job last January, when he said the league office “had no prior knowledge” of the issue before halftime of the AFCCG — then, oops(!), the Wells Report revealed the “warning” emails from the Colts’ equipment guy to the entire power apparatus on Park Ave. on the Friday BEFORE the game, including Blandino. Can the owners be that obtuse as not to see how much of a joke their league appears to be under this Goodell clown and the collection of Mini-Me’s he hired to work under him?

      Like

      1. While that is true, he was also on Sirius NFL Radio the morning that the story first broke (I believe in the 8:00 hour) and was clear in saying that this was a non-story, balls often have to be reinflated, especially in cold and/or wet conditions, and there was (paraphrasing) no violation.

        Like

        1. Really? I never heard that one. If that’s the case then the NFL’s conduct over the past 12 months is even more reprehensible, disgusting, and borderline criminal.

          Like

          1. Yes, it was quickly swept under the rug and the only person who mentions it, ever, is friend of BB, Pat Kirwan.

            Like

  10. Looks like Brady is attending the ceremonies this weekend. I figured he would given that his parents live out there and it represented a chance for him to visit them back home. I also figured that he would because he has more class in his left pinky finger than that assclown Goodell has in his entire body. Part of me, though, would love to see Brady “turn heel” and give Roger a Stone Cold Stunner just as Goodell reaches out his hand for Brady to shake it (along with, of course, Jim Ross screaming, “My God, Tom Brady has broken Roger Goodell in half!!!”)

    Like

    1. I just saw that. If Brady/BB/Kraft had done this to JJ/DoritoDink…

      BROWNSBURG, Ind. — Five days before a documentary alleged that quarterback Peyton Manning and other star athletes had used performance-enhancing drugs, two men hired by Manning’s lawyers visited the parents of the documentary’s key witness. Both men wore black overcoats and jeans and, according to a 911 call from the house that evening, one initially said he was a law enforcement officer but didn’t have a badge.

      That’s how you get stuff done and really find things out (or, make stuff go away).

      I see Deadspin on this so far, but I don’t expect much from the traditional ballwashers.

      Like

      1. LOL….that show was so freakin’ funny in the first few seasons. I vaguely remember that episode. I’ll have to go back and search the archives.

        Like

  12. Guess Goodell did his annual “State of the Soviet Union” with Robin Roberts? LOL. Hard hitting journalism and journalist there.

    Like

    1. He just doesn’t get it. I will never understand how such an abject mediocrity like King ended up as one of the “authoritative” NFL media voices. There’s absolutely nothing exceptional about his work, or his reporting. Nothing.

      Like

      1. Because he was one of the first. He’s like a big screen TV. Only now we have curved screens and Ultra 4K TVs like Schefter, Glazer, Florio, etc to choose from. He’s living off a pre-Internet, magazine subscrition, pre-cable era. Oh, and he’s a league office boot licker. So, there’s that…

        Like

      2. He is willing to tow the company line for “access.” The league in turn pumps him up as some sort of terrific journalist

        Like

    1. It’s wrong for me to say this, but every time I see Silver’s smarmy, faux-intellectual mug on the screen, I want to throw a brick right at it.

      Like

      1. I don’t know how “big” and “prominent” he was but thanks to the NFL replacement refs and the MNF debacle w/GB + SEA, that’s why we knew him.

        Funny how stuff changes.

        Like

  16. Turns out El Pres was indeed blacklisted by the NFL on media day. BTW, Felger was damn good on the Barstool Bus the other day. He’s so much better without Mazz around to lick his boots.

    Like

    1. Felger was better during that podcast when he was solo without Mazz. The only thing I didn’t like was hearing another 45 minutes of DG. The arguments have to stop. Going on YEAR TWO of this saga means nothing will be said that hasn’t been said before. At this point everyone just has to believe something in their own minds and agree to disagree.

      Like

      1. But, thanks to the NFL, DG isn’t over so the conversations are going to continue. The PSI numbers, the appeal.

        Like

  17. So I have been doing a lot of driving/listening to the radio/ thinking about HGH gate (or the Slying game… I am looking for a good name) and I had several thoughts.

    – With the Washington Post story the HGH story is not going away. It may not reach the hysteria deflate gate got to but it is not going away. Real reporters do not like being lied to or being manipulated. So whether it is Al Jazeera, the Post, or Dead Spin people are going to chase this story.

    – With the allegations of Mannings team sending the goons to Sly’s parents house before the story hit, all sorts of new questions are now being asked. With it having been confirmed that Ashley Manning did receive the HGH…there are a ton of questions. None of these will be asked and answered before the Super Bowl, but if I remember correctly deflate gate was kind of pushed to the side so the game could be played. That is the same thing happening now. People are on this story…something I did not think was going to happen. They smell blood in the water. This is going to get much worse for Peyton’s reputation before it gets better. He will not play next year because he will not want to face these questions. The Washington Post is not the last voice we will hear.

    – The Slying game (I am liking that title now that I have typed it twice) presents another problem for the NFL. MLB is definitely investigating. The last thing the NFL wants is MLB to reach a conclusion its players used PEDs while the NFL twiddles it thumbs.

    – Charlie Sly’s recant looks awful because Tyler Teagarden is on tape saying he used, which was Sly’s way of showing Collins PED cred. I do not see how the NFL is going to be able to sweep that under the rug. So they are going to have to investigate. They are going to have to explain. They may not want to but they are going to have to.

    – Leverage…why will they have to explain…because the CTE issue is starting to get out of control. Another player confirmed with CTE after he died. With each successive CTE diagnosis comes more interest/questions from congress. Its all connected. HGH makes players play longer making them more susceptible to CTE. So the NFL has to get in front of the HGH story to hold off the CTE investigations.

    – Lastly, sort of a non sequitur. Why doesn’t the NFL make Roger Goodell the Chief Marketing Officer and find someone competent to be in charge of the football part of the job. If the owners are happy with his shepherding of the business aspects…devide the job in two. Its what Sam Walton did years ago when he was faced with two really good execs following him…David Glass and Don Soderquist. Why not bring in someone like Scott Pioli, or Ron Wolfe to run the football side.

    Like

  19. So Peyton 2x plugs a beer company, an NFL violation, in the SB 50 post-game show with the entire world watching. I actually think it’s great and probably an FU to Goodell for the HGH investigation (I don’t think Peyton even acknowledged Roger during those cheesy, canned Sheriff remarks). But can you imagine the outrage if Brady (in actually winning the MVP) hawked some product, like Uggs, that’s not even booze. The world would break.
    BTW, was that the shortest MVP interview ever? “Congrats Von on stopping the league’s best offense today and two weeks ago almost single-handedly dethroning the reigning champs, now how about the legend Peyton Manning, who completed 13 passes and was only sacked five times!!!??”

    Like

    1. Don’t forget throwing a red zone interception to a defensive end and the strip sack on the Panthers side of the 50.

      Like

    2. I’m surprised he didn’t say. Kiss my wife and kids have a bud with some papa John’s pizza and pray in my Buick and thank God that I have Nation wide INS

      Like

  20. I’m happy to report that my Super Bowl/NFL boycott held firm yesterday. I didn’t watch a single snap. I checked the internet for a score at around 9:15 p.m., and I saw two items that disturbed me: Denver was up by 9 late I the third quarter, and a headline that read: “Brady booed during pre-game Super Bowl ceremony.” That’s all I needed to know. I flipped on the TV at around 9:45 and watched the last 45 minutes of “The Silence of the Lambs” on cable, then got the final score from one of those “scrolls” at the bottom of a cable news station broadcast. Brady booed. In his HOME TOWN, during what was supposed to be a harmless ceremony celebrating legends of Super Bowl’s past. This is what Roger Goodell, the “other 31,” and the despicable, pathetic, should-be-sued-until-they’re-all-out-of-business media has done to a very nice guy who’s never done anything but work hard, play hard, be a good teammate, take less money in order to help his team win, and try to get along with everyone. I hate that effing league so much — I hate the media even more. Kudos to Peyton Manning; he rode his teammates to two Super Bowl wins (he sucked in the 2006 playoffs…check his stat line for those four games: one good half against an injury and flu-depleted Patriots’ defense, that’s it); and yet, still, he managed to get most of the credit, and managed to avoid “scandal,” though the latter accomplishment is very easy to achieve when you’ve had most of the media in your hip pocket for your entire career, and you don’t play for THE MOST HATED COACH IN NFL HISTORY. When do pitchers and catchers report again? When are the NBA/NHL trading deadlines?

    Like

    1. I ushered a play about unions and the death of the working class instead of watching the game. Saw that Denver was up 10-0 on a strip sack TD. Could see where the game was going. Watched USA-Scotland Curling when I got home. F— the NFL

      Like

    2. I watched the Super Bowl. I will never boycott the game I love watching. It’s part of the fabric of my life. But I am still boycotting talk radio. Not one second since the loss to Denver. And by some of the accounts I’ve read on here i can see i made a good decision. I just come here to see some good comments from real fans and patsfans.com, that’s it. Everything is more enjoyable without the filter of sports talk clouding your viewing experience. I’m all in on the Celtics right now and love watching them. I don’t need basketball haters like F&M trying spoil my joy or mock us for it. I wish radio had more guys on who like sports then those who clearly don’t anymore and are just there to troll and collect a check.

      Like

    1. I like Peyton Manning, and I’m happy for him winning another SB. IMO he’s taken a great deal of unwarranted criticism in his career. If he had the benefit of being with Belichick his whole career I think he would be viewed differently. (Strictly my opinion and not looking to debate it.)

      However, it’s stuff like this that ends up with people ripping Manning apart. If we’re talking career stats do we include post-season stats? Also do we compare SB performance stats? Brady’s stats in SB 49 were better than both Manning & Newton (league MVP) in SB 50. Also, if Manning is greater than Brady is he also greater than Montana? Has the clear career stats edge there.

      The Buffalo boy still feeling the week 2 SB loss I guess.

      Like

      1. I do wonder if you swapped the “coaches” because, I forget who (Florio?), said that a lot of the Deflategate venom stems not from Kraft but BB. He’s been hated forever. So, even if you gave him Peyton and the “scrappy 6th round pick” was elsewhere, I wonder if it’d be the same in terms of media coverage and treatment.

        Like

        1. Damn good point. I’ve never considered the Brady/Manning switching coaches argument from a media perspective.

          If BB coached Manning would he receive the same scrutiny as Brady? I think the hatred, or maybe envy, for BB is so great the whole HGH story would have been treated very differently. It would have changed the whole media dynamic of how Brady & Manning were treated for their entire careers.

          Really shows the influence of William Stephen Belichick.

          Like

          1. Belichick never would have coached Manning his whole career as Peyton never took a dime less to help the team’s cap until late in his Broncos career.

            Like

          2. You’d wonder, though, if Peyton was “as smart as..” (He is … but how many do what Brady did), would he have taken a cut to help the team, knowing that, in the cap era, it was required?

            I don’t think we can assume either way. Circumstances, time, all that hindsight stuff.

            It’s an interesting ‘swap careers – would it have been different?” thing you could do a 2h documentary about during the dead (non-NFL) part of the year.

            Like

          3. I will say this, it would be very, very interesting if Kraft had hired BB just prior to the ’98 draft, with the Pats holding the #1 pick — and let’s say there was no Bledsoe around at that time. Clearly, Manning was the pick that year, and there is every reason to believe that BB still drafts him #1 overall, as the Colts did, because he is a very smart player and he always put a lot of work into his craft (film study, etc.). His decision-making on the field always was top-notch as well, for the most part. Those are all traits BB loves in a player, and especially his QB. But, and it is a HUGE but, the Colts spent the next few drafts building their team around Manning. Harrison was already there, but Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark and Edgerrin James were all first rounder’s over the next few years, and, aside from taking Freeney in the first round, I think in 2002, Polian essentially showered Manning with offensive gifts as he built that team in the late 90s and early 2000s. Then, Polian made sure that none of those guys left as free agents until their career gas tanks were just about on empty (James was the first to go, in 2006, and Polian spent Indy’s first rounder THAT year on Joseph Addai — “replacing” the lost weapon). By keeping Peyton’s helpers around all that time, Polian had about two-thirds of the team’s salary cap tied up in offensive “weapons” and the offensive line. There’s no way BB runs the Patriots that way. So…..does “The Patriot Way” work as well with Manning at QB, or did he need to be with a team that was specifically designed by management to be “his” team? We’ll never know, of course, but it’s one of the great “what if” questions that should be asked after both Brady and Manning are sitting at home watching the lawn grow a few years from now.

            Like

          4. I think Manning wins at least 3 and maybe even 1 or 2 more. Think about it. Manning would’ve had Bill as his coach with those defenses while Brady probably never would got off the bench on some other team. Toiling away on some crap team with a bad coach. Or toiling away on a good team behind a more proven starter. Then if he did get to start would there have been a Charlie Weis on that team to mold a specific offense for him in his early years to utilize his high football IQ? Remember the Brady we know and love now is vastly different from the one who took over in 01. The more i think about it,all the things that had to happen for Brady to be who is today is like the same odds that we’re all here do to that very longshot percentage of everything forming just right for us to be living on this planet. Incredible odds.

            Like

          5. The big question is could Manning play on a team that was not specifically designed FOR him? That’s what Polian did with the Colts. Get the QB, then shower him with two of the best outside WRs in the NFL, one of the best all-around RBs, one of the best TEs, one of the best slot receivers, and put an All-Pro center in front of him and an All-Pro LG out there to protect his blind side. Oh, and we’ll blowout most of our salary cap on the offensive side of the ball, too, if it makes our QB happy. BB would not have done that. So, how would Manning have handled that? How would he have played in the system they had here back then? It’s a great “what if” question, because as you’ve pointed out with Brady, none of these things happen in a vacuum. Brady’s detractors point to the 11-5 season they had without him and say, “see, it’s the system, not Brady.” Yes, that’s partly correct…..just as it’s correct to say that Polian had a Plan “A” in Indy, and had no Plan “B”. Suddenly, in 2011, when a Plan “B” was needed, the only thing he had left in the cupboard was, “let’s try to suck for Luck,” because that team had been completely constructed around Manning, and didn’t know how to win, or play, any other way.

            Like

        2. Let me preface my comment by stating that there is no other coach I would rather have and I am grateful for finishing what Bill Parcells started. Now, with the great comes the bad. The flip side to Belichick’s ways of doing things is what we see now in how league authority and his peers and fans react to him. In the times we live in it’s advantageous for someone in power to be somewhat of a “politician” when dealing with people who want something from you. You gotta give a little to get a little. The fact that Bill never gets a fair shake when anything controversial comes happens to the team should be no surprise to anyone. It’s just basic human nature. When you’re “good” to right people it can help relieve a lot of headaches for you. That happens everywhere in society,wherever you work. Certain people get more breaks when they have friends who will cover for you. Manning and Dungy are two clear examples of this. Belichick’s way is an archaic way of dealing with perceived threats and distractions. He tried to coach and manage a multi-billion dollar NFL franchise like they were just some high school team in Indiana. Why he wanted to keep banging his head against the wall is beyond me. It seemed way more work to be so shut off instead of just giving the media what they wanted. If he had just been a little more willing to engage with the media and play the game a little then many of the headaches that the team has been dealing with since Spygate would’ve been for the most part been swept under the rug. The obsession by many to catch Bill in the act of doing something nefarious would not have got Brady caught up in the vendetta against Bill. If he had just done the aspect of the job that coaches get paid millions for in the new digital media age we live in…to be a cordial,cooperative person with the media who just want something more the snorts and terse comments like “I’ve already answered that” when you actually didn’t answer the question. And human nature being what it is, it irritates those who feel he makes them look bad. Is it fair? No, but since when was life fair? That’s the way the world works. You scratch my back I scratch yours. Common sense. It’s probably too late now to start playing nice and he’s probably too old to change but the unfortunate side effect of Bill’s attitude to the press that most fans love so much is that Brady’s legacy and character were damaged most likely permanently because of the war between Bill and everyone outside his inner circle. It’s too bad that for as smart as Bill is he couldn’t and or wouldn’t learn the art of keeping your friends close but your enemies closer.

          Like

          1. You are correct. However, what I find a bit hypocritical (on the part of the media) is the fact that BB’s mentor, the Tuna, was notoriously gruff with the media at times, to the point of insulting the crap out of some of them to their faces. Ditka was like that, too. So why didn’t the media try to destroy them? It’s because even though they were publicly ripped by both of those coaches, it was still entertaining. Those were great sound bites. And, they were great sound bites that made the media guys look like sympathetic figures who were being bullied by the big meanie football coaches. BB’s act is a lot less insulting and mean-spirited than Ditka’s or Parcells’ could be at times; but, it’s also boring as hell and it’s not good copy. That’s probably BB’s ultimate sin in the media’s eyes. Bobby Knight treated them even worse than perhaps any coach in history, in any sport, but his tirades were good copy, too, so he got away with it for much longer than he probably should have.

            Like

          2. Parcells and ditka by being gruff with the media were still giving them something. When Bill just stares silently at the press corp it does nothing for them.

            Like

          3. Right. Like I said, they were still giving them “sound bites” even though they were being insulted. BB gives them nothing. He’s actually more respectful with the media, at times, than Ditka, Parcells, Knight, et al, but his deadpan demeanor and his inability to suffer fools lightly (and there are a LOT of fools in your average press room…sports media or otherwise) makes him an “enemy” in their eyes.

            Like

    2. LOL….what does winning a title with two different teams have to do with anything? If Russert classifies what Manning did with the 2015 Broncos as “winning a title,” instead of “being dragged to a title by his team’s great defense in spite of his horrible statistical season,” then the definition of “winning a title” has changed forever. It can just as easily be said that Manning won a title with two different teams because his first team felt he was no longer reliable enough to keep around; therefore, he had to be picked up by another team in the first place. Brady, as of yet, has had no such occurrence in his career. Eh, Russert’s late father was the world’s most famous Bills fan, so I assume the lucky little sperm lottery winner is, too. That, no doubt (along with the typical ignorance of the modern-day “journalist,” contributed much to his statement).

      Like

    3. I have been giving a lot of thought to this lately and I think history will not be kind to Manning when all is said and done. I think he will be viewed as an enigma. All the talent in the world. At times choking in the playoffs. Never viewed as the guy who put the team on his shoulders and carrying them to the big game win…but also a 2 time SB champion with 2 of the worst performances by a SB winning QB in the history of the game. As the older, sycophantic generation dies off a more critical eye will be cast on his career. He will be perceived as a luckier Dan Marino. He will be viewed with mixed emotions in Indy and he will never have John Elway status in Denver. Tom Brady will be forever revered as a god in NE. Manning will be looked at as another golden boy who did all right, but was not spectacular. A guy who used HGH to get back on the field when he should not have. A guy who was never a “great” teammate because he took every last dime. He will be remembered the same way we in NE look at Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens and Jim Plunkett.

      Like

      1. Seems a little harsh…I mean isn’t Manning pretty clearly one of the top 3 or 4 best QBs of alltime?

        Like

        1. To me he is one of the 3 or 4 best QB’s of all time in the same way Wade Boggs is one of the best hitters of all time. If we were sitting at a bar and I asked you to name the top 5 hitters of all time I doubt Boggs name would come up. Yet statistically an argument for him can be made. When you couple the raw numbers with the eye test then his ranking starts to fall. In Boggs case…he would not hit behind a runner, he would not sacrifice an at bat to attempt to hit with more power, he was selfish. In Mannings case, he was a wonderful regular season QB who lucked into winning two SB’s because his defense carried him both times. When I think of the greats…Montana, Brady, Favre, Aikeman, or even Rothlesburger (as much as hate that rapist) these guys teams all won Superbowls because of their efforts to get the team to the game and during the game. Manning has 2 of the bottom 7 performances ever by SB winning QB’s…the worst and 7th worst. In his two losses he was also pathetic. Go back to college and look at his inability to win a national championship…same issues. He is the common denominator. I don’t think history is going to be good to him, especially if the HGH stuff is shown to have been completely true…then he is Roger Clemons or Barry Bonds or Lance Armstrong. An afterthought.

          Like

          1. Your earlier comment about it having to be the next generation of media people who dig a little deeper, underneath the surface numbers he put up (which are impressive), is completely correct. Right now, there are just a few lonely voices out in the media wilderness who have been willing to “go there,” and they usually get pilloried for it. I mean, I always knew he got way too much credit for the Colts winning in 2006 (3 TD passes, 7 INTs over the course of the four-game post-season run says it all, for me); however, I had no idea his “Super Bowl MVP” performance in 2006 ranks as the 7th-worst of all time. I watched that game, and I knew there were three or four other Indy players that deserved the MVP over him, but I also knew that unless he threw up all over himself that day, the media was giving him the MVP award. Still, 7th-worst performance of all time in a SB and you get the MVP? Who but Saint Peyton could pull that off? There are a lot of questions that the next generation of media people have to ask, such as, “How many other all-time great QBs played most of their careers playing in a dome, and were almost always surrounded by some of the most talented offensive players in the history of the game?” The answer to Part 1 of the question is zero; the answer to Part 2 is Montana, but even he won his first Super Bowl with just Dwight Clark, Freddie Solomon, no running game, and no tight end back in 1981. Again, though, I don’t have a problem with Peyton Manning, per se….it’s the freakin’ media and their endless ballwashing and excuse-making of him/for him. Meanwhile, Brady, for the past year, has been treated as if he slaughtered 15 puppies on live TV and charged people $29.99 to watch it on Pay-Per-View; all this, despite the fact that the NFL provided absolutely, positively, zero credible evidence that Brady did anything wrong.

            Like

          2. I just looked up Manning’s stats in SB 41. The media should be ashamed of themselves for giving him the game MVP that day: 25 for 38, 247 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT (81.8 passer rating, which is barely above mediocre). Brady’s one questionable Super Bowl MVP was his first one, but his performance topped Manning’s in SB 41. Against the Rams, Brady was 16 for 27, 1 TD, 0 INTs (86.2 passer rating); however, while my vote probably would have gone to Ty Law or Willie McGinest that day, the argument for Brady, obviously, is bolstered by the 53-yard GW drive with 1:21 left on the clock and no timeouts, against the league’s sixth-ranked defense in 2001. Manning had no such moments in SB 41. He was pedestrian. The most I can say for his performance that day/evening is that he did make some drive-sustaining third down throws after the Colts got a pick-six to go up by 12 with less than 10 minutes left in the game, and the weather during the second half of that game was crappy. Still….that was a lifetime achievement award from his media rump-swabs, not a well-deserved MVP.

            Like

          4. I hear you, but you’re also cherry-picking a bit… The Pats from 01-04 had dominant defenses that somewhat carried the O. In Brady’s best statistical seasons, we didn’t win either. You still need D, as Denver showed on Sunday.

            Like

      1. I was thinking about Peyton’s advantages yesterday when some moron on Facebook was comparing Newton’s post-SB press conference to Peyton’s after the blowout loss to Seattle. Peyton had “class,” and Cam is a “punk.” Well, Peyton was trained from high school (or earlier) on what to say and how to act as a star football player from his father. He came into the league destined for greatness and was never question during a rough rookie season (Cam’s was better by every measure) Every great (or even merely good) thing he has done has been celebrated, while his mistakes and failures have been papered over or ignored (in college and pros). His father has helped him manage his career masterfully, making the off-field stuff a breeze as well as helping him develop as a QB. (Archie did help Eli more through the extortion of the Chargers to have him land in NY. Imagine if Cam did something like that? It’s almost never mentioned about Eli).
        Cam was 10 years younger than Manning during these respective pressers and this was his first time at the SB. Even during a nearly undefeated regular season, he was criticized as disrespectful, a show boat, or more coded language. The Panthers wouldn’t have been at the Super Bowl if not for Cam (unlike the Broncos, who got there in spite of poor QB play), and he got very little help from coaches and teammates in the big game. Does that excuse his behavior? No, but it’s not the biggest affront to sportsmanship ever – not even close. He’s the goat and the villan, while Peyton is the GOAT and the hero, despite very similar stats Sunday. But it’s cool that Peyton repeatedly bragged about getting drunk on crappy beer.

        Like

  24. There are two types of people in this world.

    Sports fans and Media/Celebrity Culture fans.

    There is a simple test that can be used to separate the two groups.

    The latter are the ones that feel the need to LOUDLY complain when the Cam Newtons of the world cut short their post-game press conferences.

    When I was 12 years old, I DID NOT have a poster on a bedroom wall, made from a still photograph taken during one of Larry Bird’s press conferences.

    Like

    1. This did come up during the whole clock-operation mess when Billy Cundiff shanked it. People went nuts to learn that the guy was a team employee of the Patriots (as every one is in their respective stadiums), but it was the Patriots, so..

      Like

      1. Yes, and the Ravens’ “kicking consultant” went out of his way to blame Cundiff’s choke job on the Patriots “shenanigans”. I believe his quote was, “You never know what may happen in Foxboro.” Words to that effect. Because, you know, it wasn’t the kicker’s fault for shanking a chip shot FG to tie the game, it was because the Patriots cheated.

        Like

    1. You’re supposed to be making a sacrifice by giving up something for Lent. Giving up sports talk is not a sacrifice and is actually a health benefit as you would be improving your state of mind.

      Like

Comments are closed.