All things off season 2015.

I fail to see what is wrong with changing the rule and letting each team set their own PSI. No one gets an advantage.

Aaron Rodgers Likes To Tamper With Footballs, Too (http://deadspin.com/aaron-rodgers-likes-to-tamper-with-footballs-too-1680676328)

Nah, this.

This is an intentionally misleading article. Deadspin literally left half the quote out.

Rodgers said he likes the balls over inflated. But then they are given to the NFL refs who he hopes wont bring them all the way back down to allowable PSI limits.

In no way, shape or form did Rodgers ever say he has his equipment guy tamper with the balls after the NFL refs check them.

“‘I like to push the limit to how much air we can put in the football, even go over what they allow you to do and see if the officials take air out of it,'” Simms said Rodgers told them before the game.

Aaron Rodgers likes his footballs overinflated | ProFootballTalk (http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/20/aaron-rodgers-likes-his-footballs-overinflated/)

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another misconception out there.

The investigators did not want all of Brady's personal info.

The investigators offered to have Brady's agent go through his text and emails and have him cull out and then turn over what was only related to deflategate.

Brady and his agent refused.

This is an intentionally misleading article. Deadspin literally left half the quote out.

Rodgers said he likes the balls over inflated. But then they are given to the NFL refs who he hopes wont bring them all the way back down to allowable PSI limits.

In no way, shape or form did Rodgers ever say he has his equipment guy tamper with the balls after the NFL refs check them.

“‘I like to push the limit to how much air we can put in the football, even go over what they allow you to do and see if the officials take air out of it,'” Simms said Rodgers told them before the game.

Aaron Rodgers likes his footballs overinflated | ProFootballTalk (http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/01/20/aaron-rodgers-likes-his-footballs-overinflated/)

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another misconception out there.

The investigators did not want all of Brady's personal info.

The investigators offered to have Brady's agent go through his text and emails and have him cull out and then turn over what was only related to deflategate.

Brady and his agent refused.

I dont have a problem with that.
He didnt commit a crime.
The NFL isnt the FBI.

Well I agree with you there, the cover up was stupid on Brady's part. He should have just come clean and it would've been over and done with.

Well, duh. While the issue of NE's intentional manipulation of air pressure was the catalyst for the investigation:

[t]he NFL’s statement did not really focus on that, rather the way in which both Brady and the Patriots were not completely forthcoming during the league’s investigation. They also mentioned their 2007 decision, in which they punished the Patriots for "Spy-gate."

Tom Brady banned 4 games for role in 'Deflate-gate;' Patriots fined, lose picks - National NFL | Examiner.com (http://www.examiner.com/article/tom-brady-banned-4-games-for-role-deflate-gate-patriots-fined-lose-picks)

You cannot not investigate teams with a history of circumventing the rules in order to affect the on-field product when it becomes known that they are, once again, allegedly circumventing such rules. If you do, the inevitable cheating rumors affect the final product and, ultimately, the profitability of that product. NE put itself in the position of being subjected to an investigation b/c it has a history of seeking to manipulate the rules through off-the-field actions for an on-field advantage.

Similarly, once subject to investigation, anything other than full compliance should be harshly penalized as, once again, if the investigation looks half-assed, the cheating rumors will continue to circulate.

Sure, 1.2 psi, in and of itself, is unlikely to affect the competitive balance of any particular game. The sanction is simply not about the psi. Rather, the sanction and investigation are directly related to preventing further spread of the perception that (1) a team is consistently manipulating the rules with its off-the-field actions to affect the on-field product; AND (2) it will actively attempt to cover-up such actions. If those perceptions are allowed to spread, it will ultimately affect the integrity and profitability of the final product for all teams. Thus, both the investigation and sanction were reasonable under the circumstances that NE created for itself.

NE and Brady brought this on themselves. In the end, the sanctions send a clear statement that teams should not, through off the field actions, attempt to affect the play on the field and, once you have been determined to have done so once, you will be subject to an even higher level of scrutiny. Further, if the NFL investigates you, even for a minor violation, you better be forthcoming with everything.

Plus, Brady is a rat-ass liar.

From what I have been hearing, a player has an obligation to cooperate with an NFL investigation. But I also heard that a "duty to cooperate" is not in the current NFLPA contract. Until someone writes a good, accurate article or goes combing through the contract, Im not sure. This would be an area Smoot might have actual knowledge on.

No one is saying he committed a crime. He is not being criminally punished.

The NFL obviously doesnt have subpoena power .. or they would have used it.

I dont have a problem with that.
He didnt commit a crime.
The NFL isnt the FBI.

So, your employer says, "I think you have been tampering with the our equipment and I have emails from other employees incriminating you and making seem likely you did the actions I suspect you did. I need to see your e-mails and text messages from you personal accounts that relate to your work or that were sent to other employees. If not, I will just assume you are hiding something (or worse, lying to me), make my decision based on what I know now. You're fired."

You're right. He is not obligated to turn them over. Since he didn't, however, the NFL (since they're not doing a criminal investigation) is free to assume he's lying or hiding incriminating information and act accordingly.

Pick up two footballs and see if the one that's deflated 1.2 psi under the limit would impact a game. It doesn't. You have 0 common sense.

Yeah because you're qualified to say. Are you a pro QB?

If it doesn't make a difference then why the flying F is there a rule about it, and why does the NFL go to the lengths to have the head ref test the ball pressure 2 hours before the game and then keep the balls under the watchful eye of an official until minutes before kickoff?

Seriously your critical thinking skills are impaired.

I'm amazed at the number of people who are comparing cheating to breaking the law.

They're entirely different things. It's like comparing oranges and zebras.

Breaking the law, like domestic violence hurts the league's image. Cheating to gain an advantage playing football games hurts the ACTUAL PRODUCT that the league is selling.

The response has to be entirely different.

A.J. Feeley says he witnessed Patriots use doctored footballs | ProFootballTalk (http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/05/13/a-j-feeley-says-he-witnessed-patriots-use-doctored-footballs/)

culture of cheating

look, first, i think some people are still under the assumption this was a one time thing, and not something that had been going on for 3+ years. Some article mentioned the patriots fumble rate vs league average, which could be considered an unfair advantage.

second, brady made two mistakes. 1. he got caught, and 2. he lied about it.

this also isn't the first time the pats have been caught doing something shady.