Blog Post #9 Deflate Gate

            Deflate Gate, a controversy that was unveiled during the 2015 AFC Championship game. What occurred during the game was the league found that the footballs the New England Patriots were using were under inflated. The league found that the majority of the footballs were un-inflated for a competitive advantage. The games outcome was 45-7 in the Patriots favor over the Indianapolis Colts. The general problem at this point is who is to blame, and what should the overall punishment be on the Patriots as well as their quarterback Tom Brady. Is his legacy tarnished?

             In my opinion, I think that Tom Brady is neither guilty nor completely innocent. I believe this because clearly he knew about what was going on with the deflation of footballs but, he I also think he did not directly ask to lower the PSI by a certain amount. Therefore, I think the ball boys were aware that Brady's ideal throw comes from a ball that is a little softer or less inflated, and they took it too far by taking out way too much air. Tom was probably aware of this but did not have anything against the fact that it was giving him a competitive advantage so he did not bother saying anything to change it. Also, the Patriots would have won the game even without their passing touchdowns, due to a great game on the ground by LeGarrett Blount. The accusations in Wells' report were too vague to put all the blame just towards Brady, I do believe they deserve a punishment. I do not think the punishment should single out Tom Brady without solid evidence it was him.

            I most certainly do not believe the punishment given to Tom Brady is justifiable for many reasons. First, the evidence only shows the Patriots as a team did the deflation of footballs, therefore the full blame should not be put onto Tom Brady. I understand the fines as well as the draft picks taken away, but to suspend Brady for four games seems like too much. If anything I think the suspension should be shorter than four games. All in all, I think the punishment put on Tom Brady is not fair and should at least be shortened.

        There are many different possible solutions to how the punishment could be distributed to the team or how they settle this situation. What I would offer as a solution to the NFL on administering punishments about the deflate gate is a few different things actually. One thing I would do is continue the research and investigation to find out if it actually does lead directly to Tom Brady if so, the suspension could be added on to and the fines and draft picks could be reduced. Or, if the investigation was brought further and no more evidence of it lead directly to Tom I would reduce his punishment and make the punishment towards the entire organization instead of directly at a player.