Patriot fans need to stop whining: Deflategate ruling ‘fair’

Since earlier this year, controversy created dispute amongst football fans regarding “Deflategate,” involving the New England Patriots and the team’s star, Tom Brady. Patriots fans are upset with the NFL’s punishment for Brady, yet the NFL’s decision remains correct. Tom Brady deserves the consequences for the actions he provoked.

The Deflategate controversy accuses the Patriots of tampering with footballs during the 2015 AFC (American Football Conference) Championship Game by deflating the balls to under 12.5 psi (pounds per square inch), the NFL legal regulation. The NFL directed allegations toward quarterback Brady, Equipment Assistant John Jastremski, and Locker Room Attendant Jim McNally.
Brady deflating footballs in order to gain a competitive advantage stands not nearly as bad as abusing your fiance in an elevator on camera, however, one must remember that this is not the Patriot’s first controversy with the NFL. Back in 2007, the NFL fined Bill Belichick $500,000 and the Patriots organization $250,000, in addition to docking them of a first round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft for spying on opponents’ defensive signals, more formally known as “Spygate.” Thus, Brady’s suspension remains indeed the right move. The NFL suspended Brady for four games (whilst unpaid), and fined the team $1 million and deprived two future draft picks. If anything, this hardly punishes the perpetrators.

A video surfaced a few days after the AFC game that shows McNally bringing the footballs into the bathroom for approximately 90 seconds before bringing them out to the field. This would give McNally time to tamper with footballs, although probably not all of them. @ProFootBallTalk on Twitter mentions that it would take 90 seconds to deflate twelve footballs at a rate of 7.5 seconds per ball, but this exempts the time of taking the balls out or putting them inside the bag. Like I said, not enough time to tamper all 24.

Many Patriots fans may argue that no hard evidence has been found that proves Brady had any part in the deflation of footballs. “There is still no direct witness and no electronic evidence,” noted New York Daily News sports attorney, Jay Reisinger. Although this statement may hold true, the lack of evidence could partially exist because Brady had his phone destroyed before investigators could obtain it. These actions make him look guilty. If Brady had nothing to hide, then why would he destroy potential evidence? Please, spare me the all-celebrities-destroy-their-phones defense to why he did the act. Brady kept another phone that he stopped using in November. Apparently, information did not stand a concern at that time.
In the months before the conflict arose, McNally exchanged text messages with Jastremski, the man whose job includes preparing the Patriot’s footballs. In these texts, McNally and Jastremski discussed the air pressure of Patriots game balls, Brady’s anger with the game ball inflation levels, Jastremski’s plan to provide McNally with a “needle,” and McNally’s requests for cash and sneakers together with the “needle” provided by Jastremski. One can use a sports ball inflation needle to inflate a football (if attached to an air pump) or release air from a football (if inserted without a pump). In one of the texts, McNally even made a fatal mistake by referring to himself as “the deflator,” as shown in his text reading, “Nice dude….jimmy needs some kicks….lets make a deal…..come on help the deflator.”

Brady and the Patriots would have defeated the Colts in that AFC Championship Game even if the football were not tampered with. He did not need the deflated ball advantage that he wanted from accomplices. Not only did his actions make his team look bad, it also has damaged his reputation and legacy. Was this controversy all worth it? Probably not, and I bet Brady upset himself because of this mistake. Brady himself did not do most of the work but he did try to cover-up the poorly sought out plan. Therefore, he and the others involved deserved punishment.