2015 NFL Offseason Thread

[habernac]

Bill Simmons ‏@BillSimmons 1h1 hour ago
To be fair, Goodell handled Spygate, Bountygate, Rice, concussions and the ref strike so well that he deserves the benefit of the doubt..

[Senator Clay Davis]

^ To be fair I never heard a thing from Pats fans when Goodell destroyed the SpyGate evidence

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Yeah, and the former is infinitely more important than the latter.

I think you have to realize that employers are not the law. Their hands are tied to an extent as they just can't go around suspending players for as long as they want. For example the NFL felt it had to reduce Hardy's suspension because they feel they would have lost if Hardy took them to court. Even in the regular world employers do their due diligence before they fire someone as they don't want to be sued. In the NFL the NFLPA and lawyers have lots of money to see things through in court.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

^ To be fair I never heard a thing from Pats fans when Goodell destroyed the SpyGate evidence

By destroyed, do you mean the "evidence" that was played in front of the media on a loop when Goodell gave the press conference of the punishment?

[troutman]

Tom's full Statement:

http://www.patriots.com/news/2015/07...goodell-ruling

Either he is getting bad advice, or there is much less to this case then the NFL would have us believe.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by troutman

Tom's full Statement:

http://www.patriots.com/news/2015/07...goodell-ruling

Either he is getting bad advice, or there is much less to this case then the NFL would have us believe.

I know his background is in law, but I think Goodell is going to be embarrassed if this actually goes to court.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I think you have to realize that employers are not the law. Their hands are tied to an extent as they just can't go around suspending players for as long as they want.

Isn't that exactly what they did here?

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by rubecube

Isn't that exactly what they did here?

No. It went to arbitration. The players can't whine about the rules in the CBA their union signed off on.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by rubecube

I know his background is in law, but I think Goodell is going to be embarrassed if this actually goes to court.

Doubtful as the reason the NFL ruled to uphold the suspension is because they feel they have a great chance of winning in the courts. The NFL has the best lawyers money can buy and the reason they reduced the Hardy fine is because they felt they would lose that one in court. They don't sit at a table and flip quarters as you must believe with your statement. Everything is calculated.

[Erick Estrada]

Anyone hear Craft's press conference? How embarrassing.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

No. It went to arbitration. The players can't whine about the rules in the CBA their union signed off on.

The original punishment was 4-games. What exactly was that based on?

[Pagal4321]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Anyone hear Craft's press conference? How embarrassing.

Anyone notice EE's glaring typo? How embarrassing.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by rubecube

The original punishment was 4-games. What exactly was that based on?

Cheating and not cooperating with the league. If your employer asks you to aid in a workplace investigation and you go out of your way not to cooperate you should be punished regardless of what you may or may not have done.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Cheating and not cooperating with the league. If your employer asks you to aid in a workplace investigation and you go out of your way not to cooperate you should be punished regardless of what you may or may not have done.

Right, but it's not like there was a standard in place, ergo the NFL suspended Brady for as long as they wanted.

[squiggs96]

Did you notice how well the NFL has made this case now about what happened to Tom's cellphone, as opposed to what happened to the footballs? The NFL has revised procedures around the handling of the balls for next year, has zero hard evidence on Brady, and yet they continue to leave the 4 game suspension on him. But what is everyone talking about? That's right; we're talking about a cell phone. Well done NFL. Well done.

Brady has always been concerned about what would happen to his personal info. The NFL has leaked so much from its office (e.g. stating 11/12 balls were 2 PSI below - proven incorrect, but never corrected by NFL). They leaked the news of Brady's phone to Stephen A. Smith and made sure he told everyone it was destroyed. In the Wells report it was noted that Brady gave access to all texts that involved ball preparation, and all texts to and from Jastremski, Schoenfeld and McNally from September-February. Brady also offered all contacts with whom he exchanged messages with, but the NFL said that was too much work to look through. Brady destroyed his phone (as I've done with my old phones) after receiving the assurance of the NFL it was not needed.

[ResAlien]

I've only heard Pats fan say they do this now and maybe I'm just out of the loop but this is a common thing that people destroy their old cell phones? I've never met anyone in my life that does that. Recycle it, keep as a spare, give it to your kid, whatever but just flat out destroy it? This week was the first I've ever heard of anyone doing that. This is a normal thing that people do then huh?

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

I've only heard Pats fan say they do this now and maybe I'm just out of the loop but this is a common thing that people destroy their old cell phones? I've never met anyone in my life that does that. Recycle it, keep as a spare, give it to your kid, whatever but just flat out destroy it? This week was the first I've ever heard of anyone doing that. This is a normal thing that people do then huh?

To be fair, I probably would if I were someone like Tom Brady. Last thing you need is for it to fall into the wrong hands.

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

I've only heard Pats fan say they do this now and maybe I'm just out of the loop but this is a common thing that people destroy their old cell phones? I've never met anyone in my life that does that. Recycle it, keep as a spare, give it to your kid, whatever but just flat out destroy it? This week was the first I've ever heard of anyone doing that. This is a normal thing that people do then huh?

With any computer, phone, or other electronic device that has private information or photos on it, yes I do destroy them. And I'm just some regular joe. Like rube said, if I'm Brady, I'm ensuring those are destroyed.

Beside deflecting from their horrible investigation, it's puzzling why the NFL is making so much of the phone. Ted Wells, the investigator hired by the NFL, said it wasn't necessary to the case. Wells told Brady that he didn't need the phone, and his investigation was thorough without it. The NFL paid $5M for that report, and now says they want the phone. Riiiiiiight. Wells also called Brady "totally cooperative", after interviewing him for 5 hours, but now Goodell calls him uncooperative because he switched phones. Roger still has absolutely no hard evidence on the deflating of footballs, but is now making Brady's phone upgrade to be the smoking gun. Roger deserves to be fired for his incompetence.

[M*A*S*H 4077]

Sheldon Richardson is something else
http://espn.go.com/new-york/nfl/stor...sisting-arrest

Reports of the arrest didn't surface until late Thursday, less than one hour after Richardson, commenting publicly for the first time on the suspension, vowed to stay clean.

"I'm not a dope fiend, man," he told reporters. "I apologized to my teammates and this organization. I told them they don't have to worry about my name being in the news again."

[corporatejay]

Seahawks, Russell Wilson agree to $87.6M extension

Well, so ends the Seahawks dynasty. That's a crazy cap hit.