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It’s the Cover-Up That Gets Ya Every Time

by Hondo••33

Even though the NFL plays football, this looks more like a slam dunk to me than anything else.

You shouldn’t have prevented the other two guys involved from testifying, Tom.  You also shouldn’t have ordered your assistant to destroy your old phone immediately before your initial interview with investigators – particularly when you knew investigators (and your employer) wanted to examine it.  You shouldn’t have hidden the fact it had been destroyed from everyone for roughly 3 1/2 months. And you damn sure shouldn’t have claimed that destroying your old phone was merely something you routinely did on getting a new one when you hadn’t done that to its immediate predecessor.

You should have owned up and come clean.  You’d probably be playing after the 1st game this season if you had.  And your team likely wouldn’t be out two draft picks and $1M, either – though it might have lost some $$$.

But I’ll give you this much:  you stuck to your story, even after it became clear it was as plausible as ISIS suddenly converting to Buddhism en masse and turning pacifist.

But it was . . . well, it was stupid.  This guy puts it all in perspective damn well.

Enjoy the in-season vacation.  And the addendum to your legacy.

 

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33 thoughts on “It’s the Cover-Up That Gets Ya Every Time”

  1. I have a feeling Mark is going to be crying a lot today, if he isn’t passed out from exhaustion due to Violent that is. lol

    The poor guy, I hope he can handle not playing for 4 whole games. How’s he going to feed his supermodel wife that makes more than he does? He might have to skip a couple months worth of buying new cars too.

    3. I’d like to invite mark to use an extra ticket I have to pats at cowboys this fall. Myself, my best friend, and an old army buddy will be there, but do you know who won’t be? TOM BRADY!!!!! Hahaha haha bah

  2. He gave them everything they asked for. He was never asked to turn over his phone to the League or to Wells. So, it kind of deflates that whole destroyed phone baloney.
    He handed over detailed phone records to the League, as well as e-mails.
    There is zero evidence that Brady did anything, only that he had the opportunity to do so.
    There are so many problems with the Wells Report, and the NFLs unprecedented punishment of Brady and the Patriots here.
    #5

    1. Um, no. From the Commissioner’s decision, pp. 1-2 (emphasis added):

      The most significant new information that emerged in connection with the appeal was evidence that on or about March 6, 2015 – the very day that he was interviewed by Mr. Wells and his investigative team – Mr. Brady instructed his assistant to destroy the cellphone that he had been using since early November 2014, a period that included the AFC Championship Game and the initial weeks of the subsequent investigation. During the four months that it was in use, almost 10,000 text messages were sent or received by Mr. Brady using that cellphone. At the time that he arranged for its destruction, Mr. Brady knew that Mr. Wells and his team had requested information from that cellphone in connection with their investigation. Despite repeated requests for that information, beginning in mid-February 2015 and continuing during his March 6, 2015 interview by the investigators, information that Mr. Brady might have destroyed his cellphone was not disclosed until months later, on June 18, 2015, and not confirmed until the day of the hearing itself.

      I had to transcribe that (the linked decision is scanned PDF and is image vice native text), so any typos are mine. But I was pretty careful.

      The “day of the hearing” refers to Brady’s 23 July 2015 appeal hearing. Later in the decision, the “on or about 6 March” date is further pinpointed as either 5 or 6 March; Brady himself couldn’t remember which of those two days he ordered his assistant to destroy his “old” cell phone.

      The decision further documents that Brady claimed to routinely destroy his old cell phones whenever he got new ones. Unfortunately, the investigators found that not to be the case. Specifically, they found – and examined – the one he’d used immediately prior to November 2014. Oops.

      If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck . . . .

      Further: it’s absurd to claim that Brady “gave them everything they asked for” if all he gave them was some phone records. Phone records do not indicate conversation and/or text message content, nor do they typically indicate text message addressees. A SIM card and/or a cellphone’s memory, however, often shows both for text messages – and deleted messages can often be retrieved if they haven’t been overwritten. The investigators were interested in content.

      Face it, rb325th – yer “golden boy” was caught, red-handed, trying to obstruct the NFL’s investigation. By doing so, he turned what would have almost certainly ended up a slap on the wrist into a body blow.

      He’s got no one to blame for that but himself, either. He was simply too proud to admit, “Yeah, competitive drive got the best of me, and I stepped over the line. I blew it; and I’m sorry.” He does that, and I’m guessing he misses one game and gets a big honking fine (which he can easily afford) – and the team probably only gets fined vice getting fined $1M and losing 2 draft picks.

      1. Most of the points the NFL makes are in dispute, Hondo.

        Brady and his lawyers contend the NFL told them they no longer wanted or needed to look at Brady’s phone. They also say that the NFL told them they would NEVER want to see the phone. (After all, why would they since they had the locker room attendants’ phones with the text messages on them.)

        The NFL says the attendant deflated the balls on a 100 second trip to the bathroom. That’s laughable on its surface. That’s a ball removed from the bag, deflated to a specific pressure, placed on the ground, and then returned to the bag every 8 seconds not including walking time in and out of the bathroom. It can’t be done.

        The stories from the attendants have remained consistent and even after they were fired, they still have stuck to their original testimony.

        The NFL has a credibility gap. Remember that they said that they never saw the Ray Rice video but had it in their possession. They NFL offices leaked details of the Brady investigation.

        The suspension of Brady is akin to the domestic abuse suspension of Hardy and now after appeal, is twice as long as that of Hardy.

        The NFL standard in this is “more probable than not.” So they build a case on what they think the “evidence” says (even though their conclusions are directly contradicted by testimony and statements) and the idea that a lack of evidence is in and of itself, evidence.

        I am not a Brady fan and when there is an NFL game, I root for the referees because I am one (at lover levels of course.) I don’t have a dog in this fight other than the integrity of the game and the rules.

        Goodell and the NFL have made a mockery of any rules or any sense of objectivity in this case.

        1. You would appear to be misinformed in at least 2 cases.

          1. Brady and the NFLPA tacitly admitted that 100 seconds were indeed sufficient time by failing to challenge that point during Brady’s appeal. From the decision, page 6:

          The NFLPA and Mr. Brady did not dispute the findings in the Wells report that, based on experiments performed by Exponent, this period was more than enough time for Mr. McNally to have released air from each of the Patriots’ footballs.

          2. Regarding Brady’s phone: the decision clearly indicates that Brady’s lawyers were notified – verbally “several weeks prior” to 28 February 2015, via email on 28 February 2015, and again verbally during his interview on 6 March 2015 – that league investigators wanted access to information recorded in Brady’s cell phone. From the decision, p. 12:

          The investigator’s request for access to information recorded in Mr. Brady’s cellphone, which had been communicated several weeks before, was renewed on February 28, 2015, a week before the interview, in an email to Mr. Brady’s lawyers. That request was addressed at length during the interview, but at no time did Mr. Brady ever suggest that the cellphone had been (or would soon be) destroyed. Moreover, Mr. Brady admitted in his testimony that he was personally aware, prior to March 6, 2015, of the investigators’ request for information from his cellphone.

          Ordering something destroyed prior to being interviewed – and later admitting you knew, prior to being interviewed, that investigators wanted to examine information contained thereon – isn’t exactly consistent with the assertion you make above that Brady had been told they’d never want to see his phone. But it is consistent with intentional destruction of information that he knew would be incriminating.

          3. Since Brady and the NFLPA prevented the other two individuals involved in this incident from testifying at his appeal, we’ll never know what they would have testified to had they been called a second time. You may or may not be correct that their stories would have remained consistent. But since they didn’t have the luxury of being able to stonewall long enough to destroy their phones before investigators had them dead to rights, the credibility of their denials regarding this matter has already been proven essentially nil.

          1. 1. Brady and the NFLPA tacitly admitted that 100 seconds were indeed sufficient time by failing to challenge that point during Brady’s appeal.

            They don’t have to challenge the point, Hondo. Whether the act could have been done or not has nothing to do with BRADY.

            Goodell is relying on a test conducted by a group paid by the NFL and at the direction of the NFL. You really think that is credible? Why not an independent investigation, Hondo?

            Furthermore, if you read the Wells report, the test is cited as to the results, not to the parameters of the test.

            The NFL says Brady was not forthcoming when they themselves have not been open and honest either.

            Once again, the fact that it is impossible to do what the league said happened is an indictment of the NFL, not Brady who was not there with the guy in the bathroom or the test.

            2. Regarding Brady’s phone:

            Brady and his lawyers dispute this. That’s the point. They say that he was told he need not produce the phone. Goodell say there is an email and you are quoting a verbal conversation. The NFL will have to produce the email and a receipt of the email or else it just doesn’t exist.

            3. Since Brady and the NFLPA prevented the other two individuals involved in this incident from testifying at his appeal, we’ll never know what they would have testified to had they been called a second time.

            Second time? What are you talking about? The NFL investigators told the men they would be interviewed once and no more unless “unforseen circumstances warranted it.” The NFL sought to interview the attendants multiple times after that agreement. After the third time, the Patriots said “enough.” The legal counsel for the two men said “enough.” Once again, the NFL lied during the investigation and now you seem to want to take everything they say as gospel.

            We agree that there is a credibility problem here. You believe it is with Brady. I see it as a problem with the NFL.

            This thing has been botched from the very beginning by the NFL.

            1. Pats fans are so entertaining, facts don’t matter son long as no one touches the brady!

              1. Yes, they are. So are those who virtually always automatically take the side against “The Man”, regardless of the facts.

                Authorities and organizations should be treated with skepticism, not automatically taken to be correct. But it’s simply foolish to ignore facts, even when they prove . . . inconvenient. And inventing facts – or selectively using them in such a manner as to distort reality – is dishonest.

                1. Im damned near an anarchist, but even I can concede when my enemy has me up against a wall.

            2. gitarcarver: you really do need to sit down and read the Comissioner’s decision – objectively, if you can.

              1. At his appeal hearing, Brady and the NFLPA did not challenge the conclusions of the original investigators that 100 seconds is enough time for deflation of 12 footballs. Failure to challenge that conclusion meant that Brady and the NFLPA felt they could not offer sufficient evidence to offset the analysis done to support same. Ergo, they tacitly accepted that conclusion by failure to challenge it.

              From personal experience (more times than I care to remember), it takes about 2-3 seconds to drain 1-2 PSI from an auto tire. That requires removing a helluva lot more air than does lowering the pressure of a football by 1-2 PSI. With a bit of practice, 5 or 6 seconds per football would be more than enough time to grab a ball from the bag, insert a needle, let air escape for 2 seconds, remove the needle, and put the ball down. That leaves 20-30 seconds left afterwards to put 12 balls back in the bag. Eminently do-able.

              2. Regarding his phone: you’re conveniently ignoring the fact that Brady himself admitted, at his appeal, that he knew prior to his initial interview with investigators that the investigators wanted to examine additional information then stored on his phone. That in and of itself refutes your position that Brady had been given the “all clear” regarding his phone.

              I’m relatively sure there is a verbatim transcript of Brady’s interview with investigators, his hearing, and a copy of of the email sent to his lawyers on file. (There is known to be one of his appeal interview.) I’m sure if Brady and the NFLPA are foolish enough to go to trial here, they’ll all be released publicly.

              There’s IMO a very good reason Brady tried to seal the transcript of his appeal interview – specifically, he knew it would show, clearly, that he was aware investigators wanted access to additional information stored on the phone he ordered destroyed. The NFL did not agree to do that.

              3. Regarding the other two parties involved: what they were told by investigators during the original investigation related only to that investigation. Anything that investigators there told them was relevant to only that investigation – and they were indeed only interviewed once during that investigation.

              However, Brady’s appeal was a new situation. Hell, whether or not an appeal would even occur was not known at the time those two individuals were interviewed. Therefore, it is nonsense to assert that the investigators statement that they would only be interviewed once was meant to refer to any later appeal. It clearly was not.

              The NFL wanted the two other individuals to be interviewed during the appeal. Brady and the NFLPA blocked that procedurally. I’m guessing there was a good reason Brady and the NFLPA didn’t want those two to be directly questioned concerning the matter again, now that the NFL knew more about what had actually happened and could recognize obvious BS. The likely reason is quite obvious.

              You are correct that I think Brady has a credibility problem. I think that because the overwhelming preponderance of evidence, when evaluated objectively, supports that conclusion to the exclusion of all others. I’d say 90+% of the evidence, evaluated collectively and objectively, says Brady was involved up to his eyeballs. Any other conclusion IMO ignores the truth or is made due to emotion overcoming logic.

              Brady also IMO has a hubris problem. No one is perfect, but Brady gives me the impression that he actually seems to think he is – and also thinks he can do no wrong.

              1. Hondo, take your hater glasses off. Talk about seeing this objectively.
                Read Goodells’ report objectively, that is like reading the VA’s report on the VA. No onesided agenda pushing here.

                1. Roger Goddell’s report is his take on the investigation, not his opinion of himself. Pats fans are still entertaining

  3. I don’t like the Pats or Tom Brady, but at least have a standard. Let see if I understand this correctly. The NFL said he did something wrong. They did an investigation and said “he should have known” about this. Then when he appeal it, it’s his fault that he will not give up his phone, so he’s guilty and that’s that. Wait a second you said the investigation said he knew and this is his appeal of the case and now because he didn’t turn over his phone, well that just shows he’s guilty end of story.. Gimme a break.

    The NFL, based on their investigation, conducted a few months back, said he’s guilty so either show us he is or fuhgeddaboudit.

    Don’t blame him for destroying his phone. He gave the investigators all they asked for, months ago. This was the appeal not the investigation.

    1. The NFL-NFLPA agreement and NFL bylaws requires team employees to cooperate with league investigations. Both team staff and players are team employees.

      Destroying your cell phone to keep investigators from recovering text messages related to an investigation is hardly “cooperation”. This isn’t a criminal matter; it’s an internal league matter pursuant to their bylaws and their CBA with the NFLPA. Legal rules regarding self-incrimination don’t apply.

      Bottom line: the league has every right to discipline him for failing to cooperate with an investigation through destruction of potential evidence. That’s precisely why his original suspension was upheld completely. Had he admitted involvement and only appealed the punishment on the grounds it was too severe, IMO he’d probably have seen it cut in half or by 3/4. By intentionally obstructing the investigation via intentionally destroying his cell phone – a cell phone he knew the league’s investigators wanted to examine – he gave the NFL the finger.

      Giving the guy running the NFL the finger isn’t exactly a good idea when you want him to decide an appeal in your favor.

    2. Your point about Brady’s phone is also invalid. Brady ordered his assistant to destroy his phone either the day prior to or the day of his initial interview with league investigators. He also admitted at his appeal hearing that he was personally aware prior to 6 March 2015 (the date of his interview) that investigators wanted access to information stored on his phone.

      Ordering something destroyed prior to meeting with investigators when you know investigators are interested in access to information stored on that same item is hardly “giving them everything they’d asked for”. It’s more like, “Quick, destroy it – before they can see what’s there!”

  4. On the bright side, as a Colts fan I have yet to hear another one of the fans blame the drubbing that our team took on deflategate.

    1. You won’t, either. It’s obvious that the Patriots were the better team by far that day.

      That’s what makes this so frustrating to me. This was completely unnecessary – and it happened anyway. Then Brady tried to cover up his involvement by having his phone destroyed either the day before or the same day he met with investigators – and kept that destruction secret for nearly 3 1/2 months.

      This whole stunt was stupid. Just mondo stupid.

      1. The other time the Pats got caught cheating was against a team they crushed, the Jets. Good consistency, both with football and getting busted for stupid and needless transgressions.

  6. I have a question for anyone defending Brady. Did you buy this line of bullshit when Lous Lerner used it as an excuse for IRS Tea Party scandal?

  7. And when will Clinton get this much attention for what she did?

    No, you really do not need to answer that question.

    1. So 4 games for brady destroy g his cell phone, does hillary get a 4 debate suspension for destroying her email server? I realize that Roger Goddell isn’t a congressional subpoena, but since he thinks he’s God, they are pretty much even sins

  8. *Singto the tune of “Fish Heads”*

    Flat balls, flat balls,
    Roly-poly flat balls,
    Flat balls, flat balls,
    Catch easier, yeah…

  9. I was in Korea in the early eighties and really enjoyed the reporting of a couple of events. I was at Firebase 4-P-1 across from “tent city” below the DMZ.
    I was considering writing a book at some point. Their sure we’re no reporters from there to Pam-u-jom.(sorry about my spelling.
    I was suppose to be at Camp Pelham in B2/17th FA. I sure would like to talk to some of the guys I served with. We spent over 180 at Camp Pelham at one time. I took many,many supplies in a deuce to Kittyhawk and Liberty Bell.
    I spent time at Ollette and Collier. It was my first duty station and had to learn fast about things at 18 and 19 years old.
    Someone please reply. I really would like to see more photos and possibly link up with some old soldiers I served with.
    Also, for the record, I would like to ask about a couple of conflicting accounts I have. Out.

  11. I watch a couple NFL games a year for entertainment purposes. I take the game, its players, and especially its leadership about as seriously as I take the WNBA.

  12. No dog in this fight but
    1) I have to wonder if Brady’s lead counsel was Lance Armstrong?
    2) This reminds me of the St. Louis Cardinals’ cheating scandal.. just what the hell could the reigning World Series Champs in 2012 learn from the LAstros, the worst team in baseball. How to lose?

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