As for Brady's innocence, if he wasn't guilty, why the hell would the NFL go after one of their biggest stars and draws?
The minute someone went to Bob Kravitz with the story, Goodell had to not only act, but over-react. It's all about PR and image with that clown. Think about the perceptions of Goodell the day before the AFCCG. 1) He was regarded as incompetent and self-serving due to the way he handled the Rice case and due to the utterly laughable Mueller report (in which, I might add,
league executives were NOT required to divulge information from their personal phones - scroll down to item 4). 2) He was regarded as being way too cozy with Bob Kraft, and there was certainly the perception that the Patriots got preferential treatment from him because of it.
While I'm sure he would have preferred the whole story had stayed private, once it was public, he couldn't appear to go light on the Patriots, no matter what the infraction was. Despite a clear history of not really caring about ball psi or ball tampering prior to the AFCCG, Goodell decided to go full-on PR mode. He shot an arrow and paid Ted Wells 5 million dollars to draw a bullseye around it. The relative importance of ball tampering became irrelevant. The fact that two teams openly tampering with balls during a game received only a warning, the fact that a Jets ballboy was suspended for improperly preparing a kicking ball with no ensuing investigation into the kicker became irrelevant. If Goodell wanted to get some positive PR, he had to come down hard on both Brady and the team. So, the league went into full-on spin mode. Each leak from the league was clearly designed to make Brady look as guilty as possible. Wells hired a firm known to say exactly what they are paid to say. He also ignored an answer given by Walt Anderson and inserted his own answer, one which better fit the narrative. Everything was calculated to make the punishment handed down look as warranted as possible.
Of course, in the court of public opinion, he almost needn't have bothered. Once the patently false Mort Anderson leak went out, that was it. No other information would ever change the perception that those rotten Patriots had cheated again. The multiple missteps by the league in this farce of an investigation go completely ignored by many, because they only care about seeing the Patriots punished.
Do I think Brady was aware of ball tampering? Sure. Maybe not in the AFCCG, since the science just doesn't support it, but in other games, especially after the game against the Jets where the refs pumped them up to 16 psi (also illegal, but add that to the list of things few people care about). Do I think the punishment handed down was reasonable? Not even remotely. First of all, the Wells Report cleared both Belichick and the team of any knowledge or culpability, but that didn't stop
Troy Vincent err, Goodell from giving them a massive fine and taking away two draft picks. Secondly, prior instances of both ball tampering and non-cooperation received much lighter punishments (and as an aside, it's horrifying to me how few people seem to care that Goodell openly said he thinks ball tampering is far worse than sexual harassment). The contrived outrage that this tempest in a teapot has created is beyond absurd. The league allows teams a ridiculous amount of access to the balls - but then it's this big moral crisis when teams take liberties with the balls? Really? Had the punishment fit the crime, then it's more than likely that this wouldn't have gotten so out of hand (and yes, I agree that had Brady not given McNally and Jastremski orders, direct or indirect, to tamper with the balls after the ref inspection, we also wouldn't be here). But of course the people who still don't understand Spygate and were still bringing it up eight years later to explain away every moment of New England's success would have howled and said it just confirms everything they thought true in the wake of the Rice case and Mueller report.
Shield protected.
EDIT: It's nice to see
that
Sally Jenkins continues to get it.
