Loose Talk: The Editors’ Take
The verdict has been reached, the punishment enforced and the backlash has ensued. Roger Goodell and the NFL hit the Patriots with some bad news on Monday regarding the infamous Deflategate scandal. The Patriots were given a sizeable fine of one million dollars (although Robert Kraft likely spends that on a night out with Donald Trump) and had a first round pick in the 2016 draft and a fourth rounder in the 2017 draft taken away, but most troubling punishment is that Tom Brady has been suspended for the first four games of the 2015 season.
While I would argue this is about as bad as it could have gotten for my Patriots, many would argue that a much harsher punishment should have been handed out. Some argued for an eight or ten game suspension, or even for him to be suspended for the whole year. Others said that coach Bill Belichick should have also received a heavy fine and suspension. Many of these claims are outlandish and dumb, but many so-called “experts” said this.
It may seem so, but this is not the end of the Patriots as we know them. Brady’s suspension does hurt, but trust me, they’ll be fine. The first reason is that Brady has declared that he will appeal the suspension. He hired Jeffrey Kessler as his main lawyer, the man who represented Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, Greg Hardy and Jonathan Vilma when he was suspended for the Saints’ Bountygate scandal in 2011. Kessler reduced the penalties of all of those players significantly in their appeals. So it is highly possible that Brady’s suspension could get reduced to two games.
Even if Brady loses the appeal, the Patriots will be fine. The schedule is in their favor this season. The Dolphins and Bills might both be capable of winning eleven games or so this season, but the Patriots still are as well. The four games Brady will miss are home against Pittsburgh, at Buffalo, home against Jacksonville and at Dallas. Don’t forget that the Steelers will be missing their stud running back Le’Veon Bell due to his drug-related suspension, which will leave them without a ton of options offensively.
If there were ever a year that would be best for this penalty to be handed out, this one is the most in the Patriots’ favor. After a tough game in Indianapolis in week 6, which will be Brady’s return game, the schedule gets very easy. The Patriots could easily go 10-2 in their last twelve games.
Call me an optimist, because I can pull another bright spot out of this situation: the Jimmy Garopolo era has begun. Not really, but it will be a fun four games seeing if Garopolo has what it takes to play in the NFL. Garopolo will be tested early against the Bills’ scary defense.
The biggest implication of Deflategate is it has, in many eyes, tarnished Brady, Belichick and the Patriots’ legacy. Many have asked how Ray Rice can get a two game suspension for knocking out his fiancé while Brady gets a four for only allegedly being involved in deflating some footballs in a game that was so lopsided it didn’t matter. Part of the reason is likely that the Patriots have been accused of bending and breaking rules so many times that these penalties are in reaction to all of those cases.
But has this destroyed Brady’s legacy? It shouldn’t, of course. It is absurd to me that people are suggesting it. It’s even worse that the idea is being tossed around that he might no longer even be considered a first-ballot hall of famer. Are you kidding me? A top two quarterback of all time shouldn’t be a first ballot hall of famer?!
Let’s look at the facts: the Patriots’ footballs were underinflated in the first half, but they were reinflated in the second half, the half in which the Patriots blew open the game, outscoring the Colts 28-0; several of the Colts’ footballs were also found to be underinflated, and that was also in the second half. Atmospheric conditions, the cold weather mainly, probably deflated the balls. Brady actually played better in the second half with the reinflated footballs, so who’s to say it was that advatageous? The proposition that Brady is a cheater is one that fans of other teams like to make to find some reason that the Brady and the Patriots can maintain success.
Deflategate is sad. The Patriots will be fine. Brady is still the best ever. Case closed.