Deflategate--the gift that keeps on giving

Why Roger Goodell might be in tough spot on Tom Brady suspension

Tom Brady is said to be seeking total exoneration, and it appears he’s entitled to it. The idea that Brady and the New England Patriots intentionally deflated footballs for a competitive advantage has been discredited by everyone from sidewalk chemists to Web physicists to unlicensed ceramicists, not to mention your own common sense. But most importantly, it is utterly shredded in a new scientific analysis by the American Enterprise Institute, which shows the only inflation problem is in NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s head.

The NFL paid millions for a fundamentally flawed report by lawyer Ted Wells that made Brady and the Patriots out to be slam-dunk guilty, based on more than 100 pages of mathematical analysis of ball pressurization . . . that turns out to be erroneous. The AEI’s report totally rejects the finding that the footballs used by the Patriots in the AFC championship game had a significant drop in air pressure compared with those used by the Colts. But the truly damning sentence is this one, buried in its erudite phrasings and equations: “The Wells report’s statistical analysis cannot be replicated by performing the analysis as described in the report,” the AEI concludes.

Basically, the math didn’t add up. It’s a standard principle in science: If you can’t replicate a set of results, then there is a problem with it. A flaw or a fraud is at work. Either you made a mistake, or you made it up...

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stevenaa said:

destroying the phone was an impactful act regardless of why he destroyed it.

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The NFL’s final decision includes the following: “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.”

That could serve as a major problem for Brady in an effort to vacate the final decision. Essentially, it could be determined that Brady engaged in spoliation of evidence — that he violated a duty to preserve evidence (his cellphone and its roughly 10,000 text messages) during the pendency of the investigation and during his appeal of the four game suspension. Courts have treated spoliation of evidence in different ways and will, at times, sanction an individual for purposefully destroying what could be meaningful evidence. Here, the NFL maintains that the text messages expressly referred to inflation and deflation of footballs as well as “needles” in the context of deflating footballs. A court of law may look at this and be reluctant to vacate a decision; it does not make Brady appear to have been acting in good faith when he failed to hold on to highly relevant evidence with knowledge of the likelihood of an appeal and an adverse decision.

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Fear The Spear said:

Also, steve, if we use that same criteria you suggested to other players, then Crowder would be disciplined.
Crowder immediately deleted his instagram account and all those pictures. That was certainly an "impactful act" upon the investigation. And since it's "regardless of why he destroyed it", then the act alone would be grounds for discipline, based on your above criteria.

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