Photo Credit: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images
Did you think the drama surrounding the New England Patriots was over? Well, unfortunately it’s not. ESPN just dropped some major allegations that the harsh punishment of “DeflateGate” which originally suspended quarterback Tom Brady for four games was a “make-up call” for the lax handling of “SpyGate”. You remember SpyGate back in 2007 the Patriots allegedly videotaped the New York Jets defensive coaches’ hand signals from their sideline.
Goodall held a private meeting with owners to discuss how to handle the situation. Head coach Bill Belichick ended up taking the blame, claiming ignorance. He was charged a pretty hefty fine and the team lost a first round draft pick. ESPN is alleging the scandal went much deeper than we originally thought. There was a room that only few Patriots executives, including Belichick, had access to that contained many videos of other teams’ signals. Upon finding this room, Goodell immediately had all contents destroyed. Destroying evidence Goodell? Not your best plan.
Facing serious backlash for his questionable handling of the scandal, Goodell vowed to show no mercy when another cheating scandal arose. Now, were finally back to the present with the Patriots being surrounded by cheating rumors once again. Long story short, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was suspended four games for altering game balls during the team’s AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. Brady fought the suspension in federal court and won the appeal and having the suspension lifted. Everyone should go home happy right? Goodell took a tough stance against the NFL”s “golden boy” and Brady got the suspension lifted and will play with added motivation this season, let’s all move forward. It’s never that easy.
Goodell appeared on ESPN radio’s Mike & Mike show this morning and admitted he would be open to giving up power when it comes to discipline. If you have a hard time believing that, you’re not alone. His reasoning for the change of heart is just as bizarre, “It’s become extremely time-consuming and I have to be focused on other issues and that’s what I’ve discussed with many of the owners over the last couple of years. We believe that a discipline officer or some type of panel that could make at least the initial decision and then designate on some type of appeal would be a better system.”
After all the melee this morning, the Patriots released a statement defending the team’s integrity. Read the statement below.
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[…] However, these issues could not have been discovered at a worse time and it only fuels what is already being said about the […]