Guilty by Proxy

So, let me get this straight. The New England Patriots are guilty because Spygate. And Tom Brady is guilty because he's an arrogant prick.

Okay…

 

The League in its Deflategate judgment and the pigskin pundits and bobbleheads chiming in with their "the Patriots have only themselves to blame" argument must realize (maybe not) they're implicitly acknowledging the lack of evidence the Patriots and Brady actually did anything wrong. Absent proof, they're being punished simply because they're the Patriots: There's no other explanation for their sustained excellence than cheating. It couldn't be that they're smarter or better coached or work harder or have the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. Come on! That's just ridiculous! They must be cheating. It's the only conclusion that makes sense! [Insert sarcasm emoji here.] Super Bowl 49 ratings notwithstanding, the Pats are bad for business. The parity business, that is. I'll bet you've been waiting and hoping and yearning and pining for that Jacksonville Jaguars-Minnesota Vikings Super Bowl match-up every bit as much as I have.

Is this fair? Well, as Einstein noted, that all depends on where you're standing.

At moments like this, it's worth remembering this is an arbitrary universe we live in and we're only along for the ride. Expecting the petty gods that rule the pigskin world to do any better than an earthquake- and tsunami-wielding Yahweh and his gun-toting, misogynistic, child-molesting, homophobic, racist followers is kind of crazy. It's a low bar but even I would admit the NFL looks better by comparison.

As for the temerity of Tom Brady to refuse to hand over his personal email and text messages despite the assurances of safeguards for any cute-as-puppies notes between him and Giselle, these are the same guys who – from the very beginning and throughout the investigation – leaked information like the Titanic, post-iceberg. Would you, whether you are or aren't an arrogant prick, trust those guys with your non-public personal information?

It's hard to challenge the NFL's assertion that Brady wasn't fully honest (given that little to nothing of his day-long Q&A with Wells, et al. was included in the report) but I have to think that's coded language for "the arrogant prick refused to confess!"

Quick Aside: Can anyone point me to the "arrogant prick" codicils of the NFL Rule Book? Anyone? No?

Let's remember this: The Wells Report provided no concrete evidence that Tom Brady or the New England Patriots did anything to compromise the integrity of the game. In fact, depending on the gauge used to measure the footballs, it proved New England's game balls were – more likely than not – inflated to the minimum 12.5 PSI standard before the start of the AFC Championship. The Wells Report did confirm the League had suspicions the Patriots were tampering with the air pressure in their footballs and willfully put the sanctity of the game at risk rather than notify New England of those suspicions or take the precautionary step of gauging the air pressure of the Pats' game balls just before kickoff.

In other words, the only person proven to have put the full faith and credit of the NFL at risk is Roger Goodell. Just as Robert Kraft is held accountable for everything that any employee of the New England Patriots does, so too should Goodell be held to account for the actions of any member of the league office.

Given this, shouldn't he have to step down?