The Tyranny of Cowards

After more than a week of reading various pieces deconstructing, ridiculing and metaphorically shredding the Wells Report on Deflategate, I have to say, I didn't see this coming.

We're not done, yet, of course. My understanding is that the Patriots cannot appeal the fine or the loss of draft picks but Tom Brady will appeal his suspension.

 

Jets fans are already planning on a 1-3 start for the Patriots. Colts fans are bracing themselves for Bill Belichick running up the score in Brady's return and then kicking Chuck Pagano in the nuts after the game. The Dolphins still haven't figure out what any of this means but they're pretty sure they'll lose their last three games and miss the playoffs, anyway. The League invoked Spygate in justifying the severity of the punishment handed down; I'm sure the other 31 franchises remembers what happened in 2007. Perhaps this time, New England will finish the job.

If Goodell thinks giving the rest of the league a four-game head start on the Patriots is enough, he's even dumber than I thought he was. Wait. Can you have a negative IQ? No? Okay, then he's just every bit as dumb as I thought he was.

If Goodell thinks taking a couple of draft picks away from Bill Belichick is going to keep him from fielding a championship caliber roster perhaps he's forgotten the Patriots are always picking at the bottom of the 1st round, anyway, and Belichick trades down and out about half the time as it is. So they won't have a 1st round pick in the 2016 draft. With compensatory picks in addition to the rest of their allotment that leaves them with, what, just 11 draft picks next year?  

As for the $1,000,000 fine, I hope Robert Kraft delivers it to the league office in pennies, the currency that best serves as an objective correlative for the disproportionate pettiness of the NFL's judgment.

There was nothing evenhanded about the Wells Report or the League's judgment. This wasn't just business; this was personal.

So, to all the fans of all the other teams in the NFL, enjoy this moment. And during the regular season, when the Patriots are beating your team by 37 points with under four minutes left in the 4th quarter and Belichick still has Brady in the game with the New England offense driving down the field to score yet another touchdown just remember who made that happen.

Goodell can only hope the Patriots do not win Super Bowl 50.