New England Patriots might go unscathed — and that’s deflating

http://www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-nfl-deflategate-plaschke-20150123-column.html

Bill Belichick played the rumpled dunce, wrinkled sweatshirt, rolled-up sleeves, the world’s most detailed football coach shrugging and sighing and professing to have no idea about footballs.

“I had no knowledge of the various steps involved in the game balls,” he said.

Tom Brady played the smiling fool, nifty ski cap, form-fitting sweats, slick and genial, one of the world’s greatest passers claiming he wasn’t always sure about the football he was passing.

“I’m not squeezing the balls, that’s not part of my process,” he said.

The two central figures in the New England Patriots football deflation scandal took two different approaches in separate news conferences Thursday, but the perception was the same.

They both came across like street-corner cheats.

Belichick was the old guy sitting at the card table with the shells. Brady was the young guy leaning against the wall with the dice. Their obliviousness was obviously orchestrated, yet they spun it in the cocksure manner of those who have done this before and know they will never get caught.

And, of course, they’re right. The worst thing about the news that the Patriots allegedly deflated 11 of 12 footballs by two pounds per square inch during their AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday — a clear violation of NFL rules — is that the league will let them get away with it.

You really think a league that has shrugged off domestic violence will actually care about pigskin poisoning? Oh sure, the Patriots might be fined a few bucks after the Super Bowl and, yeah, an equipment guy will probably eventually take the fall as with the USC deflation scandal, but the almighty duo of Belichick and Brady will remain untouched.

From the rule-breaking videotaping of opponents’ signals to unethical last-second substitution deceptions, the Patriots have created such a culture of subterfuge that before games, some opposing coaches put locks on their locker room doors. Yet with owner Robert Kraft protecting them by serving as a mentor to Commissioner Roger Goodell — why do you think Goodell amazingly destroyed the “Spygate” tapes? — Belichick and Brady will proudly march to Arizona next week to stare down Seattle and attempt to win their fourth Super Bowl championship together, equaling records for both coach and quarterback.

Go, Seahawks.

The deflated footballs, which were less than their minimum weight of 12.5 pounds per square inch and generally improve grip on cold and rainy days, were certainly not the reason the Patriots wiped out the Colts, 45-7. In fact, once the deflated footballs were discovered, they were replaced at halftime with the Patriots leading 17-7.

The deflated footballs had little to do with that specific game, but they have everything to do with the rules. Even for just 30 scoreboard minutes, even with a dominant team that didn’t need the edge, the rules were broken and an advantage was taken. We have to wonder: How often have the Patriots been doing this, anyway? Just saying, but the Patriots running backs did not lose a single fumble this season, and their team was the second-best in the league in ball protection with just four fumbles lost.

The weight of the football is governed by a rule, and how is breaking that rule any different from a baseball hitter’s using a corked bat or a pitcher’s throwing a ball covered in pine tar? Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs was once suspended seven days for the bat, and the New York Yankees’ Michael Pineda was kicked out for 10 days for the pine tar. If a similar punishment were assessed in football, either Belichick or Brady would be forced to miss the Super Bowl. Yeah, and Janet Jackson is going to make a surprise appearance at the halftime show.

Quarterbacks have been scrambling out of the woodwork this week to claim that everyone alters footballs. Critics of the rule have quickly observed that the NFL fines teams only $25,000 with potentially more discipline for breaking the rule. But it’s still a rule, and it was still broken by team that seems consistently to skirt the rules, and at what point does the NFL decide that fair play outweighs gross revenue?

In his news conference, Belichick described in detail how he doctors the practice footballs to make them as difficult to handle as possible. But when it comes to the 12 footballs from Sunday’s game, he said he had no idea how they looked. Huh?

“I can tell you that in my entire coaching career, I have never talked to any player [or] staff member about football air pressure,” he said, adding, “We play with what’s out there.”

No wonder that even the circumspect former Dolphins coach Don Shula refers to Belichick as “Belicheat.”

In his ensuing news conference, the detail-oriented Brady said he likes footballs at exactly the 12.5-PSI minimum, but then he said he never really notices their size. Really?

“I get the snap, I drop back, I throw the ball,” he said. “I don’t sit there and squeeze it and try to determine that.”

Meanwhile, on Dallas Sports Radio 1310, former Super Bowl champion quarterback Troy Aikman simply said, “For the balls to be deflated, that doesn’t happen unless the quarterback wants that to happen, I can assure you of that.”

The overall assurances from Belichick and Brady on another dark day in the history of the New England Patriots were far different.

Said Belichick: “I never touched a game ball. It’s not something that I have any familiarity with on that.”

Said Brady: “I have no idea what happened.”

There is no questioning the football abilities of the greatest coach-player combination in NFL history. But sadly, their legacy will be stained with their belief that they are bigger than the league, bigger than the sport, big enough to stretch their entitled culture far beyond its rules.

Once again, when it comes to the integrity of the great Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, you can stick a pin in it.

from off the net

—
thehammer

senior Bowl week

players who caught eye so far

oline day 1 starters
saw someone posted Rams were talking to Max Garcia…good, started a thread about him 2/3 weeks ago..great practice and a day one starter at center

want a day one starter at rt? Haverstein and either Daryl Williams…..Haverstein has looked very good so far

G Laken Thomlinson..only olineman strong enough to handle Shelton…doesn’t run well, struggles to hit players on the 2nd level but absolutely rules his turf inside the pocket…..also Tre Jackson looks to be a day one starter..surprised how well he has handled speed in 1v1 drills

OT..Lael Collins as looked good and Clemmings as really struggled..Myers and Marpet look to be good developmental prospects…Day and Shepherd are nice players

TE best Clive Warfold ..looks very good best later rd guy Boyle

LB Stephone Anthony a 3 down at mlb..Luc as a 2 down thumper, Hauoli Kikaha, Lorenzo Mauldin

FS …Damarious Randall ..elite cover skills for a fs…great fit for the rams

WR great list….Justin Hardy, Devin Smith,Sammie Coates, Tyler Lockett, Antwan Goodley, Vince Mayle, Phillip Dorsett, Rannell Hall and Jamison Crowder ..outstanding group of wideouts

RB Ameer Abdullah(even looked good blocking lbers) David Cobb, Jeremy Langford

DT Danny Shelton(easily best player ), Carl Davis elite measureables and play

DE Za’Darius Smith ..want a lde?

CB none have looked great Imoan Claiborne has size and a nice burst..Quentin Rollins looks very raw..question his deep speed

PA Ram wrote:

If they were both playing with deflated balls how did one team have an advantage?

This doesn’t really answer your question. Just more info.

Mark Brunell discusses the advantage of using a football that is underinflated and what he preferred to use when he played.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:12203979

.,

wv wrote:

Give the Devil his due.

w
v

Yeah. Allow him to introduce himself.

GreatRamNTheSky wrote:

You ask me to keep it fun when I have people like 21Dog is known to make negative comments on anything I post. Including comments about an obviously qualified person such as Lee Steinberg who respected by many. Or did you not read 21Dog’s comments.
Keeping it fun goes both ways.

Grits

Well, the negative comments we want to watch out for are about other posters.

We all have to live with other posters making negative comments about players, coaches, writers, and public figures that we, as individuals, often like or respect. But people have a right to say those things. What we do in response is just disagree. So for example, “hey poster X, you say LS is a windbag, I say he is a respected public figure.” ‘

I know it can be a fine line sometimes.

BTW I hope I deleted the right post? (?) (As per your request).

Overall btw I think the discussions are holding up when it comes to civility and mutual respect. And I should add here, Grits, that you make a lot of unique good contributions to the board, like the eulogies to Rams players who have passed on, among other things.

Rams ready to ‘shop’ at Senior Bowl

By Jim Thomas

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/football/professional/rams-ready-to-shop-at-senior-bowl/article_72a91c35-0b09-5fd4-bdf6-3e0ac155d7cc.html

The Rams have done a fair amount of “shopping” at the Senior Bowl since general manager Les Snead and coach Jeff Fisher took over the program in 2012.

Among the Senior Bowl players the team ended up drafting are defensive tackle Aaron Donald, safety T.J. McDonald, cornerback Janoris Jenkins, wide receiver Brian Quick and running back Isaiah Pead. Obviously, some have worked out better than others.

“Never do you have a preference for a senior,” Snead said. “I think though, when you take a senior vs. a younger kid, you usually know that senior is probably gonna be more ready to play than the younger kid.

“Now there’s a lot of young kids (underclassmen) coming out. We see the names every day. So you better be able to work it both ways.”

But the approach in player development usually differs between the drafted senior as compared to the drafted underclassmen.

“I’ve used this example many times in Aaron (Donald) and Greg (Robinson); Greg being a redshirt sophomore, Aaron being a four-year starter,” Snead said.

In essence, Donald started twice as many college games as Robinson, and partly as a result of that extra college experience arrived in the NFL as a more polished product.

“Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take Greg,” Snead said. “It just means Greg’s gonna learn some of the things that Aaron learned in those (last two seasons in college) out here in the NFL. So you just have to have a different plan for success. Historically, I think seniors are more mentally mature and ready than the younger kids.”

In the case of Senior Bowl alums Donald, Jenkins and McDonald, for example, all came into the NFL as day one starters. But early success obviously isn’t an absolute for seniors. It took Quick until his third NFL season to blossom into an opening-day starter.

As the draft evaluation process hits high gear in Mobile, Ala., annual site of the Senior Bowl, the Rams already have their draft board trimmed to fewer than 500 prospects.

It was set for the first time last summer and trimmed down and altered in December. There will be a re-set of sorts after this month’s college all-star games, and another after the NFL scouting combine in late February. And then one final one in the spring after the campus pro days and private workouts.

Usually, the December board turns out to be the most accurate, Snead said, only half-joking.

“Because — guess what? — that’s them playing football,” he said.

In contrast, the combine and pro days and private workouts are all about stopwatches, agility drills and interviews. At least at the Senior Bowl, and the few other college all-star events, players are getting after each other in practice and playing a game at the end of the week.

As the most prestigious of the all-star games in terms of getting better talent, the Senior Bowl is a valuable measuring stick.

“They get to go compete against guys that are gonna be in the NFL,” Snead said. “So you get to go and see their competitiveness.”

You see wide receivers work against press coverage, something that doesn’t happen much in college. Running backs working on blitz pickup and catching passes out of the backfield.

And quarterbacks from spread offenses lining up under center and throwing into windows that are already tighter than what they saw most of the time in college.

As the Fisher-Snead regime prepares for its fourth season in St. Louis, Snead said the Rams’ personnel department and coaching staff have a sense for what the Rams’ roster is and isn’t.

“You’ve got a good feel now for who they are, what our strengths are, what our weaknesses are,” he said. “What players’ roles are. So it gets a little, probably, clearer to say, ‘Hey, we’ve got specific needs. Let’s go address that.’”

So it’s less about amassing quantity, which was one of the goals of the Robert Griffin III trade — to replenish a talent-depleted roster — and more about addressing specific needs on a roster that in general has fewer holes than a year, or two, or three years ago.

And with only five picks at the moment — the team could be awarded an extra compensatory pick or two at the owners meetings in March — the Rams need to hit on most of those picks.

One of the biggest needs obviously is a quarterback, and there should be some intriguing possibilities at the Senior Bowl even though it’s not regarded as a strong or deep draft at the position.

Baylor’s Bryce Petter, Oregon State’s Sean Mannion, Colorado State’s Garrett Grayson and East Carolina’s Shane Carden are among the QBs expected to attend.

The Rams almost certainly will be looking at the offensive line once again, particularly on the interior, but also at the tackle position.

Then again, this could be the year where someone like Donald stands out at the Senior Bowl. On paper, defensive tackle didn’t shape up as a huge position of need for the Rams a year ago. But the Rams certainly aren’t sorry they made that pick.

The lone University of Missouri participant this year is defensive end Markus Golden, who could be a first-round selection.

Checking in on Rams’ offensive coordinator search

By Nick Wagoner

http://espn.go.com/blog/st-louis-rams/post/_/id/15539/checking-in-on-rams-offensive-coordinator-search

EARTH CITY, Mo. — Real, tangible news on the St. Louis Rams’ search for an offensive coordinator has been difficult to uncover.

That’s probably by the design of head coach Jeff Fisher, who surprised many last year when he and Gregg Williams solved whatever issues they had and reunited in St. Louis after Fisher relieved Tim Walton of his defensive coordinator duties.

After Brian Schottenheimer departed for the offensive coordinator job at Georgia, I wrote in this space that it’s probably best not to expect Fisher’s search to play out publicly or swiftly. That isn’t how he’s handled things in the past, and it again doesn’t appear to be the case this time around.

Schottenheimer’s departure came nearly two weeks ago, and to this point it’s been hard to confirm any actual interviews taking place, though we do know of a few names the Rams have shown interest in or spoken to in some capacity. That list includes Greg Roman, Kyle Shanahan, Nathaniel Hackett and Adam Gase.

Roman never made it to a Rams interview, taking the coordinator job in Buffalo. The Rams requested an interview with Gase, but it’s unknown if that will happen. He’s received similar overtures from Atlanta, Jacksonville, Oakland and Chicago and interviewed for the head-coaching job in Denver, so he has no shortage of options. It appears he’s also going to be a strong candidate in Baltimore after Gary Kubiak moves on to Denver and Jacksonville is in better position than many might realize after Gase interviewed there Sunday. Gase has family in the Jacksonville area.

Shanahan is a name that has obvious ties to Fisher, but he looks to be headed to Atlanta with Dan Quinn if and when the Falcons hire Quinn as head coach. That can’t officially happen until after the Super Bowl but the Falcons can hire Shanahan before then.

A few others to keep an eye on include an in-house candidate in tight ends coach Rob Boras and Indianapolis special assistant Rob Chudzinski. Chudzinski is also expected to be a factor in San Francisco’s search but NFL Network reported Monday morning that the Rams have asked for permission to interview Chudzinski. It was also thought that Fisher might have a surprise candidate or two up his sleeve in the form of a current position coach somewhere in the league. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Rams have requested permission to talk to Green Bay quarterback coach Alex Van Pelt, who would fit that bill.

It’s possible more clarity could come this week as the Rams head to the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. It’s a place where plenty of NFL business gets taken care of, so even if the Rams don’t nail down their next coordinator, other dominoes could fall that might ultimately help render a decision.