Boom!

Roger Goodell and Troy Vincent dropped the hammer on the New England Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady for violating an 80-year old air pressure rule. A rule that few knew existed until this past January. The Patriots will be fined $1 million and will forfeit a 2016 first round pick and a 2017 fourth round pick. Brady will be suspended without pay for four games for violating the NFL policy on the integrity of the game. Integrity of the game? That's a lofty title for an air pressure range that came from a manufacturers recommendation. A manufacturer that hasn't manufactured an NFL football since 1939. The supposedly improper handling of the football might be the headline reason for Brady's punishment but it's his withholding of his cellphone that's probably the real reason. The NFL doesn't like to be told that they can't have something.  

In my book, the punishment doesn't fit the crime. Most will focus on Brady's portion of the punishment. Four games? An appeal could knock it down to two. Maybe not. Who knows? We certainly won't know for a while. The NFL rarely handles these things in a timely manner. If it remains at four games those games will pass quickly enough. The Patriots often spend the first four games of each season trying to figure out what sort of football team they're going to be. If Brady can catch up with the team they'll be fine. Matt Cassel led the team to an 11-5 record in Brady's absence in 2008. This Patriots team is better than that Patriots team and Jimmy Garoppolo is a better quarterback than Cassel was at that time. The punishment that absolutely doesn't fit the crime is the one brought down on the Patriots franchise. A million bucks, a first round pick, and a fourth round pick? Seriously? It's my understanding that Bill Belichick and the team have been exonerated from any involvement in the air pressure shenanigans. Punishing the team for what a player may or may not have done makes little sense. It's like punishing a team because one of their players took a PED. I've never seen a team punished for the actions of a player. Especially after that team has been exonerated of any involvement. The Patriots are likely being punished for creating an environment in which the line between right and wrong is often blurred a bit. If that's the case, that's fine. Then say that's the reason. It's still pretty shaky but at least the league would be honest about it. The Patriots, as a franchise, did nothing to warrant the punishment handed them. A million bucks and a couple of top picks is a ridiculous punishment. That challenges the integrity of the NFL more than anything that may or may not have taken place in New England.

Enough already. It sure would be nice to have a football season, offseason too, without any of these sideshows. In the past year we've had enough to last about ten years.