What is wrong with your balls?

The NFL has been in the news a lot this season. I already wrote about the Ray Rice issue. There are a ton of pressing issues in the league right now. A lot of players have addiction issue, there are PED’s being used, and more and more domestic violence claims unsettled. With all of this going on the powers that be are attacking the Patriots for deflating footballs during the game.

During the AFC championship game on Sunday January 18, 2015, between New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts, the New England Patriots used balls that were under-inflated. They were not inflated to the league minimum. When a ball is under inflated it gives the players a better grip on the ball. The quarterback can get a better grip for passing the ball and the receivers can catch the ball better. From where I sit this did not cost the Indianapolis Colts the game.

The referee’s inspected the balls at half time. They noticed the balls were under-inflated and replaced them with balls that met the requirement. After this happened the New England Patriots still outscored the Indianapolis Colts 28-0 in the second half. If you are looking at throwing a game out because of an issue that could have impacted the game, then look at how the game went after the issue was noticed.

The other issue I have with this is people calling for a ban from the Super Bowl for the Patriots. You have got to be fucking kidding me. What happens when you do this? Do you just award the Seattle Seahawks the game? Do you make them champions on the count of forfeit? Do you put in the Colts who, after the balls were discovered as being altered, didn’t play well enough to win the game? If you want to fine the Patriots, suspend some people, take away draft pick, or all three then that is fine. Just think about things before you start handing out ridiculous punishments. Although it wouldn’t be the first time the NFL dropped the ball if they get this one wrong too. However, this is just the opinion of one asshole. It won’t amount to much in the long haul. It makes me feel better to get it off my chest though.

An Assholes Take on the Ray Rice Debacle

Do you take away a man’s livelihood for one mistake? How do you judge when something is bad enough to keep a man from earning money to support a family? I am not sure that the correct due process was taken when it comes to Ray Rice. Yes, domestic violence is a horrible thing but does it warrant the punishment he was given?

I want to start out by saying that in no way do I condone domestic violence. With that being said is it enough to take away a man’s livelihood? To me I don’t think so. People are allowed to make mistakes. No one is perfect. I think there should have been a suspension but I am not sure that he should have been suspended, fired, and shunned from the league. That was overkill. Worse things have happened and men have been allowed to continue to play. Yes, that’s right, I said worse. To me being investigated for murder is worse than this situation. Look, I see it like this, if his wife can forgive him for it then why can’t we? Would we like to have everyone jump on use and take everything away just because we made a mistake?

Everything was funky in this entire situation. First Rice was suspended for two games. I didn’t think it was enough and I still don’t. I would have been ok with 8 to 16 games for the suspension. Maybe even a ban from being able to play if Baltimore made it to the playoffs. I think the Ravens jumped the gun in releasing Rice too. Let due process play out. Once again, if his wife isn’t holding it against him why should he be stopped from making money?

If players are going to be dumped from the league for breaking the law then at least make it uniform across the league. Greg Hardy was convicted and is appealing his domestic violence charge and he is has a job.  He may be inactive right now but he is still able to put food on the table for his family.

I think the NFL dropped the ball here big time. Not only did they punish Ray Rice multiple times for the same offense, but they couldn’t get their own story straight after America showed outrage over it all. Roger Goodell said that Sean Payton should have known what was going on with his team during the bounty scandal, so what makes this any different than that. The NFL is Goodell’s “team” so, to use his own words, if he didn’t know what exactly was going on then he should have. Suspending Ray Rice pending an investigation into the matter would have been enough initially. Then after all the details came out you could have handed down whatever punishment you wanted. This is just the opinion of one man but I have a feeling more folks are out there that believe the same thing. The difference is, I have the balls to say it.