Punishment Pending


"Cheating is not good, especially when you've got guys who are working their butts off for 365 days out of the year and one person cheats — whether it helps them win the Super Bowl or not, they still cheated and shouldn't be a champion." — Emmanuel Sanders, Denver Broncos receiver

It's been months since the Super Bowl, we're on the eve of Training Camps beginning, and the Deflategate saga still hasn't been settled. The Patriots have been fined, and Tom Brady has been suspended. A giant report was released — albeit one that didn't make any truly definitive findings. And now Brady has had his appeal and we await a final sentencing.

The New England Patriots are Super Bowl champions, and no one will take that away from them. No matter how Sanders or others might feel. And at this point, while I still think cheating is deplorable, no matter how much you may or may not have benefitted, I don't see the point in continuing to re-hash this story.

It's "more probable than not" that the Patriots deflated footballs in the AFC title game. It's "more probably than not" that Brady knew it was happening or had some role in it. It's "more probable than not" that the Patriots would have beaten the Colts anyway.

And I'll add this — it's "more probable than not" that Brady's four-game suspension will be reduced. In fact, I'd be more surprised if it remains. I think it's more likely he gets two games, or possibly one game. But I wouldn't even rule out his suspension going away all together.

We'll never know for sure what happened in that game, what the Patriots did or were trying to do, and what Brady's role was. But we know the team won the Super Bowl, and they'll enter the 2015 season as the reigning champions. Beyond that, does any of this really matter still?

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