Blog Post #9

        Deflategate has been going on for a couple months now. It is an issue where supposedly the Patriots deflated their footballs before their game against the Colts. Deflated footballs help the teams grip leading to fewer fumbles. Because of the accusation, the Patriots were blamed of cheating their way to victory with a final score of 45-7. After this issue, the Patriots were also accused of deflating their footballs for previous games too. Now, Tom Brady is being accused of setting up the deflation before the game with Jim McNally, sports equipment manager, deflating the balls. He was found guilty of setting this up and has a 4-game suspension and the Patriots have to pay a 1 million dollar fine. Some people agree Brady is guilty while others think he is innocent. The topic deflategate has brought up a lot of controversy throughout America. 

       Personally, I think Brady is not guilty. There is some evidence against him, but not all of it is very specific. For example, some people are suspicious just because he did not want to turn in his phone for someone to search through. His personal information is on there and it is understandable that he does no want random people searching through everything. If the Patriots had not won the Super Bowl, this issue would not have been still ongoing. They would not have searched so closely for all of this evidence. Everything has been so blown out of proportion and should not be taken this far. Tom Brady is not guilty and should be let off of the accusation.

       The punishment is not justifiable for Tom Brady's breaking of the rules. There is not enough solid evidence against him. The only bit of evidence is that he was talking with McNally before and after the game. There is no proof McNally deflated the balls for Tom. Brady's punishment of a 4-game suspension is taking things way too far. Because of the lack of evidence, the suspension should be held off. Also, the 1 million dollar fine is too much because the Patriots supposedly did not know about the deflation of the balls. They should not be punished especially if there is no solid evidence against them. 

       There could be a much better solution to this problem. Instead of the 4-game suspension, the case should be looked at more thoroughly. If Brady is still found guilty, the suspension should be shorter like 1 or 2 games. With a 4-game suspension, Brady would be missing a total of 1/4 of the season. He is a vital player to the team and without him, they would not do as well. Also, the fine of 1 million dollars is a little too high. Without all of the evidence, the fine should be lowered to about 500,000 which is half. Everything is being blown out  proportion and a new solution to deflategate should be made.