Deflatgate, The Final Word…Yeah Right

August 22, 2015

Deflated balls, deflated Roger Goodell, deflated Tom Brady makes for a deflated story. I will say my last word on this sad saga of the football that didn't have enough air in it. Sadly, the NFL has created one of the more pathetic news stories centered around one of the most useless and under-blown circumstances in my lifetime. I thought long and hard to find such a silly little affair that caused a quagmire of tomfoolery and buffoonery. Hmm, maybe in baseball, the George Steinbrenner era when he held court for embarrassing behavior or perhaps the Terrell Owens incident of the 49ers when he signed footballs in the end zone, or maybe it was the juiced baseballs of Coors field that explained the home run totals.

The NFL is having a bad couple of years due to off-the-field circumstances and players' misadventures. Unfortunately, the league office is also looking dumb because they don't know whether they should do nothing, make a mountain out of a molehill or hand down a harsh whooping. These days when the is NFL is making more money than 9/10 of the countries in the world, they have some growing pains.

Giving Tom Brady a four-game suspension because he supposedly knew about deflated balls is a harsh penalty. Here is the Super Bowl MVP, icon of the league, poster boy for good sportsmanship, and you humiliate him. Maybe Tom shouldn't have destroyed his phone, but then again, perhaps he had some pictures on it he couldn't explain. I wouldn't want anybody to see some jib-jab on my phone, and I'm only an average everyday Joe Smoe.

So, the season is just a few weeks away, and I can assure you something else will happen like another domestic dispute, drug suspension, concussions, cheerleader misconduct, referee mayhem, National Anthem inappropriateness, etc. But the kick-offs will be kicked, and beer will flow, and the yelling will begin, and the NFL will be king again while no one watches the World Series and the Rugby World Cup is broadcasted on an obscure channel in an Irish pub.