THE BRADLEY PRINCIPLE

In 1967, Bill Bradley was in the Air Force Reserve for six months.  During that time he showed up at one of the base gyms to shoot some hoops.  He took about three shots and then announced that the basketball rim was ¼ inch too low.  The maintenance crew got out a ladder and a tape measure and sure enough the rim was ¼ inch too low.  They adjusted the hoop to the right height and Bradley resumed shooting baskets.  That was when I learned that professional athletes are nothing like the rest of us. I am pretty sure hundreds, if not thousands, of people used that gym and no one noticed that ¼ inch. But to Bill Bradley, this was really obvious.

This is why I do not believe Tom Brady.  I don’t believe him when he says he didn’t notice any difference in the footballs during the second half. Brady described picking out footballs five hours before the game.  He explained that because footballs are made out of leather, each one is unique.  He carefully picked out the ones that felt just right to him. I think that Brady knew that the balls were underinflated and that it was exactly what he wanted.

This was a really important game and the Patriots equipment staff was focused on Tom Brady and how he was throwing the football.  Brady wouldn’t even have to say anything. All that was necessary was to have one ball slip out of his hand during a throw and the equipment staff would know what to do.

None of the footballs used by the Baltimore Colts were underinflated, so you can’t blame this on the weather.  Someone deliberately deflated those footballs. Regardless of whether or not it affects the final outcome, it is against the rules and it is cheating. The NFL is caught between a rock and a hard place.  They don’t have enough evidence to suspend anyone before the Superbowl. I’m pretty sure they don’t want to have enough evidence between now and the Superbowl. They will assign this to some committee that will investigate later.  There will be outrage and someone will be fined.  Next year, there will be a change in the rules designed to prevent this from happening again.

The Patriots are playing well and they just may win the Superbowl, but they will still be losers in my book.  What a shame. There is a clear pattern here.  This is not exactly the first time the Patriots got caught cheating. They didn’t need to cheat, but they did. Character counts! Go Seahawks.

TDM