[Elvis]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... t-on-weei/

Mortensen to address initial #DeflateGate report on WEEI

Posted by Mike Florio on July 30, 2015, 7:36 PM EDT

The #DeflateGate debacle instantly transformed from a strange curiosity into a full-blown controversy the moment Chris Mortensen of ESPN reported that 11 of 12 Patriots footballs were 2.0 pounds under the 12.5 PSI minimum. Mortensen has never address or explained the story publicly.

On Friday morning, he will. During a 7:45 a.m. ET appearance on WEEI radio in Boston.

The theory, as echoed by Patriots owner Robert Kraft on Wednesday, is that the NFL deliberately leaked false information to Mortensen. At a minimum, the NFL failed to dispute or to correct the erroneous report, with the Patriots not knowing the true reading until late March and the rest of us not knowing the truth until the release of the Ted Wells report in May.

The impact of the false report cannot be understated. The information caused many to assume that tampering with the footballs had occurred. The only remaining unknowns were the identity of the deflator (maybe it was “the Deflator”) and those who knew about it.

The information also put the Patriots on their heels at a critical stage of the investigation. Tom Brady’s awkward press conference only two days later was likely extra awkward because he believed, as did everyone else, that someone put a needle in those balls and released two pounds of air pressure. Brady likely continued to be under that false impression until late March, infecting everything he did (including his interview with Ted Wells) with a vague sense that someone was guilty of something.

If the real PSI numbers had been leaked (or released after the false leak), the Patriots could have shouted down any suggestion of tampering by explaining that the numbers fall within the range expected by the Ideal Gas Law — and by pointing out that the league’s shoddy procedures for calibrating footballs prior to kickoff of a conference title game included using a pair of gauges that differed by nearly a half of a pound. The strange curiosity would have quickly become a forgotten footnote to a blowout win.

Making the league’s failure to respond to Mortensen’s report becomes even more glaring in light of the fact that the NFL has not hesitated to correct other information with which it disagrees, including for example the claim from ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Brady had only four hours to present his case on appeal.

Speaking of Schefter, he appeared earlier today on WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan show, and he addressed the criticism of Mortensen’s 11-of-12 footballs report.

“First of all, I’ve never had in-depth conversations with Chris about the story,” Schefter said. “Chris is as good a reporter as there is. And he’s been a pioneer in this industry. So when he decides to do things, he has a reason for doing them. And I’ll just stand behind him as a reporter and as a man. I love him.

“And I don’t know the particulars of what happened. I really don’t, OK?. But I can tell you this, somebody wanted information out. You’re blaming him. But I will say this. Number one, I’m sure he has an explanation. Number two, any reporter in the country, if they have high level people calling them, giving them this information, almost anyone’s gonna run with it.”

In other words, someone lied to Mortensen.

“If that is indeed the case that one, two, three high-level individuals intentionally misled him to try to smear the Patriots, I saw more shame on those people than Mort,” Schefter said.

I agree with that, completely. And Mort should be upset, because he’s been taking the heat (which has increased considerably in recent days) for reporting information that was given to him by someone in the league office whom Mort trusted.

ESPN surely would have preferred that the glaring error continue to go largely unnoticed. When PFT asked for comment on the discrepancy between Mortensen’s report and the actual PSI numbers in the Wells report, an ESPN spokesman initially said this: “[The] Wells report has been out for a week. Why are you seeking comment about his reporting now?”

More than two later, a comment from Mort apparently is coming. He’ll likely say basically the same things Schefter said. If pressed, Mort may indeed be tempted to disclose whoever it was that gave him deliberately false information.

Sure, reporters need to protect their sources. But should reporters protect sources who deliberately put reporters in professional danger?

[Elvis]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... ate-tweet/

Six months later, Mortensen deletes inaccurate Deflategate tweet

Posted by Michael David Smith on August 4, 2015, 11:57 AM EDT

On January 20, Chris Mortensen of ESPN tweeted that 11 of the 12 footballs used by the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game were under-inflated by two pounds of pressure per square inch. That report was incorrect.

So Mortensen deleted the tweet. Unfortunately, he waited more than six months to do so.

As of early this morning, we noted that Mortensen’s incorrect tweet was still live. And then we noticed later this morning that the tweet is gone. Presumably, Mortensen decided at some point in the last few hours to delete his tweet, although he hasn’t explained it publicly.

To his credit, Mortensen has admitted that the tweet was a mistake. But as many people have learned when they tweeted something and then wished they could take it back, just deleting a mistake doesn’t make it go away. Mortensen’s tweet (“NFL has found that 11 of the Patriots footballs used in Sunday’s AFC title game were under-inflated by 2 lbs each, per league sources”) still lives in the many news stories that quoted it. And Mortensen’s tweet was used for months to shape the Deflategate story. Even though PFT and others cast doubt on the report almost immediately, and even though the Patriots pleaded with the league office to correct the record, official confirmation that the balls were not as under-inflated as Mortensen’s source claimed didn’t come until the Wells Report was released months later.

That’s been one of the maddening things about the whole Deflategate mess: Accurate information has been hard to come by, and the gaps have been filled with inaccurate information.

Mortensen’s “2 lbs each” tweet was one of the big pieces of inaccurate information. It’s now off Mortensen’s Twitter timeline, long after the damage was done.

[moklerman]

So, how far off were the balls? Or were they off at all? I know the pendulum has swung the other way and it's now being made to sound like there wasn't any problem with the balls at all. But if they were all under inflated but just not a full 2 pounds, that still warrants investigation IMO.
EDIT:
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... -football/

I guess we'll never know.

Which means it comes down to the questionable actions of the ball boys taking all the balls into an area off camera and Tom Brady <ahem> "replacing" his cell phone.

[Elvis]

The thing is the NFL didn't do a good job of measuring this stuff so they don't really know how much the ball were off or how much that means they were tampered with...

[moklerman]

The thing is the NFL didn't do a good job of measuring this stuff so they don't really know how much the ball were off or how much that means they were tampered with...

Did they not do a good job measuring or just not do a good job recording? Obviously, no one wants to take anyone's word for anything but big picture, I have a hard time believing that they'd want to soil the good name of the face of the league and golden boy Brady.

[TSFH Fan]

[Elvis]

Touching song, i wept...

[Elvis]

I knew it!

[Elvis]

Did they not do a good job measuring or just not do a good job recording? Obviously, no one wants to take anyone's word for anything but big picture, I have a hard time believing that they'd want to soil the good name of the face of the league and golden boy Brady.

It's just not something they normally put a lot of effort into. Now, of course, ball pressure will be checked and recorded meticulously.

And though Brady may normally be the protected golden boy, if anything (and it pains me to say it) Goodell is looking more and more vindictive on this one...

[dieterbrock]

I have a bigger issue with Mortenson posting inaccurate information on his twitter which borders on libel than anything else