Shannon Sharpe wants long suspensions for Tom Brady, Bill Belichick over Deflategate
Pro Football Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe has some severe punishment in mind for Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots after they were “probably” guilty of deflating footballs.
Forget about baseball, our national pastime is calling for people to be fired and doling out social media justice when someone does something wrong.
Add Pro Football Hall of Famer and former Super Bowl champion, Shannon Sharpe to that group as he is among the many who have expressed their opinion on how to punish Tom Brady and the New England Patriots for their role in Deflategate.
Ted Wells’ investigation into the footballs used during the Pats AFC Championship Game win against the Indianapolis Colts revealed the Patriots more probable than not” broke league rules by deflating the footballs and Brady was likely aware of what was going on. Although head coach Bill Belichick wasn’t implicated that didn’t stop Sharpe from offering what he’s do if he was in charge of the punishment.
Brady must be suspended for minimum of 2-4 gms, Belichick gets 1 yr and tm loses 1st rd draft pick 2016-17. Tm gets fined the max.
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) May 6, 2015
ESPN’s Louis Riddick said on SportsCenter that the punishment could be far-reaching for a player who gained a competitive advantage on the field. How big that competitive advantage is remains to be seen, but the fact of the matter is the integrity of the game was challenged and Brady lied about his role, so that’s two big strikes against him.
Ppl will say Coach Belichick didn't know. In the words of Commish Goodell to S. Payton. You're the hd coach. You should've known.
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) May 6, 2015
The Wells report didn’t implicate Belichick or owner Robert Kraft but Sharpe thinks Belichick should have known what his rogue quarterback was doing and should be punished four times as worse than the real offender. Comparing tampering with equipment to a coach paying players to injure players in a Bountygate scandal doesn’t make sense to me.
The Pats punishment must be severe because spygate taught them absolutely nothing about adhering to the rules.
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) May 6, 2015
However, I completely agree with the above tweet because he is right, the Patriots were caught doing something illegal and they had the audacity to knowingly break the rules again. If the punishment isn’t severe enough the organization may be tempted to bend and break the rules of the game because if the only discipline is a fine for a millionaire player or billionaire owner, that risk doesn’t outweigh the reward.
How would you punish Brady? Would you punish Belichick and the Patriots organization too?
Is this being made out to be a bigger deal than it really is?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
As for me, I think NFL executive vice president of football operations, Troy Vincent, has a tough decision on his plate as he determines the form of punishment coming.
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