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What are the lasting impressions of Deflategate?

USA TODAY Sports
A federal judge vacated the NFL's four-game suspension of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in early September, but the NFL has appealed the decision.

With the New England Patriots playing the Indianapolis Colts this weekend, we asked the USA TODAY Sports NFL staff to respond to the following comment:

"My lasting impression of Deflategate is …"

Nancy Armour

That so much time and money has been wasted on what sounds like a frathouse prank is absurd. But Deflategate has never been so much about the act itself as the questions it raises about the integrity of the game. What separates the NFL from a made-for-TV sport like WWE is that everybody is playing by the same rules and fans know their team, their favorite players, are on the same level playing field as everyone else. Yes, some teams have more talent and better coaches. But they’re all bound by the same rules. If the Patriots messed with one of those rules, regardless of how silly it is, fans might start to doubt the legitimacy of the games and their outcomes. The NFL can’t afford that, and that’s why Commissioner Roger Goodell came down so hard on Tom Brady and the Patriots.

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Jarrett Bell

Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and his moments behind the microphone. Kraft opened training camp by delivering a seething statement that reiterated his lack of faith in the NFL. That was hot. But the big statement that really set the tone was the one that Kraft delivered to kick off Super Bowl week in Arizona, when he expressed the expectation that the NFL would ultimately apologize after the investigation cleared his team.

Nate Davis

That it is a sordid NFL chapter in which every facet seemed worse than the alleged crime – meaning the science lessons, dubious “independent” investigations, rhetoric, news conferences, lack of news conferences, agendas and, of course, interminable legal machinations. The NFL, the Patriots and Tom Brady all want us to believe in their transparency and accountability, but it sure doesn’t feel like we’ve gotten it from any party given the willingness of all involved to hide behind process, news  releases, spokesmen or other outsourced parties when they deign to answer questions at all. Underhanded elements were at play, almost surely from all the protagonists, and that ultimately casts a black eye on a league that should be tackling far more important issues, like maybe how to protect current players from brain damage and be fair to former ones who suffer from it. But that’s just me.

Lindsay H. Jones

The lasting legacy of Deflategate, to me, is how the case –  and the way Tom Brady fought it in court and won –  is a challenge to Roger Goodell’s disciplinary power as commissioner. Brady didn’t win in court because of evidence (or lack thereof) but because of process. The loss in court was a major one for Goodell. Will it be enough to spark real change in the way he conducts business? That still seems like it is a long way off, but Goodell’s credibility took a major hit, and the conversation about discipline has changed.

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Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz

This was the NFL's insistence on "protecting the shield" run amok. There was plenty of initial schadenfreude from fans on Tom Brady and the Patriots being tied to this kind of activity. But over time, it became clear that Roger Goodell and the league misplayed their hand. It was Goodell out of his element (discipline) on the highest stage.

Tom Pelissero

First off, let’s remember this isn’t over as it pertains to Tom Brady. A federal appeals court gets the case next, and while the NFL’s fight at this point is mostly about precedent, it’s still possible Brady will be disciplined. I will never believe the greatness of Brady and the Patriots can be reduced to ball pressure, or videotaping, or anything else that fans and other NFL teams think they do to get an edge. But Deflategate, like Spygate, will always be a footnote to their legacy – and more than that in the minds of those who remain skeptical about an unmatched run of success over the past 15 years.

Eric Prisbell

My lasting impression of Deflategate is how incredible it was that the NFL could bungle this manufactured scandal to such an extent that it could turn the league’s so-called Evil Empire, the Patriots, into sympathetic figures. Much of the public has believed – rightly or wrongly – for years that the Patriots have pushed the envelope in gamesmanship and operated, at the very least, in a gray area for years. But then here comes the NFL, which launched an excruciatingly long investigation into  the air pressure of footballs used in a game that was not even remotely close. Evidence was questionable at best. The Patriots now appear as motivated as humanly possible and hellbent on running the table in the regular season, not to mention dropping 100-plus points on the Indianapolis Colts. And it’s hard not to want, at least a little bit, for the Patriots to do just that after enduring such a flawed investigation. In most years, it would be difficult for fans outside New England to root for the Patriots. But in a sense, the NFL has turned them into victims. They were unjustly targeted. The NFL probe was a makeup for Spygate. Now the Patriots will have no mercy on opponents, nor should they.

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