he was being investigated for, but we knew.
The tampering it happened. Here's the thing with tampering
in the NFL
happens all the time.
Only sporadically and almost randomly to someone get caught
now. Usually there's no Rhyme or Reason for it. In this case,
I believe that finding Stephen Ross guilty of tampering and
taking away a 2024
first-round pick and a 2023 third round, pick from the team
and finding Ross 1.5 million. I think that was a way to punish
him for something.
Because
they couldn't punish him for tanking. I'll get to that
momentarily as relates to tampering, they had him dead to
rights and everybody knew
I had just finished a spot with dan-levitan Hardware. He
brought up
this
bizarre question of why the effort by the Dolphins to get
Sean Payton and Tom. Brady hadn't been the biggest story
of the offseason. It was ridiculous. Why it wasn't
a bigger story?
And here it was. It was true. They tried. Now I'm told it was
a done deal but for the Brian Flores lawsuit, it was
happening.
Brady was going to be introduced as a minority owner
of the Dolphins. Brady was potentially going to take
a front office job been voland to the Boston Globe, added that
piece to it.
Brady was eventually
going to return to action
as a player on the Dolphins and along the way. Sean, Payton was
going to become the head coach in a trade with the Saints.
What we learned today was that Ross, was caught with his hand
in the
Cookie jar as it relates to
Brady and it didn't just start this year.
I remember reporting
and explaining on more than one occasion, when Tom Brady,
became a free agent in 2020
in the run-up to that the Patriots were very fearful that
he was going to land
with the dolphins. And Bruce BL has always been
the magnet for braided. Miami
BL and Brady are close friends,
bills, significant other is closed. With Tom Brady's wife,
it's always been
kind of at not always for as long as they become friends.
It's been a very close relationship which is caused
people to believe, eventually Brady's going to be
a member of the Dolphins either in the ownership group or as
a player. So
the tampering finding
Item. Number one, the Dolphins had impermissible
Communications with Quarterback. Tom Brady in 2019
and 2020 while he was under contract to the New England,
Patriots, his Communications began as early as August 20, 19
and continued through the 2019 season and postseason
these numerous and detailed discussions were conducted by
mr. Beal who in turn kept mr. Ross and other Dolphins
Executives, informed of his discussions with mr. Brady, so
that's how it started
but it continued
Item two.
the Dolphins again had impermissible Communications
with Brady and his agent during and after the 2021 season while
he was under contract to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Those discussions began no later than early December 20,
21 and focused on mr. Brady becoming a limited partner in
the Dolphins and possibly serving as a football
executive. Although at times they also included
the possibility of him playing for the Dolphins,
both Rawson be aware active participants in these discussions.
It began no later than early December 20 21 while Brady
is trying to help the Buccaneers back to
the postseason for another Super Bowl run. He's already planning
his retirement not from football but from
the Buccaneers and remember I said, that time and again,
And it took a lot of flak for it,
but it was true.
He retired from the Buccaneers
and the thinking was he was going to land with the dolphins
and bottom line as far as NFL is concerned, they were talking
to him about it in violation of the tampering rules, and he was
allowing himself to be tampered with now. Technically, he's
done nothing
wrong but it's a horrible. Look for a guy who's playing for
the Buccaneers to be talking to the Dolphins about joining
the Dolphins after the season in which Brady is still playing
for the Buccaneers. Now, of course, Is Tom Brady.
So he won't get nearly the criticism he deserves for this
but he should. Oh yes, he should.
In January 2020 to the Dolphins had impermissible
Communications with Donnie. The agent for Saints. Head coach,
Sean, Payton also represents pre
Brady. Excuse me,
they had conversations with ye
about Peyton serving is the Miami head coach
Miami. Do not seek consent from the Saints to have these
discussions. What's occurred before coach Payton announced
his decision to retire as coach of the Saints. Following that
announcement. Miami requested permission
to speak to coach Peyton for the first time which New
Orleans declined to Grant. Now, we had already explained that
we had reported on that,
that Chris Greer
said, no, when Jeff Ireland, the former Dolphins GM and
assistant GM with the Saints called Greer. However,
the discussions were happening at a higher level.
Level and this was all done,
they can whack Ross for tampering, but the reality is
after the tampering,
the wheels were in motion,
the pieces were in place
for the Dolphins to get Peyton and to eventually get Brady
it got derailed by the Flores lawsuit and there's still
people are like oh well you reported that it was a done
deal and this is just that there was tapping. Oh come on.
Come on, come on, people.
Do you really think
that were only partially right on this
when we've been doubted for so long
when we've been accused of making up as I've said time and
again, if I'm going to make stuff up, it's going to be
a lot more interesting than this. Although this was pretty
interesting.
So we were right
and no one else is going to say it, although some are today and
I appreciate that, but we're going to say it. We were right
about this and it's amazing. It wasn't
a bigger story and it one of the reason was it a bigger
stories because he has PN and NFL Network were asleep at
the switch. Now, Chef
D, may have known about it and decided to hold it for
the right time. Like he did remember the thing about Aaron
Rodgers wanting out of Green Bay, he held it for the right
moment. He may have been waiting for the right moment to
break it.
He may have known about it but they never reported it.
It didn't create three days of the snake, eating its own tail
on ESPN, with Studio shows, and sports center, and talking
talking and under the, the bottom of the screen,
it never happened. So it become a big story and NFL network was
asleep at the switch as well.
So it never became a big deal and I thought what would happen
is we'd get the report week one of the 2022 season but thanks
to Mary Jo, White's investigation and the fact that
the league had to suspend
Ross for King.
They find him guilty of tampering. Here's what
the commissioner had to say the investigators found tampering
violations of unprecedented scope and severity.
I know of no, prior instance of a team violating
the prohibition of tampering
with both a head coach and a star player to the potential
detriment of multiple other clubs over a period of several
years. Similarly, I have no of no prior instance, in which
ownership was so directly involved in the violation. Good
fine.
You're right. Why the hell is it only a one and a half
million dollar. Fine and one first-round pick and
a third-round pick and a You for six weeks of the season. This
is unprecedented.
Why is it Ross suspended for the whole year?
Well, well, why is it this treated? Like
the affront to the overall Integrity, the game that it is?
Now, part of it is
they know that this happens.
See, this is what's going to be interesting, going forward,
what I going to do,
When this stuff happens in the future is, everybody's going to
be scared straight for a year or two. And then it's going to
start happening again because it happens
and the guy who loses big on this?
Ha ha is Sean. Payton,
Sean Payton may not get back into the NFL in 2023 because
everyone's going to be afraid to talk to him.
And there's going to be no tampering,
not with dhaanye
dhaanye.
Regardless, how you feel about it, it looks like Dong Yi.
Fessed up to the NFL.
When the NFL has no jurisdiction over him,
then he admitted exactly what was going on.
Sounds like he talked who's going to talk to Don. Yeah.
Who's going to trust on you? If there's any attempt to Tamper
to try to line up Sean, Payton To Be A team's head coach,
because
here's how we thought it was going to go.
A team before it fires its own head coach
is going to try to figure out if it can get Peyton.
Once it knows it can get Peyton
then it activates the
effort to move on
from its current coach just like Jerry Jones was going to do
three years ago when he's going to fire Jason Garrett and
higher
Sean Payton. So
that's a little twist to this. That will probably discuss more
on PFT live on Wednesday.
Peyton's effort to get back in the NFL, may have been
Complicated by
this outcome of tampering.
So that's the tampering side of it.