Article linked to below is correct. Same for tanking.
There is something about the Dolphins. Only they could get penalized, and harshly, for something everybody does.
The worst part is in regards to the tampering, and the tanking, they failed at both.
Brady never ended up here. Whatever tampering they did, was irrelevant.
The tanking accusation was even worse. Regardless of the grand plan from the team, it was not enforced on the field of play. They were trying to win, and did win towards the end of the season. Flores wouldn't play Josh Rosen. We beat the Bengals. The Bengals actually successfully tanked, got Burrow, and nobody said a word!
So Dolphins in both respects. Tried two things, failed at both, and were the only team in NFL history actually penalized, while the team that actually did it got away with it.
Yes, these issues are co-mingled. Even though the NFL only punished them for tampering, they were punished for tanking as well. The NFL wanted that issue buried, and they over-penalized them for tampering alone.
Then of course I think the over-riding factor here was Flores and a broader set of accusations, which are serious. So the NFL buried the Dolphins to try and make it all go away.
In a relative sense it is unfair, and annoying. Everyone tampers. Teams tank all of the time. The Dolphins didn't even actually tank. Flores was fired because he was impossible to deal with, and was destroying the offense and any chance Tua had.
But for whatever reason this organization is jinxed, and we got buried for failed tampering, when teams that succesfully tamper suffer negligible penalties at worst.
The recent decision by Buccaneers (for now) quarterback Tom Brady to get testy on his own podcast in response to a question he wasn't even asked seemed to be, if nothing else, an effort to keep prying eyes away from the inevitable tampering with Brady that will happen in the coming weeks.
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