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Wells Report on Patriots released; Tom Brady ‘generally aware’

By CM Towle

Feb 1, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) hoists the Vince Lombardi Trophy after defeating the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 1, 2015; Glendale, AZ, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) hoists the Vince Lombardi Trophy after defeating the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Wells Report is out and it says that the NFL finds it probable that the New England Patriots intentionally deflated balls.

The Wells Report is out and it essentially says that the Patriots “probably” intentionally deflated those footballs in the AFC Championship game last season. Not only that, but it characterizes quarterback Tom Brady as being “generally aware” of the situation.

The report is available in its entirety online, but there are a few essential things to know about the contents. For one, it characterizes the likelihood of the Patriots intentionally deflating the footballs as “more probable than not,” which basically says that yep, they did it. Furthermore, it names Jim McNally and John Jastremski, the Officials Locker Room attendant for the Patriots and equipment assistant for the Patriots respectively, as the ones responsible for the deflation. Again, the wording used is “more probable than not.” That wording is used again to say that Tom Brady was at least generally aware of the illegal football deflation going on.

This intentional deflation of Patriots game balls is characterized in the report as a “deliberate attempt to circumvent the rules.” However, the other aspect of the report is that it does not believe the Patriots tried to introduce a non-approved kicking ball for use on the playing field. Even though they gave a kicking ball to the officials that did not have the mark of a ball investigated by the officials, the report finds they weren’t trying to get that ball on the field of play.

Nevertheless, the primary findings of this report are pretty damning. It’s also possible that Brady, along with the two Patriots staff members, could find themselves in trouble with the league. There’s nothing official yet, regarding discipline, but ESPN’s Adam Schefter implies it could be on the horizon.

Even though this probably changes nothing in terms of the people on either side of the argument. People who are convinced the Patriots are cheaters wouldn’t have changed their mind at an opposite report, and Patriots defenders will be convinced that the report is wrong. Look no further than Patriots owner Robert Kraft on that one. He still believes the league handled the investigation badly and that Ted Wells would find the same “scientific evidence” that he and his team supposedly found.

It will be interesting to see what type of punishment, if any, the league hands down and to whom. Further, if they have an explanation for why they didn’t try harder to investigate before the Super Bowl.

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