Roger Goodell denies asking Patriots to suspend James McNally, John Jastremski

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell denied that the employees responsible for handling the Patriots’ footballs were suspended by request of the league

In the latest twist in the soap opera drama that is Deflategate and all the controversy surrounding it, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has denied the claim that the two New England Patriots employees, James McNally and John Jastremski, were suspended at the request of the league office. This claim was first made by ESPN’s Adam Schefter in a tweet and Facebook post.

Per a league source in New York, Schefter claims the two employees responsible for handling the Patriots footballs were suspended by request of the league, and not on the initiative of the Patriots themselves.

Today, Goodell was asked in a press conference about this and he flatly denied it. The implication here is obvious. If the Patriots suspended the two employees without any instigation by league offices then there is an implication that the two men were guilty and deserving of punishment. If nothing shady went down then why would the team suspend their employees? Granting a leave of absence while this whole thing blows over would make sense, but a suspension is punitive.

This case has gotten weirder and weirder since January. Was Schefter misinformed by a league source, is Goodell lying, or is something else going on? It is not common for Schefter to be wrong about something. If there was a request made by the league for the Patriots to suspend two of their employees then there should be some correspondence which can be used as evidence of that. There should be some phone or email records which could prove the allegations made.

With all the conflicting reports surrounding the Wells Report and Deflategate in general, it is unsurprising to see two directly contrary reports regarding the punishment of McNally and Jastremski. Like these reports, the case as a whole feels like it is boiling down to a case of “he said; she said.” With evidence supposedly being withheld by Tom Brady and the Patriots organization allegedly being uncooperative during the investigation, and as repeat offenders, New England has been punished severely by the league.

We could find out that Goodell was lying and an underling did tell the Patriots to suspend their employees, and Goodell will deny any knowledge of that. Who knows? This case is bound to get weirder before it starts to make any sense.

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