The Published Wells Report.

Rob0729 said:

If Brady is suspended, everyone should boycott the opening game. I know it would never happen, but it would be great if Gillette was empty on that opening night.

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It'd be a bigger statement if the team just stood on the sideline and refused to start the game.

The N(No) F(F***ING) L(LEGITIMACY)

I was a naive fool to believe that our beloved team would get any exhoneration from this garbage. Kraft already acting like an ostrich with his head in the dirt. So much for his "I demand an an apology" sentiment. Really sad by his give it to me hard Goodell speech he just made now.

No way Tom is suspended he is an elite HOFer and the NFLPA will go apeshit on Goodell....seeming as how it's now going to be "Tom of Nazareth" and that doucherag of a commish has got the nails in hand

Rob0729 said:

If Brady is suspended, everyone should boycott the opening game. I know it would never happen, but it would be great if Gillette was empty on that opening night.

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Yeah, a stadium half full of Steeler fans would be awesome.

ArchAngel007 said:

I think people are more angered that no one besides the Patriots fan base will ever truly appreciate the level of superiority and excellence the Pats have had in the past decade. It'll always be tarnished by others when other franchises like Steelers, Cowboys, 49ers etc will be always be glorified

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The dominance of the Steelers, Cowboys, and 49ers isn't felt at such a deep, visceral level in New York as the Pats dominance is.

I went back and read the report again including the appendix. Personally I think it's a bad piece of reporting. I hope Ted Wells gets his reputation slammed for this.

The introduction is damning and a nasty hatchet job.
The main evidence is dubious at best.
The appendix basically clears us.

The science is there in the appendix to give "greater probability than not" than it could have naturally occurred. Temperature differences when filled, transient temperature differences at halftime, wet or dry balls could all explain the drop. Anyone who is interested look at pg 42 of the appendix.

Heck, Colts ball as control? They didn't even record the initial pressures, filling temps, left a 10 min gap at halftime, didn't record wet or dry, rubbish replication of game pressures, 4 balls? How can you have such awful piece of scientific conclusion. Far too many variables to provide good game day conclusions.

No bias from NFL? Ted Wells did no-one tell you you cannot put anything in the introduction/conclusion that you can't back up in the main findings with evidence. Mike Kensil accused the Patriots sideline guys of cheating if you read it.

Big-T said:

It'd be a bigger statement if the team just stood on the sideline and refused to start the game.

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That would never happen. Kraft wouldn't allow it. I don't think Belichick wouldn't allow it either. They would not tarnish the game like that. Right or wrong.

Froob said:

He'd never make it on ESPN. Thanks for not being an idiot Rich.

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He started on ESPN

The Gr8est said:

The dominance of the Steelers, Cowboys, and 49ers isn't felt at such a deep, visceral level in New York as the Pats dominance does.

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It's due to the fact that New York has always felt that Boston was it's little brother. The last 15 years of success of Boston sports team has really ruffled New Yorkers' feathers. This is coming from a Bostonian who has lived in NYC for the last 7 years.

Honestly, I wonder what Kraft could realistically do here without losing hundreds of millions of dollars. I expect he has probably signed some agreements of conduct and that if he goes too far against the NFL it could mean litigation. I mean what courses of action here are even open? I'm sure a stronger worded statement is something he could have chosen (to a point) but beyond that I'm really not sure. And a stronger stament would have accomplished nothing, tbh.

shmessy said:

Gee, d'ya think so? The guy comes off almost as shady as the NFL CHARITIES OFFICIAL WHO WAS STEALING KICKING BALLS DURING THE SAME GAME TO SELL ON HIS PERSONAL WEBSITE.

....you know, Scott Miller, whom the NFL knew had done the same thing many times over the past 6 years and they STILL ALLOWED HIM TO DO IT.

McNally is shady and should be gone, but compared to the league sanctioned officials, he's a choirboy.

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Who is this Scott Miller you speak of? Sorry I guess I didn't recognize the name because the only mention in the Wells report of his doing anything shady is only mentioned in a small footnote on page 138. And even then, they say that he sold a game jersey worn in another game and never took any other merchandise including the football from this game.

The media won't like it, but there's no way in the world Brady should be suspended even a quarter of a game.

There's no proof he did anything wrong, the words of their own investigator, only a "probable" guess. If he did, it's a $25,000 fine.

We don't know if he did or didn't, and we'll most likely never know, so at most it's a $25,000 fine, anything more and if I'm Kraft, I take this to court. I wouldn't sit there and let my team get arraigned by a Kangaroo Court of public opinion.

Rich Eisen ‏@richeisen 9m9 minutes ago
Worst for Brady: saying he didn't know McNally's name; called/texted Jastremki 3 days str8 after title game with no such contact prev 6 mo

Rich Eisen ‏@richeisen 7m7 minutes ago
And yet...if McNally was Brady's tamperer, you'd think he'd lavish him with gifts. Instead, McNally wanted Brady to go have sex with himself

Rich Eisen ‏@richeisen 5m5 minutes ago
Patriots counsel refused to have McNally available for 2nd interview -- awful optic. Wells hammered team on it throughout report.

Rich Eisen ‏@richeisen 3m3 minutes ago
That said, even Wells, in page 122 of report, offered this in footnote: Brady 11-21, 95 yds, TD in 1st half. 12-14, 131 yds, 2 TD in 2nd H.

I read the report and it is full of BS and inferences. A college student with a major in English could have probably done a better job. The conclusions that are made are based on circumstantial evidence, and inferences based on unproven assumptions, and would NEVER hold up in court.

So the NFL paid how many millions for this amateur hour report??

And why is Kraft willing to accept punishment based upon this BS report??
It makes ZERO sense!

Like most of you I dug into all the science when this broke and it became clear early on that with gauge error, no records, allowable tolerances in pressure, and the inability to "know" what the balls should be to more than about 1psi error (given some balls wetter, and no accurate experiment to duplicate exact conditions) that no conclusion could ever be drawn. When it took Wells more than a week, it became clear he was going to find a conclusion whether it was possible or not.

IMO the only accurate report would have said the uncertainties and sloppy measurements make pressure related conclusions impossible. The case is based off a ball attendant completing an extraordinary feat of deflation in 90 seconds, to lose maybe a third of a psi. Not only is the timeline absurd, but the ability to deflate in such increment is nearly immeasurable, and almost certainly pointless. Spoiled grapes, and weather are the Simplest explanation barring any evidence.

For all we know all equip managers have similar msgs on their cell phones. I would hope they asked for colts cell phones too.
The "un-bias " report should have come to one conclusion > The way the balls are handled and measured in the NFL is inadequate .
There should be in investigation into why with jets the Pats had 16 psi balls.
But it is obvious that this was a witch hunt .

Brady more prob then not, generally( .....perhaps....not inconceivable...) wow if that is a statement that means nothing .

Wish BB would buy and coach the team he wouldn't bite his tounge and I hope he doesn't

Iam amazed how many people are comparing this to hernandez's circumstantial evidence.

karguy85 said:

It's due to the fact that New York has always felt that Boston was it's little brother. The last 15 years of success of Boston sports team has really ruffled New Yorkers' feathers. This is coming from a Bostonian who has lived in NYC for the last 7 years.

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But that's not why this happened. Was it prompted by jealousy, could very well have been. But it wasn't New York jealousy, it was NFL jealously. However that doesn't prove that Goodell, and Wells, were out to get us.

Todd Bradley said:

The media won't like it, but there's no way in the world Brady should be suspended even a quarter of a game.

There's no proof he did anything wrong, the words of their own investigator, only a "probable" guess. If he did, it's a $25,000 fine.

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In addition, the 2006 guidelines reiterated the provisions of Rule 2 concerning the pre-game
testing and approval by the referee of game and kicking balls.

The guidelines retained the following disciplinary warning, which remains applicable:

Once the balls have left the locker room, no one, including players, equipment managers and coaches are allowed to alter the footballs in any way. If any individual alters the footballs, or if a non-approved ball is used in the game, the person responsible and, if appropriate, the head coach or other club personnel will be subject to discipline, including but not limited to, a fine of $25,000.

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How we feeling about that "not limited to," chief?

ChrisR2223 said:

Wish BB would buy and coach the team he wouldn't bite his tounge...

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The same BB who pretty much won't tell you anything about a game that's already in the past? That BB?

Yeah, he'd be effusive in his rebuttals.