Patriots Legal Counsel Rebuttal of Wells Report

Bella*chick · May 14, 2015

So Wells explained to Patriots personnel during interviews he was acting as a "judge". A judge being paid 5 million dollars from the NFL. That is so galling I am actually physically sick. I really think I may throw up from rage.

Trycked · May 14, 2015

Froob said:
And here we go again what does "reasonably cooperate" mean? Neither side is going to agree.

Didn't Wells himself said Brady was very cooperative UPTO the time when he was asked for his cell phone messages.

condon84 · May 14, 2015

Bruins29 said:
There is another potential problem if true.

You know what, I'm sure BB knows a whole lot more tom foolery that goes on.

It's time to open a can of worms and go all out.

Put your d!ck in the mashed potatoes. It's that kind of party.

ensoul · May 14, 2015

Well it was a great response but overall it's like a court case where there are two experts on a subject and both have two completely different conclusions.

I expect wells to come out with somthing soon to counter that so I'd hold off on popping the champagne and dancing in the streets.

woolster22 · May 14, 2015

SVN said:
Pats and their lawyers obviously know best but wish they had fought this out in an appeal and court in close doors.They cant fight the media and public which is never going to buy them, Now they make goodell even more mad and he aint signing up for an independent arbitrator.

And if they bait him into taking the appeal he becomes a much larger figure in any lawsuit to come.

QuantumMechanic · May 14, 2015

Nice point by a lawprof on how Wells glosses over that preponderance of the evidence requires evidence:

David Post said:
One point about Deflategate that has, I think, escaped notice. Ted Wells, the NFL investigator, says, at the very beginning of the Report (in footnote 1), that

Under the NFL Policy, the “standard of proof required to find that a violation of the competitive rules has occurred” is a “Preponderance of the Evidence,” meaning that “as a whole, the fact sought to be proved is more probable than not.”

Actually, that’s not correct. It ignores the “of the evidence” part. The preponderance standard involves weighing the evidence, to see which side tips the balance. Many things can be “more probable than not” that do not satisfy the preponderance of the evidence standard.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...g-worse-than-our-system-of-public-justice-is/

I also liked this jab at the beginning:

David Post said:
The NFL, I have come to believe, exists in large part so that, should we fall into despair over our system of public justice (which I find myself doing from time to time), we are reminded that it could be worse.

Ring 6 · May 14, 2015

Very curious about the unsigned report, dated the day of the report that says a man can deflate 24 football is 100 seconds.

Also, a HUGE piece of this is the commentary about how Exponents report is dated 5/6 as well, and there is no documentation of how many times they submitted reports and rough drafts to Wells, and what the discussion was.
This looks like a clear intention to subpoena Wells, Exponents and others records when we get to trial.

aluminum seats · May 14, 2015

SVN said:
ProFootballTalkVerified account‏@ProFootballTalk
Brady had duty to "reasonably cooperate" with investigation, which will make it harder to prevail on appeal http://wp.me/p14QSB-9LWL

HOW DID HE NOT COOPERATE?!? They asked him to turn over any relevant texts or emails, and he said there weren't any. How is this stonewalling or not cooperating? Arrggghhh!!

SVN · May 14, 2015

One the the report seems to have addressed for people who dont understand how text messages work that brady didnt have to turn his phone over because any interaction with brady on texts wouldve been on JJ and JM's phones. Maybe people can get this in their brains who want to see tom's phone.

RobertWeathers · May 14, 2015

Deus Irae said:
People were already talking about Brady's suspension being overturned. Goodell already knew what was coming. If you don't want to see what I'm seeing, that's up to you.

Maybe I'm missing something but I saw the road to TB12's suspension being lifted as a hard one. He knew that which is why he and Dee Smith brought in Kessler.

Goodell already put up the wall.

YOUGOTMOSSED · May 14, 2015

Kdo5 said:
I would never give the public credit. I think a large number of Americans are too lazy, stupid, or willfully ignorant to look past the text. Just that if it was intended for the public I don't see the success in it.

And I think you would be 100% correct about that part about general stupidity. I imagine that the Patriots wanted to give their fans their side of the story.

I admit that I'm biased toward the Patriots. However, I don't think that "deflator" text standing alone is proof of nefarious intent and in the context of the "jacket" part of the text, the weight loss is a plausible explanation. Yeah, I know the chuckleheads will mock it but it does sound plausible to me.

I also think that this gives sufficient ground to put this thing before a true neutral to decide.

I still am in disbelief about how something this silly got taken this far.

aluminum seats · May 14, 2015

upstater1 said:
Great report, I like it, would have been better w/o addressing May's deflator text.

Here's what I think people don't understand: the "science" here became meaningless a long time ago. The texts--specifically, "deflator" and"ESPN" are the only things that have caught hold. That and him using the bathroom. There's no way they could do this report and not address the texts.

primetime · May 14, 2015

whats up dorito dink

Ring 6 · May 14, 2015

Another excellent point.
Wells criticized McNally for removing the balls and causing Anderson to 'lose track of them' when Rule 2 states that the referee is solely responsible for the security of the balls.
If this was an independent investigation why was Anderson not reprimanded for shirking those duties, or at least why was it not mentioned as a failure on his part?

The memo from the Pats about their concerns to be investigated that Pash agreed to do and were not, is telling.
The refusal to allow Patriot counsel to be present when NFL employees were questioned also indicates bias.

SalemPats · May 14, 2015

Ted Wells report was done extremely poorly. I equate the report to one written by a below-average child.

turkeyneck · May 14, 2015

JMC00 said:
Florio's argument is stupid. Wells is claiming that he said Brady could give him the stuff he was looking for and keep his phone. Yet if Brady says he doesn't have it they consider that being uncooperative.

Florio should provide his phone texts relevent to child molestation. "But I don't have any." "Aha! Guilty!"

SVN · May 14, 2015

We

festy1986 said:
Is this in the Wells report or is this in the pats report today?

If the Pats can prove they informed wells of this and he did NOTHING about it then how is it not a biased with hunt?

That's damning imo

wells will say these comments are made by teams all the time and are never taken seriously like he said about the colts complaint.

TBR · May 14, 2015

Not sure if already posted, but this is a huge, key point.

(4) Mr. Brady’s agent explained to the investigators why, from the perspective of precedent for other players and the Players’ Union, there were good reasons not to turn over his private phone or any phone records or texts. The investigators already had all of Mr. Jastremski’s texts with Mr. Brady, since Mr. Jastremski’s phone had been given to the League within about 48 hours of notice of the investigation. They also had Mr. McNally’s phone records for a period prior to and including the AFC Championship Game. Those records show no texts with Mr. Brady, even in connection with asking for or receiving the three autographs. The absence of any texting between Mr. Brady and Mr. McNally was further confirmed by the uncontradicted testimony by each of them that they had never spoken to each other on the phone, had never texted each other, and had never even had a substantive in-person conversation with each other. The investigators found no witness who contradicted any of these statements even though they had access to countless people who were in the Patriots locker room area or the player’s bench area where, on game day, Mr. Brady and Mr. McNally were in the same vicinity. The absence of a single witness who observed some substantive conversation, and the absence of texts during what the investigators felt was a critical time, corroborated their statements that they never had any such communications. If any information about texts on Mr. Brady’s phone was really an issue, they could have asked Mr. Brady’s agent (who offered at the end of Brady’s interview to respond to further inquiries) to confirm there were no texts with Mr. McNally.

Given the fact that Mr. Jastremski and Mr. McNally had both turned over their phone records, no adverse inferences should be drawn from the fact that Mr. Brady did not make his phone or its contents available.

SalemPats · May 14, 2015

I personally feel that the Patriots and every player on the SB team should file a lawsuit against the NFL, Roger Goodell and Ted Wells

Bruins29 · May 14, 2015

YOUGOTMOSSED said:
I admit that I'm biased toward the Patriots. However, I don't think that "deflator" text standing alone is proof of nefarious intent and in the context of the "jacket" part of the text, the weight loss is a plausible explanation. Yeah, I know the chuckleheads will mock it but it does sound plausible to me.
.

Since there is no proof of wrongdoing and proof of sting operation/not objective tactics I think in any objective minds its really irrelevant what it means.

Its like being on trial for murder because your friend called you your nickname "killer" in a text. And the guy they claim was killed is still alive.

This whole thing is a disgrace. The NFL has become reality TV - and I dont watch reality TV

Patriots Legal Counsel Rebuttal of Wells Report

Addicted to the light

Practice Squad Player

Experienced Starter w/First Big Contract

In the Starting Line-Up

PatsFans.com Supporter

Burn it all down!

PatsFans.com Supporter

Pro Bowl Player

PatsFans.com Retired Jersey Club

Member of the Seattle 7 & Roadie for Metallica

In the Starting Line-Up

Pro Bowl Player

Pro Bowl Player

PatsFans.com Supporter

Experienced Starter w/First Big Contract

In the Starting Line-Up

PatsFans.com Retired Jersey Club

Pro Bowl Player

Experienced Starter w/First Big Contract

Veteran Starter w/Big Long Term Deal

Similar threads