Patriots Legal Counsel Rebuttal of Wells Report

It's a terrible process. Wells acted as prosecutor, judge and jury. Brady and the Patriots had no opportunity to present their defense until after they were convicted, assessed harsh (and unprecedented) penalties, and irretreivably judged gulity in the court of public opinion.

The Deflator stuff will be the sound bite in the short run. One can only hope that the broader picture emerges as more learned and thoughtful people have a chance to consider the Patriots' response.

Once you discredit the Exponent report, the case falls apart pretty quickly. As today's response points out, Wells does not have a single witness that can corroborate his assertions about Jastremski, McNally or Brady. All he has is his conclusion that they are all lying. For evidence, it's pretty thin gruel. Also, Well has to insinute that the deflating activity has been going on for a long time (or the May comment would have no probitive value whatsoever). He does this without even a shred of evidence.

It's interesting to note that the report takes a shot at Wells and his claims of independence by chiding him for not fully disclosing his relationship with the NFL. Maybe this is okay since the NFL is his client, but if he knew that others would see the report (and how could he not know this), he likely had a profesional responsibility to make such a disclosure. (In my profession, this would be an obligation , but I am not a lawyer so cannot say for sure.)

The is but the first skirmish in what looks to be a protracted battle.

Bruce Allen ‏@bruceallen 46m46 minutes ago
Bruce Allen retweeted Rich Hill

True, but this was not, and never claimed to be an "Independent" report. You know, like the Wells Report.

Bruce Allen added,

Rich Hill @PP_Rich_Hill
This is a bad move by the Patriots. There are so many others they could have used. https://twitter.com/noahwg/status/598911827083448320…

Rob0729 said:

It unfortunately will be used against them in the court of public opinion.

Although the scientist who pointed out the fact that the Kraft Group invested in his company actually backs up McKinnon's results:



https://twitter.com/noahWG/status/598895966771609600

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Of course everyone is going to ignore that fact.

Rob0729 said:

A Nobel Laureate craps on the Wells report and the League:





http://wellsreportcontext.com/mackinnons-scientific-conclusion/

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roderick_MacKinnon

He looks to me like a guy who really loves Wes Welker and hates Danny Amendola. Brady6?

I know I'll probably get run up a tree for this, but the explanation of the "Deflator" line just reeks of ********. Sorry, but it had to be said. I still think the whole thing is ridiculous, but come on.

Zeus said:

Brady and the Patriots had no opportunity to present their defense until after they were convicted, assessed harsh (and unprecented) penalties, and irretreivably judged gulity in the court of public opinion.

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I think the biggest problem for the NFL is that the Pats were convicted BEFORE the SB by the Mort report which has shown either a NFL legit (bogus) leak in order to smear the pats OR a clear unwillingness to refute the leak it when they could of showing that they had a smear campaign set up against the Pats.

They can't win either way.

JMC00 said:

So then they'll just go get 5 other guys that have no affiliation with them that will say the same thing.

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I want them to!

Nunchucks said:

Wow, this is way more than I expected. They are trying to move public opinion as well as win a case. This is quite ballsey. People calling Kraft a suck up and weak need to reevaluate big time.

This is no warning shot, this is a direct hit.

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This makes me even more proud to be a Patriots fan and continue to support Kraft. I just purchased by 3 games to glory from the Pats pro shop !

primetime said:

I know I'll probably get run up a tree for this, but the explanation of the "Deflator" line just reeks of ********. Sorry, but it had to be said. I still think the whole thing is ridiculous, but come on.

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I think there may be 2 instances of the use and they are being mixed up.

1. Deflator - as in deflate balls like he is supposed to.

2. Deflate - as in body, with clear proof this was the context.

Since there is a clear story for 1 they should be fine there. The other definition is irrelevant because see #1. They already acknowledge its a procedure and a league wide one.

Oh, yeah, and there is no proof of tampering anyway so at this point who cares.

I love this from the Wells report, BTW:

The evidence does not allow us to reach conclusions as to when McNally and Jastremski began their efforts to release air from Patriots game balls on game day (although McNally referred to himself as “the deflator” prior to the start of the 2014-15 season), exactly how long those efforts have been ongoing, how frequently they occurred, how the idea originated or the full scope of communications related to those efforts.

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The translation of this is basically this:

"We know it was long term cheating because McNally used the word "Deflator", and we know "Deflator" meant deflating footballs because of there being long term cheating."

Bonzo said:

Yeah, that's pretty much the consensus.

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That's because all the haters and the clowns in the media haven't read it just like they didn't read the whole Wells report.

The problem is people ONLY read the Wells report. The Pats response gives it some perspective.

The Wells report dosent come out and say "Oh by the way we left out a ton of crucial things that would have made the pats look innocent and cherry picked things to support our clients bias"

Pats response in that case is well timed for context of the report itself - something the original report and most people lack.

primetime said:

I know I'll probably get run up a tree for this, but the explanation of the "Deflator" line just reeks of ********. Sorry, but it had to be said. I still think the whole thing is ridiculous, but come on.

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The truth knows no smell.

If the term "deflator" was used prior to the start of the season in May 2014, and it is documented that the Patriots played the Jets with a football around 16 PSI in October 2014, doesn't that rule out that "deflator" referred to illegally deflated footballs below 12.5 PSI.

primetime said:

I know I'll probably get run up a tree for this, but the explanation of the "Deflator" line just reeks of ********. Sorry, but it had to be said. I still think the whole thing is ridiculous, but come on.

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I googled "Deflate, weight loss" and after 2 pages of Patriots stuff.... I came accross this.

http://www.intelihealth.com/article/deflate-your-belly-bulge

Who would of thought.... I found a reputable health site and wellness company using "deflate" in the context of losing weight. Just cuz you think something is BS, doesn't make it actually true. That is the exact problem Wells is finding himself in (or at least will).

(looking futher.... apparently the term deflation seems to be a fairly regualar topic involving weight loss, particularly as it relates to breasts).

Rob0729 said:

I hate to say it, but this another misstep by the Pats. This is going to get them creamed in the court of public opinion.

They should have disclosed the relationship right away. Now people are going to say the Pats tried to pass off a paid expert as an independent expert. Just look at the comments on the PFT article on it.

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So you are saying Mckinnon is not independent because the Pats once made a passive investment in his company but Wells is totally independent dispite being the NFLs hired gun. The logic of some is unbelievable

primetime said:

I know I'll probably get run up a tree for this, but the explanation of the "Deflator" line just reeks of ********. Sorry, but it had to be said. I still think the whole thing is ridiculous, but come on.

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The truth doesn't always sound neat and clean, because it's the truth.

The problem for the NFL is that this isnt the typical situation where a player or team may or may not be guilty and the league has to figure it out and give out punishment, or have a 3rd party do it. This is a situation where the NFL could be looking at a whole lot of chargers against themselves.

And the point is.......

Sfpat said:

So you are saying Mckinnon is not independent because the Pats once made a passive investment in his company but Wells is totally independent dispite being the NFLs hired gun. The logic of some is unbelievable

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No I am saying that is how it is going to be spun by all the haters in the media and around the country. Unless the Pats take this to court, the perception is bigger than the reality.