The Published Wells Report.

[Brewskies]

37/50
328 yards
4 TD
101.1 QB Rating
SB MVP

Properly inflated and closely guarded footballs.

Idiot.

Proves what? Thanks. For the idiot remark. How many games will he be suspended for his actions? Did you read the text messages?

 

[robbomango]

Three months, 240+ pages over a tiny fraction of air in a football? On our next SB run players better not forget to have their shoe laces tied on the sideline, make sure not so much as a toe touches a white boundary line, don't even cuss around an official.

It's absolutely terrifying the level of intense scrutiny this franchise is constantly under.

 

[Brewskies]

If Brady gets 4 games then Aaron Rodgers should get at least 2.

It doesn't work that way! You get caught for speeding they don't give ticket to those not caught.

 

[supafly]

That really leaves Brady with a best judicial avenue of waiting until after the 'punishment' and then letting the appeals process proceed.

I don't want to make any assumptions, but the fact that you brought up the last step (Judge Doty) of the appeals process may suggest that you're expecting something of a substantial punishment? Is this true?

 

[RecoveringCowboy]

It amazes me fans of a team that plays NE once every four years have posted hundreds of times on the day of this report...stupid to hate on a team that has not knocked them out of the playoffs or a divisional rival, even more so when NE basically took what that team did in the 70's and took it to a higher level.

Cowboys fans are JEALOUS of the Patriots

Come Oct 18 I hope the HELL is beat out of them.

One of their fans thinks Cowboys are the Broncos of the NFC!

 

[Joker]

Straggs...Ray Rice bashed his girlfriend on camera in the face and knocked her unconscious. Brady is going to get 16 times the penalty that Rice did for "might have/could be unicorns". C'mon,this is NEVER going to stop as long as this moron Goodell has Kraft's trust. Very disappointed by Kraft today. Seriously considering walking away from his ownership of the team I've followed since I was a kid.

 

[SVN]

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/...s_more_probable_than_not_in_wells_deflategate

Yet, Wells immediately set the tenor of the report in just the fourth paragraph of the opening section by writing, “It is more probable than not that New England Patriots personnel participated in violations of the Playing Rules and were involved in a deliberate effort to circumvent the rules.” Wells also suggested it was “more probable than not” that Patriots equipment assistant John Jastremski and officials locker room attendant Jim McNally deliberately deflated the footballs, and Brady “was at least generally aware” of their actions.

Well, with hard evidence like that, lock him up and throw the key in a volcano.

But wait, buried on the 228th page was this nugget: “In sum, the data did not provide a basis for us to determine with absolute certainty whether there was or was not tampering as the analysis of such data ultimately is dependent upon assumptions and information that is not certain.”

Jastremski also mentioned he would leave a needle for McNally along with some signed memorabilia from Brady. They told Wells the needle would be for the officials for both the gauge and pump, but Wells retorted, “We do not view these explanations as plausible or consistent with common sense.”

Can this be considered an objective investigation when Wells is taking blatant shots at the notion of the subjects’ common sense without even sniffing any evidence of an actual needle?

And heaven forbid Brady declined to turn over his phone records for Wells’ review. By the way Wells repeatedly mentioned that anecdote, it sounded more like he was complaining to Maury Povich than writing a book report.

Here’s another good one. When NFL senior vice president of football operations David Gardi informed the Patriots of the investigation the morning after the game, Gardi said one of the Pats’ balls was measured at 10.1 psi. Not only was that absurdly low, it was blatantly false.

Wells didn’t seem to mind.

“We do not believe that this error raises any doubt about the accuracy of the measurements recorded by (the officials at halftime) or any other relevant issue,” Wells wrote.

Howe has been awesome. Why the other media has not done its due diligence reading the report objectively?

 

[robbomango]

It doesn't work that way! You get caught for speeding they don't give ticket to those not caught.

IDK, If someone was caught using steroids and another player said in his defense said "I use roids all the time, it's no big deal" don't you think they'd investigate that?

 

[RecoveringCowboy]

...back to Brady, can anyone think of a QB suspension for not reporting a possible violation?

This is unprecedented.

 

[Ivan]

Brady isn't going to bother with a defamation suit etc... However I don't believe he will roll over and take a suspension. Unless the Wells Report is actually holding back information there is nothing anywhere that points to Brady asking for psi below 12.5. Had he asked MacNally to tamper with game balls we would already know from the interviews, and if MacNally did that without any input from Brady then he didn't do anything wrong.

This all boils down to one thing, did Brady ask ball attendants to deflate balls after inspection. If he did he's guilty and should own it, I just have a hard time believing he would lie to Belichick or Kraft.

 

[supafly]

...back to Brady, can anyone think of a QB suspension for not reporting a possible violation?

This is unprecedented.

Knowing Goodell, he'll use the old "ignorance is not an excuse" statement, and combine the fact that he believes that Brady lied throughout the process to punish him. Yes, Troy Vincent is handing down the punishment (cough, cough), but c'mon.....Roger Goodell will still have major influence on the decision.

 

[SVN]

I wonder if McNally will come forward to some network and give an interview

 

[Brewskies]

IDK, If someone was caught using steroids and another player said in his defense said "I use roids all the time, it's no big deal" don't you think they'd investigate that?

No I don't. They can do a blood sample for roid use, can't go back an measure the air in footballs of past games.

 

[SVN]

Brady isn't going to bother with a defamation suit etc... However I don't believe he will roll over and take a suspension. Unless the Wells Report is actually holding back information there is nothing anywhere that points to Brady asking for psi below 12.5. Had he asked MacNally to tamper with game balls we would already know from the interviews, and if MacNally did that without any input from Brady then he didn't do anything wrong.

This all boils down to one thing, did Brady ask ball attendants to deflate balls after inspection. If he did he's guilty and should own it, I just have a hard time believing he would lie to Belichick or Kraft.

The only thing gathered from the texts for me is that Brady is exteremely picky about the weight of the ball. Nowhere its insuniated that he asks them deflate the footballs after the refs measure them. The 16PSI ball report after the jet game should be enough to exonerate him but this has been totally ignored.

 

[supafly]

IDK, If someone was caught using steroids and another player said in his defense said "I use roids all the time, it's no big deal" don't you think they'd investigate that?

Unfortunately, this is the same kind of fantastical thinking that we heard throughout the process.

When a whining rival team brings their concerns to the NFL prior to the game in Green Bay AND there's video in the following days that shows their ball boy disappearing into the bathroom unattended, then Aaron Rodgers' practices can be explored. Until then, they aren't going to do anything about Rodgers' preference for football pressure on a local radio show.

Much like last time w/ Cameragate, I'm sure this will be all the warning that is needed for anyone else to knock it off or tone it down.

 

[woolster22]

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/...s_more_probable_than_not_in_wells_deflategate




Howe has been awesome. Why the other media has not done its due diligence reading the report objectively?

Best part is he left out half the problems with the report. Here's to hoping there's a second column to continue to trash it.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

So what recourse are you so certain that he has?

Edited:

Or are you talking about non-league "recourse" like a PR blitz or something?

Yes, this would be outside the league. Something Brady or Kraft sees as more than a league matter, something they see as their reputation in and out of football.
Not necessarily a "blitz" but a top firm that takes the report and uses the public media venue as a de facto court of law. If "more likely than not" is the NFL's standard for smearing Tom Brady than consider what a top law firm could do the pillars of this kind of accusation?
Brady's firm says "Tom was smeared by this false accusation. We are in the process of providing our own investigation results to the allegation and report". I would assume a top firm will make this report, Wells and the NFL look bad (a top firm is way above their league). Remember, as much as some may have it in for the Patriots because they win so much, Goodell is far more disliked. In any trial, actual or otherwise, the jury wants to hate someone for the supposed crime committed. Go ahead and give them the sacrificial lamb that they will all be predisposed to want to hate.

Look I am not saying it will be done. It is all but certain it won't. But "no recourse" is not correct. This is a tangible recourse that could, eventually, make the league office start sweating and think twoce about pulling this thing again. This is the second time the league has taken an ant hill, cloaked themselves comically in righteous cloth, built the hill into a mountain, then smugly vilified the Patriots without the guts to be honest about the situation. Two times in 8 years that another team in the league has pulled strings to put the league execs into this putrid mode to investigate the Patriots. Why not a third in a few years from now? The NFL execs are immune from repercussions of doing this aren't they? Or would they be if they felt there could actually be repercussions?

 

[tom444]

To me, it looks like Brady liked his footballs a bit on the underinflated side (something that we've all known for awhile now), and made that desire known to the ball boys. Much like Aaron Rodgers, Brady had a preference that was well known. This most likely happened in a "Tom Brady-like" way where he *****ed and moaned about it, getting on them when the balls weren't right. As we know, Tom is a perfectionist, and does not allow anything to get in between him and winning.

Does this mean that he's a "cheater?" Hell, no--at least not to me, anyway. This means that the Pats' practices had no longer become a secret, and that all it would take is a whining team like Irsay and the Colts to bring this to the attention of the league. Unfortunately, in the era of Commissioner Goodell, this had "bad news" written all over it from day one. As noted, had this been Tagliabue or Rozelle, we'd never have heard about this minor issue.

The kicker is this = it probably really didn't give him that much of an advantage, if any, other than the right kind of feel in his hand. Now once again, reputation and punishment comes into play. It's a terrible shame.

That's about where I'm at.

When Parcells Giants played Walsh's 49ers, playoff game I think, in San Fran, the 49ers phones went out. Surprise surprise. When one teams como went out the other team had to shut their's off. It was the beginning of the game. Walsh, as we all know, had about 25 plays all set to role. Parcells, as Walsh knew, did not. What did Pacells do? Nothing. Did he jump up and down? No. That was then, this is now.

 

[JMC00]

Page 228

In sum, the data did not provide a basis for us to determine with absolute certainty whether there was or was not tampering as the analysis of such data ultimately is dependent upon assumptions and information that is not certain.


Ya go ahead and try to suspend Brady.

 

[Ivan]

Is there anything in the Wells Report that indicates that Brady asked the ball attendants to get him balls below 12.5?


That's a four month investigation, millions of dollars, and one pertinent question, if there is nothing that shows that then the NFL has nothing, because at this point that is the only question that matters. At least IMO. The rest is fluff.