Politics is not mentioned in this article. Calabrese recognizes it as Goodell saving PR move.
And in the Brady/Patriots/Deflategate case, as the Patriots point out in their response, the league already acknowledged it had made a "preliminary finding" that the Patriots were guilty before Wells even started his investigation. That smacks of a foregone conclusion all the way. Goodell was nervous that the public perception of Brady as a cheater was already set in stone, and that he would look like he was whitewashing a scandal if he did anything other than come down hard on him.
And if the evidence didn't support the notion of Brady's guilt? Well, too bad. The NFL had to look tough, so Wells would have his marching orders, just as he had his marching orders in the Dolphins' investigation to make it look like the NFL was concerned about "bullying."
All told, this sounds like one big hose job. I am becoming more convinced by the day that Tom Brady didn't do anything wrong at all, and that if anyone ever seriously endeavors to get to the bottom of this and is able to do so, Brady will be totally vindicated. The same can't be said for Roger Goodell and Ted Wells, who appear to have been motivated here by anything and everything except the truth.
