News Article: Tom Brady likely knew of 'inappropriate activities,' Deflategate report says

The introduction reads: “The conclusions of the Wells Report are, at best, incomplete, incorrect and lack context. The Report dismisses the scientific explanation for the natural loss of psi of the Patriots footballs by inexplicably rejecting the Referee’s recollection of what gauge he used in his pregame inspection. Texts acknowledged to be attempts at humor and exaggeration are nevertheless interpreted as a plot to improperly deflate footballs, even though none of them refer to any such plot. There is no evidence that Tom Brady preferred footballs that were lower than 12.5 psi and no evidence anyone even thought that he did. All the extensive evidence which contradicts how the texts are interpreted by the investigators is simply dismissed as “not plausible.” Inconsistencies in logic and evidence are ignored.

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selmaborntidefan said:

THIS WHOLE THING is Pete Carroll's fault. If he'd just handed it t Lynch and they'd have scored, everyone now would be laughing about what a witch Karma is insted of angry over the championship.

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This statement is not complete. Halftime psi measurements are on pg. 8. The reality is that, on the second gauge, 3 of 4 Colts footballs were below regulation. A more accurate and complete statement regarding the Colts footballs would have been: “Using two different gauges (one of which was used for pre-game psi measurements), the League tested only four Colts footballs at halftime. Three of those footballs measured below regulation on the so-called “non-Logo” gauge. Four measured at or above regulation on the so-called “Logo” gauge. One Colts football averaged below regulation when taking into account both gauges. As soon as that fourth Colts football was measured, League personnel stopped any further gauging of Colts footballs. Relying on the higher Logo gauge measurements of the Colts football, League officials decided not to add air to any of the Colts footballs. Additional measurements using the same two gauges were made post-game. Post-game, each of the four Patriots footballs measured were well above the required level of 12.5 psi on both gauges (including one that had been overinflated to 13.65 on the Logo gauge). Three of the four Colts footballs measured below 12.5 psi on the non-Logo gauge (a violation of League rules), one measured below 12.5 psi on both gauges (also a violation), and three Colts footballs measured above 12.5 on the Logo gauge.”

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selmaborntidefan said:

Look, Brady broke the rules. We can argue how stupid they seem to us but they're still the rules. No, it isn't "why" the Pats won but that's not even the point.

And funnily enough, we have Tide fans still angry over Cam Newton. Should we apply the same logic there? It wasn't the bucks that scored the touchdowns, either. Sure, Cam broke the rules but so what?

Tell me what the NFL was supposed to do. Not investigate it? What? As I said I'm neither Pats fan or foe but why folks can't just say "Brady knowingly broke the rules, lied, tried to hide it and is being punished," I'll never know.

It's that simple. Whether it affected the outcome of the game has no bearing on whether action should be taken.

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Tide1986 said:

Formal rebuttal by the Patriots:

http://nesn.com/2015/05/patriots-la...ebuttal-to-incomplete-incorrect-wells-report/

A link to the full text of the rebuttal is available at the end of the article.

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mittman said:

Long read, but the rebuttal seems more plausible than the "more likely than not" findings. The only thing that stuck out for me the other way was the comparative levels between Pats and Colts balls on the halftime measurements. Not sure what to believe or how anyone could be sure what to believe.

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selmaborntidefan said:

I read the report.

Did you?

"More probable than not" simply means "we don't have him on video doing it." If you read the report there is NO DOUBT he did it. NONE.

You now, it's more probable than not that Aaron Hernandez killed Odin Lloyd, too. We don't know because nobody saw him do it, but at some point you have to go with what the evidence shows. And this is pretty conclusive, esp since Brady wouldn't cooperate. And since Brady denied knowing McNally, which was established by multiple other sources. And since Brady gave him some free Patriots stuff for his help.

I mean, come on.

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selmaborntidefan said:

So it's irrelevant the Patriots got caught breaking the rules. Ok.

And btw - any of you commenting here and saying the NFL does not take ownership of the footballs need to go READ THE DAMNED REPORT!! Because this is all covered in there. In fact, it was McNally acting improperly by disappearing with the footballs in violation f standard procedure that caused one of the concerns.

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RTR91 said:

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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selmaborntidefan said:

So it's irrelevant the Patriots got caught breaking the rules. Ok.

And btw - any of you commenting here and saying the NFL does not take ownership of the footballs need to go READ THE DAMNED REPORT!! Because this is all covered in there. In fact, it was McNally acting improperly by disappearing with the footballs in violation f standard procedure that caused one of the concerns.

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Catfish said:

Pete Rose accepted a punishment of being put permanently on MLB's "inelligible list" and MLB (via Comissioner Bart Giammatti) agreed to not issue a formal finding on his gambling on baseball and, more importantly, his own team. They had ample evidence that he did both. Under MLB rules, he could have applied for reinstatement. In my opinion, Rose had at least some support inside baseball circles and in the court of public opinion. He probably stood a pretty good chance of being reinstated at some point.

Instead of keeping his head down and biding his time, Rose took shots at Giammatti who died six months or so after Rose accepted punishment. He denied everything for 15 years (despite mountains of evidence) and called Giammatti and everybody involved in the investigation liars.

Rose was punished for hurting the product. He was destroyed because he continued to be what he had always been; a despicable human being who treated people like dirt and blamed everybody but himself whenever he faced adversity. He destroyed himself.

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BamaPokerplayer said:

Ll

Fair enough. Have you ever seen a harsh punishment, like Roses, for anything away from the game? I can't think of anything. I do believe punishments for off the field stuff will keep getting more harsh.

I think it is stupid RG hearing the appeal.

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BamaPokerplayer said:

I think it is stupid RG hearing the appeal.

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The NFLPA informed Vincent and Goodell of its plan to call them both as witnesses to the appeal, specifically to discuss the delegation of disciplinary authority that it considers a violation of the CBA, as well as an alleged "sting operation" set up to entrap Brady and the Patriots.

Because of this, the NFLPA believes that Goodell -- or "anyone with close ties to the NFL" -- cannot serve as arbitrator for Brady's appeal.

In light of the above, the NFLPA believes that neither Commissioner Goodell nor anyone with close ties to the NFL can serve as arbitrator in Mr. Brady's appeal under governing legal standards. The credibility and testimony of both you and Commissioner Goodell will be at issue in the hearing as well as numerous procedural issues regarding your testimony and the testimony of the Commissioner. Thus, this matter is similar to the Rice appeal, where Commissioner Goodell properly concluded that a neutral with no ties to the League, Judge Barbara Jones, should be appointed as Hearing Officer to afford Mr. Rice a lawful hearing before an impartial and to maintain the integrity of the proceedings.​

Given that Goodell has recently delegated the appeals of Adrian Peterson and Greg Hardy to an independent arbitrator, it was seen as a bit of a departure from form when news broke that he would hear Brady's appeal himself. It is felt in some circles that Goodell hearing the appeal would give Brady greater ammo should he eventually take the case to court, given precedent established in the Rice case and others.

This saga, obviously, will continue to play out in the coming weeks. Even after the report has been filed and punishment has been handed down, it's starting to feel a bit like we're still at the beginning of the story, rather than the end.

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