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Wells hits back at Brady claims
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The lawyer who investigated the New England Patriots insisted he found direct, not just circumstantial, evidence to show quarterback Tom Brady knew team employees were deflating footballs.
Annoyed by criticism from Brady鈥檚 agent, Ted Wells decided to take the unusual step of holding a conference call on Tuesday, a day after the NFL suspended the Super Bowl MVP for the season鈥檚 first four games based on the report.
Wells said his findings would have been strong enough to convince a jury under the 鈥減reponderance of evidence鈥 standard, which is used in many civil cases.
Wells鈥 report asserted it was 鈥渕ore probable than not鈥 that Brady 鈥渨as at least generally aware鈥 of plans by two team employees to prepare the balls to his liking, below the league-mandated minimum of 12.5 pounds per square inch.
Wells testily rebutted assertions from Don Yee, Brady鈥檚 agent, questioning Wells鈥 independence because his firm does other business with the NFL.
鈥淲hat drove the decision in this report is one thing: It was the evidence,鈥 Wells said. 鈥淚 could not ethically ignore the import and relevancy of those text messages and the other evidence.鈥
Wells specifically mentioned two series of text exchanges between officials鈥 locker room attendant Jim McNally and equipment assistant John Jastremski. In one, McNally referred to himself as 鈥渢he Deflator鈥 and joked about going to ESPN. In another, Jastremski mentioned speaking to Brady the previous night, saying the quarterback knew McNally was stressed out by needing to deflate the balls.
鈥淭hat is not circumstantial evidence. That is two of the participants in a scheme discussing what has taken place.鈥
Last week, Yee called Wells鈥 report 鈥渁 significant and terrible disappointment,鈥 suggesting it 鈥渞eached a conclusion first, and then determined so-called facts鈥.
Along with denying any bias, Wells derided the idea that the NFL wanted the investigation to implicate a quarterback he described as 鈥渙ne of the most popular, iconic players in the league.鈥
鈥淭hat does not make sense,鈥 Wells said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a ridiculous allegation.鈥
To Yee鈥檚 assertion that he omitted key statements from Brady, Wells challenged the agent to release his full transcript of the interview. 鈥淣othing, I guarantee you, in his notes would make any difference in my decision,鈥 he said.
He also disputed Yee鈥檚 characterization of the investigation as a 鈥渟ting,鈥 noting that NFL officials initially didn鈥檛 take the Indianapolis Colts鈥 complaints seriously during the AFC Championship game last January. The Patriots wound up routing Indianapolis 45-7 that day, then went on to beat the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl 28-24 for Brady鈥檚 fourth title.
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