The Wells Report

[Mark_Henderson]

McNally is a game day employee... It wouldn't shock me in the least if Brady COULD pick him out of a lineup... face recognition, but not know his name.

Is it that far of a stretch to believe that Brady knew Jamstremski, dealt nearly exclusively with Jamstremski, knew that Jamstremski probably delegated some of the tasks of preparing the balls to others, including McNally.

I've been in my current job for a little over three years. There are about 120 people in our facility. To be honest, if you lined everyone up and asked me to go down the line and name each and every one of them, I would probably get between 75 and 90 correctly. And I've worked with these people every day for about 3 years.... about 750 working days.

Brady has been with McNally what... 120 times.. over a 12 year window.... (10 home games a year)....

I don't know how many "game day" only employees have access to the locker room, but I imagine there are quite a few working the sidelines, the or other areas in an around the team.

But not knowing the guy's name.... I can see it.... :shrug:

That's a valid point, except that Brady spent hours on the phone with Jastremski in the days after the Colts game, before he was interviewed, and it's hard to believe that McNally's name wouldn't have come up, since he's the one directly involved with this.

 

[Hawg73]

I agree that this is the appropriate analogy for what happened. But, in terms of whether it happened, all the points people are making in here could go to the fact that the league didn't have adequate evidence to launch the investigation. But, the texts from McNally & Jastremski that it uncovered strongly suggest that there was something going on.

I don't see what happened as a hugely big deal, but the level of homerism and denial in here reminds me of reading the Indystar.com boards in 2003.

I agree. I believe some of us are a bit confused about how to react since it does appear we were targeted and set up for this ridiculous "rule violation" and why should we accept ANY culpability when those assholes took 4 months to crank out this piece of shit.

I get that. The more I learn about the Report the worse it looks. The worse Wells looks and so forth. The less faith you have in anything it states.

But......those texts are right there for the reading. You can't read them and not hear the ring of truth in between all the knucklehead boasting. Brady did want the pressure low. Lower than what was legal and those same knuckleheads would go through a brick wall to have Tom Brady's approval directed their way. It's a powerful motivator.

I believe that Tom Brady thought that the rule was a joke and everybody paid off their guys to do what had to be done. We know that is at very least partially true. I thought he was very truthful the first time I heard his press conference and now, after reading the transcripts, I see it through different eyes. I can detect a little hesitation and nervousness. Deception. Watching live I just thought he was nervous. No more.

Yeah, I think the guy lied and people need to wake up and take that at face value. It's not a real big deal, but he made an error in judgement thinking he could get away with it. I doubt he really says much going forward and he'll try to save face while waiting for folks to get sick of it.

For a guy as intelligent as Brady is, he really fvcked this thing up when he chose to ignore that a Patriot is always a target and cannot play fast and loose with any rule, no matter how insignificant, because Pandora's box must not be opened. He was sabotaged by his distrust that the refs would get the 12.5 right. He was sabotaged by one of his equipment guys who blabbed and gave the Colt's equipment guy a piece of information that could elevate his status and the guy took it all the way. By his own hubris that told him nothing would ever happen. That nobody cared about ball pressure.

The whole report is a cesspool, but no Patriots fan should feel the need to stick his head in the sand about Brady's guilt in order to show some sort of perfect loyalty to the team or Brady as a player. Wells never proved it, but you really need to be stubborn to not realize he is guilty even if you prefer to keep it to yourself.

My suggested penalty? A stern warning. Then, force Brady to watch reruns of Two Broke Girls until he learns his lesson and says he's sorry.

If Roger is smart he'll know what a piece of shit that report really is despite the fact they somehow managed to reach the correct conclusion. He should want to stop the bleeding as soon as possible, but the jury is still out while Roger carefully watches the interwebz for a consensus feeling as to what the penalty for this crime should be.

I've got mine out there.

 

[Bradichick]

I feel gut punched and disgusted by all of this. At some point we have to accept where there is smoke there is fire. We all want to play they hate us because we are better card, but holy shit why does my team keep pushing the rules to the limit and honestly I am feeling like they do cheat. We have a great coach and QB, why keep pushing things to the limit and beyond? The least we could do is own up to our failures and move forward, but no lets continue to lie and create fantasy excuses. It seems very clear Tom cheated and I have a hard time believing a control freak of a coach like Belichick had no clue it was happening. The team should have had the integrity to admit their wrong doings like the Falcons and taken the punishment like men, not lied like cowards. Now we are going to be screwed for it. I will always be a Pats fan living in purgatory, but this makes me a sad one.

 

[Big/Sky/Fly]

I feel gut punched and disgusted by all of this. At some point we have to accept where there is smoke there is fire. We all want to play they hate us because we are better card, but holy shit why does my team keep pushing the rules to the limit and honestly I am feeling like they do cheat. We have a great coach and QB, why keep pushing things to the limit and beyond? The least we could do is own up to our failures and move forward, but no lets continue to lie and create fantasy excuses. It seems very clear Tom cheated and I have a hard time believing a control freak of a coach like Belichick had no clue it was happening. The team should have had the integrity to admit their wrong doings like the Falcons and taken the punishment like men, not lied like cowards. Now we are going to be screwed for it. I will always be a Pats fan living in purgatory, but this makes me a sad one.

Do you honestly think that Brady is the only qb to do this? Is he the only one that ever altered the balls to his preference?

The NFL should do mandatory lie detector tests on all teams, all qbs...THAT would make things a bit more fair imo.

 

[Roberto71]

Thank God, a sensible article at last in MMQB on SI.

On Inflation Regulation

For the past nine years, NFL quarterbacks have been allowed to doctor game balls. So why does air pressure have to be monitored?

By
Andy Benoit

The most important question about DeflateGate has yet to be answered: Why does the NFL even have a rule about how much air can be in a football? At the behest of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, the league in 2006 started allowing teams to bring their own footballs to games. Quarterbacks break in these balls how they see fit. Essentially, it became legal to doctor the footballs.

Why can’t the amount of air in a ball be part of that doctoring? There’s no reason to regulate such a thing.

Brady prefers a slightly deflated football. So let him play with a slightly deflated football. Science already provides natural parameters here. Deflating a football is not like, say, using steroids. To put it in crude, elementary terms: a player on steroids could theoretically receive more and more injections and have his testosterone levels climb higher and higher. A quarterback can only deflate a football so much. Eventually, the ball becomes completely flat. No quarterback would choose to play with a completely flat ball. So why does the NFL have to tell Tom Brady how much (or little) air can be in the football when the laws of physics already do?

Just about every recent rule change in professional football has been centered around making the game more comfortable for the offense. Fans want to see big gains and points. A ball that is easier to throw and easier to catch is a great avenue to this—and an avenue that’s not intrusive to the integrity of the game. Defensive and offensive schemes are not significantly altered because a quarterback is throwing strikes with an under-inflated football. If anything, the schemes become sharper because the action on the field has become sharper. With football being so much about strategy, the more comfortable the ball is for a quarterback and his receivers, the more entertaining the game becomes.

The NFL already agrees with this. Why do you think officials and ball boys go to such lengths to try to keep a football dry during a rainy game? Or, bringing it back to the inflate/deflate issue (or inflate/deflate controversy, since America has decided to be dramatic, if not hysterical, about this), why did the NFL permit quarterbacks to handle balls prior to games in the first place?

The only problem is the league didn’t go far enough here. It should abolish all parameters regarding the ball’s air. Tom Brady didn’t cheat. Tom Brady’s job is to throw the football. Unfortunately, he had to go too far out of his way to do his job well.

http://mmqb.si.com/2015/05/08/nfl-inflating-footballs-air-pressure-rule/

 

[bideau]

That's a valid point, except that Brady spent hours on the phone with Jastremski in the days after the Colts game, before he was interviewed, and it's hard to believe that McNally's name wouldn't have come up, since he's the one directly involved with this.

I know it's a nitpick, but it wasn't hours. It was less than an hour.

Put yourself in Brady's place, you get blindsided on a radio show appearance where you find out there's questions about the balls. It makes sense that you call the guy who's paid to care for them and find out what's going on.

But......those texts are right there for the reading. You can't read them and not hear the ring of truth in between all the knucklehead boasting. Brady did want the pressure low. Lower than what was legal and those same knuckleheads would go through a brick wall to have Tom Brady's approval directed their way. It's a powerful motivator.

I'm not aware of any text where Brady wants the ball under inflated. His original complaint was that they were grossly over inflated. The report states that Brady wanted them at the low legal end and the Jaz guy states he submitted them at 12.6. The joking is about over inflation. There's nothing in the report where anyone admits letting air out.

I'm sorry, but I'm just not gong to the dark places where you are residing.

Now, with that said, its entirely plausible (more probable than not) that the buffoon taking the balls to the field checked the balls by hand and felt the refs had over inflated them and took matters into his own hand. But I honestly don't think that Brady instructed them to deflate the ball after they left the ref's room or make sure they were under 12.5. I do think he told them to get them on the low end and then didn't give it any thought after that.

I'm glad you have Jerry to balance you out when you go to these dark places.

 

[mooseontheloose]

Now, with that said, its entirely plausible (more probable than not) that the buffoon taking the balls to the field checked the balls by hand and felt the refs had over inflated them and took matters into his own hand. But I honestly don't think that Brady instructed them to deflate the ball after they left the ref's room or make sure they were under 12.5. I do think he told them to get them on the low end and then didn't give it any thought after that.

This is my interpretation as well. I don't see why Brady would go through so much trouble to get the balls just a bit under legal PSI when, in general, he's a pretty upstanding guy. Plus I seriously doubt it'd be that much of an edge anyway.

I'm guessing Tom, like many QBs, instructs his boys re: his preferences (which may require deflating balls) but that doesn't mean he's ever asked for something illegal. That is what this joke of a report is missing. There is no smoking gun. Something 'illegal' may have happened here, but there's absolutely zero proof that Brady asked or even intended for balls below 12.5. All we know for sure is that Brady prefers his balls inflated to 12.5 and that, for one reason or another, the balls against the Colts came in lower.

If the league had any ****ing clue and actually ran a legit ball management system, they'd have readings for all teams and all games this season to compare against. I'm going to guaran-damn-tee that there were a plethora of games played this season with under or over inflated balls. And obviously no one noticed or cared. But when it's the Pats and a chance to finally nail Brady (BB took a bigger hit for Spygate), logic is disregarded entirely.

 

[HomelessJoe]

Brady did want the pressure low. Lower than what was legal

Where in the report does it suggest Brady wanted the pressure lower than what was legal?

 

[Number Cruncher]

That's a valid point, except that Brady spent hours on the phone with Jastremski in the days after the Colts game, before he was interviewed, and it's hard to believe that McNally's name wouldn't have come up, since he's the one directly involved with this.

I agree that the person came up... but I can see it where he wasn't mentioned by name. In reality, the name isn't important.

Tom: What did you do with the balls?
Jim: I gave it to the game day lockerroom attendant.
Tom: WHAT IS HIS FVCKING NAME?

or

Tom: What did you do with the balls?
Jim: I gave it to the game day lockerroom attendant.
Tom: Ok. What did he do with them?

I would say it is more probable than not that they talked about McNally in terms of his job title and what his actions were, than specifically identifying his god-given name....

 

[mikiemo83]

this is Freaking Bullsh!t, I am all for a good conspiracy and actually typically look for one to twist into something stupid.


BUTT


I really think Tom never told Tweedle Dee or Tweedle Dum to lower the balls below 12.5 psi but told them to keep them as close to is as they can. Until McNally comes out and admits he deflated the balls in the bathroom without a urinal it never happened. what we have is issues with Air guages, two devises that were not registering the same PSI but about .5 psi

We assume that the Colts wanted balls at 13 psi, but until Luck tells us that is his preference I am not sure, pats at 12.51 psi.

the readings tell you that their is issue with the testing device (gauges) and unless you can definitely say which gauge was used originally to test the Balls, and record the data in some way, you can not positively say a ball dropped a certain PSI.


and yes as I said I love a good conspiracy and will tweek the nipples of Manning fans but the truth is I don't care if Manning is a douche or if Rogers over inflated his balls, or if the 49er paid funny money, or the Broncos paid funny money - I will bust the stones of their fans but that is because I know every team is looking for an advantage.


BUT I STAND FIRM IN MY BELIEF THAT TOM BRADY NEVER ONCE ASKED FOR AN ILLEGAL PSI LEVEL.

 

[mikiemo83]

I agree that the person came up... but I can see it where he wasn't mentioned by name. In reality, the name isn't important.

Tom: What did you do with the balls?
Jim: I gave it to the game day lockerroom attendant.
Tom: WHAT IS HIS FVCKING NAME?

or

Tom: What did you do with the balls?
Jim: I gave it to the game day lockerroom attendant.
Tom: Ok. What did he do with them?

I would say it is more probable than not that they talked about McNally in terms of his job title and what his actions were, than specifically identifying his god-given name....

or

Tom: JJ What did you do with the balls?
Jim: I gave then to Tubby
Tom: Ok. What did Tubby do with them?


He would know Tubby but not McNally as the name of the guy

 

[Spentcartridge]

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2015/05/deflategate-well-maybe.php

Another article for those still interested.

 

[bishbash]

In looking back at the last few weeks, our expectations seemed pretty silly. Here we were, anxiously awaiting the release of this report, hoping that it would not just exonerate the Pats, but possibly even implicate other individuals, teams, or even the NFL. Hahahahahahahaha! Instead we should have been dreading its release. Many of us got caught up in the idea that this was actually gonna be a fair and completely impartial report. How silly of those of us that thought this:



"The NFL hired Wells to be an impartial investigator, but don't mistake Wells' mission: the NFL is his client and his job is to do what is in his client's best intersets. Therefore, Wells wrote a report that enables the NFL to do pretty much whatever it wants. By using an accepted standard of evidence ("more likely than not"), Wells did not risk overstating any conclusions; challenging findings of fact based on this standard is exceptionally difficult. Also, because Brady got caught making some inconsistent statements, they could pin him as a target: a suspect with credibility issues. Moreover, Wells' conclusion that Brady was "at least generally aware" of the alleged illegal tampering is exceptionally carefully worded; the number of billable hours that went into crafting exactly that phrase would probably make you puke. From a lawyer's perspective, it's brilliant: you have scant facts that can really be interpreted in a variety of ways, so you have to be very careful that your conclusion reflects this reality while simultaneously helping your client achieve its goals.

By saying Brady was "at least generally aware," it lets the NFL interpret any level of involvement by Brady, ranging from "He didn't really know enough to be personally culpable" to "He personally orchestrated the deflation of every single gameball." By virtue of what the NFL interprets as Brady's level of involvement, the NFL can sanction upward, similar to what it did against Peyton and the Saints. Likewise, the NFL could conclude that this was a series of isolated inhttp://www.patspulpit.com/2015/5/6/8563301/how-lawyers-use-inconclusive-and-unrelated-facts-to-advance-theircidents by a largely rogue low-level employee, or they could conclude that it reflects a culture of subterfuge and dishonesty. One little phrase, so neatly worded, is why the NFL hired Ted Wells: recognizing the lack of truly probative facts, he carefully stacked up the facts and made very careful inferences to arrive at a simultaneously limited and open-ended conclusion that empowers his client. I'm a little sick, and a little impressed.

So the report will most likely stand up if challenged, and whatever action the NFL takes in reliance on it will similarly stand up. The point of the report was never to discover the truth; it was to give the NFL legal leverage. This is standard operating procedure for any sophisticated corporation."

http://www.patspulpit.com/2015/5/6/...nclusive-and-unrelated-facts-to-advance-their
Posted via Mobile Device

 

[Stevo]

The only thing that really blows me away about thsi report is that the entire foundation rests on uses the colts balls as a control instead just conducting an 6th grade science experiment to prove how much the balls should have deflated.

I'm no expert but I can use the ideal gas law and from my position the colts balls did not deflate as much as expected given the temperature change and the fact that it's not addressed anywhere is troubling to me

 

[Tchok13]

I know it's a nitpick, but it wasn't hours. It was less than an hour.
Put yourself in Brady's place, you get blindsided on a radio show appearance where you find out there's questions about the balls. It makes sense that you call the guy who's paid to care for them and find out what's going on.

This. seriously.
Breaking: Bank of American involved in major data breach!!!

CEO calls up CTO
CEO: Um yeah whats this all about?
CTO: No clue, don't think we did anything wrong
CEO: walk me through it

Media: Breaking! CEO & CTO attempt to get their LIES right

CEO: Hey CTO this is getting crazy come down to Tampa to my office so we can discuss this more
CTO: Sure boss, never been to Tampa before.

Media: Breaking CEO calls CTO into office, CTO HAS NEVER BEEN THERE!!! CLEAR THIS IS THE SIGN! CIA/FBI/NSA/EPA to investigate

CEO: CTO you doing ok?
CTO: Yeah a little nervous, gotta get waterboarded by CIA
CEO: Don't worry you did nothing wrong.

Media: BREAKING! CTO nervous, clearly guilty. CEO admits something is wrong!


Holy crap, don't read into text messages culled from hundreds/thousands. If you read through my text messages you'd think I'm a Russian Spetsnaz sniper and I've anally raped my friends...

 

[Tchok13]

The only thing that really blows me away about thsi report is that the entire foundation rests on uses the colts balls as a control instead just conducting an 6th grade science experiment to prove how much the balls should have deflated.

I'm no expert but I can use the ideal gas law and from my position the colts balls did not deflate as much as expected given the temperature change and the fact that it's not addressed anywhere is troubling to me

Actually it that fact (Colts balls appeared to not have deflated as much), which is the basis for the "science" behind the accusation of tampering.
From Exponent

However, the main issue in the present situation is not that the pressure inside the Patriots and Colts
footballs dropped (which is expected given the temperature transitions); rather, that the Patriots
balls exhibited a larger pressure drop when compared to the Colts balls

The Patriots balls deflated as much as you would EXPECT given the temp change:
Patriots balls saw an actual average 1.01-1.39 psi drop (depending on gauge used). Exponent's page 39 - table 10 shows Gay-Lussac's law: with a starting temp 70-75 and a final of 48 a psi drop of 1.13-1.37 is to be expected. So now we are talking about tenths of a psi difference in the balls that were not properly measured to start, are measured with inaccurate gauges, balls that are varying degrees of wet, have been in the elements varying degrees.

But comparing them to the Colts balls show some abnormalities, If the measurements of the Patriots balls and temp are correct, Colts balls should be more deflated than they were. BUUUUUT ( and for **** sake why can't anyone in the media read a report with a critical eye) they only tested 4 colt balls, which may or may not have seen the field, that have no reliable measurement of starting psi, they tested and marked down the pressure poorly by exponents own admission, they tested the Colts balls LAST allowing the pressure to rise.

The "science" is bull. It is SOLELY the text messages that are in anyway shape or form "damning" to the Patriots.

 

[Stevo]

Actually it that fact (Colts balls appeared to not have deflated as much), which is the basis for the "science" behind the accusation of tampering.
From Exponent


The Patriots balls deflated as much as you would EXPECT given the temp change:
Patriots balls saw an actual average 1.01-1.39 psi drop (depending on gauge used). Exponent's page 39 - table 10 shows Gay-Lussac's law: with a starting temp 70-75 and a final of 48 a psi drop of 1.13-1.37 is to be expected. So now we are talking about tenths of a psi difference in the balls that were not properly measured to start, are measured with inaccurate gauges, balls that are varying degrees of wet, have been in the elements varying degrees.

But comparing them to the Colts balls show some abnormalities, If the measurements of the Patriots balls and temp are correct, Colts balls should be more deflated than they were. BUUUUUT ( and for **** sake why can't anyone in the media read a report with a critical eye) they only tested 4 colt balls, which may or may not have seen the field, that have no reliable measurement of starting psi, they tested and marked down the pressure poorly by exponents own admission, they tested the Colts balls LAST allowing the pressure to rise.

The "science" is bull. It is SOLELY the text messages that are in anyway shape or form "damning" to the Patriots.

.......Well that feels absurd

 

[Number Cruncher]

Are they just assuming that the Pats and Colts balls started at the same point.

In order to say the Pats balls deflated more... don't they need to know the individual starting points?

Just because they are lower at halftime doesn't mean much in and of itself. If the Colts balls were higher than the Patriots balls to begin with, you would expect them to still be higher at halftime...

What am I missing?

 

[mikiemo83]

Are they just assuming that the Pats and Colts balls started at the same point.

In order to say the Pats balls deflated more... don't they need to know the individual starting points?

Just because they are lower at halftime doesn't mean much in and of itself. If the Colts balls were higher than the Patriots balls to begin with, you would expect them to still be higher at halftime...

What am I missing?

They admit they had different starting points but the added issue of the two gauges clouds it more. This testing of PSI would be tossed out of any 5th grade science fair because of too many unknown variables based on lack of recording.

 

[The Hoodie]

I feel gut punched and disgusted by all of this. At some point we have to accept where there is smoke there is fire. We all want to play they hate us because we are better card, but holy shit why does my team keep pushing the rules to the limit and honestly I am feeling like they do cheat. We have a great coach and QB, why keep pushing things to the limit and beyond? The least we could do is own up to our failures and move forward, but no lets continue to lie and create fantasy excuses. It seems very clear Tom cheated and I have a hard time believing a control freak of a coach like Belichick had no clue it was happening. The team should have had the integrity to admit their wrong doings like the Falcons and taken the punishment like men, not lied like cowards. Now we are going to be screwed for it. I will always be a Pats fan living in purgatory, but this makes me a sad one.

Is this you, Skip Bayless?