http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...ests-to-meet-with-suspended-patriots-staffers
The fallout from the New England Patriots' deflated ball controversy isn't over just yet.
Tom Brady is free to play following Federal Court Judge Richard Berman's appeal ruling that nullified his four-game suspension. Meanwhile, the Patriots' organization will feel the brunt of its NFL-issued sanctions come draft week.
But the NFL might not be done administering discipline related to the incident.
According to sources informed of the situation, Troy Vincent, NFL Executive VP of Football Operations, has formally requested to meet with Patriots equipment staffer John Jastremski and locker room attendant Jim McNally before either is reinstated by the franchise.
Both face discipline for their role in the apparent deflation of footballs, sources said.
The Patriots made a written request for their reinstatement last week. The league made a public acknowledgment of it four days ago and said it is reviewing the request. The two employees were suspended indefinitely in May, and the NFL said they'd have to be reinstated by Vincent. Sources now say that reinstatement would have to include a face-to-face meeting with Vincent.
The goal would not be re-investigate the situation around the deflated footballs or begin another back-and-forth about what did or did not happen. This case won't be re-examined.
Both men were cited in the Wells report as being involved in wrongdoing, and league officials believe these two men should be accountable, as well. Their texts and appearance on surveillance video were prominent in the Wells report.
For McNally, a part-time employee who works on game days, a suspension during the offseason would not force him to miss time from his job as a game-day staffer, for instance. This is similar to the situation surrounding the Falcons, where the NFL suspended Roddy White, the Falcons' director of event marketing, for the first eight weeks of the season for pumping in fake crowd noise. He was fired by the team, instead.
While the team has their penalties, Brady's suspension was nullified based on failures in the process (his conduct was not addressed in Berman's ruling). Discipline might now await McNally and Jastremski for violations that were unveiled in the Wells report.
The fallout from the New England Patriots' deflated ball controversy isn't over just yet.
Tom Brady is free to play following Federal Court Judge Richard Berman's appeal ruling that nullified his four-game suspension. Meanwhile, the Patriots' organization will feel the brunt of its NFL-issued sanctions come draft week.
But the NFL might not be done administering discipline related to the incident.
According to sources informed of the situation, Troy Vincent, NFL Executive VP of Football Operations, has formally requested to meet with Patriots equipment staffer John Jastremski and locker room attendant Jim McNally before either is reinstated by the franchise.
Both face discipline for their role in the apparent deflation of footballs, sources said.
The Patriots made a written request for their reinstatement last week. The league made a public acknowledgment of it four days ago and said it is reviewing the request. The two employees were suspended indefinitely in May, and the NFL said they'd have to be reinstated by Vincent. Sources now say that reinstatement would have to include a face-to-face meeting with Vincent.
The goal would not be re-investigate the situation around the deflated footballs or begin another back-and-forth about what did or did not happen. This case won't be re-examined.
Both men were cited in the Wells report as being involved in wrongdoing, and league officials believe these two men should be accountable, as well. Their texts and appearance on surveillance video were prominent in the Wells report.
For McNally, a part-time employee who works on game days, a suspension during the offseason would not force him to miss time from his job as a game-day staffer, for instance. This is similar to the situation surrounding the Falcons, where the NFL suspended Roddy White, the Falcons' director of event marketing, for the first eight weeks of the season for pumping in fake crowd noise. He was fired by the team, instead.
While the team has their penalties, Brady's suspension was nullified based on failures in the process (his conduct was not addressed in Berman's ruling). Discipline might now await McNally and Jastremski for violations that were unveiled in the Wells report.
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