IT’S A DIRECT HIT
NFL investigator blasts Brady
THE lawyer who investigated the New England Patriots has insisted that he found direct, and not just circumstantial, evidence to show quarter- back Tom Brady knew team employees were deflating footballs.
Annoyed by criticism from Brady’s agent, Ted Wells decided to take the unusual step of holding a conference call with media on Tuesday, a day after the NFL suspended the Super Bowl MVP for the season’s first four games based on the report.
Wells said his findings would have been strong enough to convince a j ury under the ‘preponderance of evidence’ standard, which is used in many civil cases.
The report asserted that it was ‘more probable than not’ that Brady ‘was at least generally aware’ of plans by two team employees to prepare the balls to his liking, below the league-mandated minimum of 12.5lbs per square inch.
His voice frequently rising, Wel l s testily rebutted assertions f rom Don Yee, Brady’s agent, questioning his independence because his firm does other business with the NFL.
‘What drove the decision in this report is one thing: It was the evidence,’ Wells said.
‘I could not ethically ignore the import and relevancy of those text messages and the other evidence.’
Wells specifically mentioned two series of text exchanges between locker-room attendant Jim McNally and equipment assistant John Jastremski. In one, McNally referred to himself as ‘The Deflator’ and joked about going to ESPN.
In another, Jastremski mentioned speaking to Brady the previous night, saying the quarter-back knew McNally was stressed out by needing to deflate the balls.
‘That is not circumstantial evidence,’ Wells said. ‘ That is two of the participants in a scheme discussing what has taken place.’
Last week, Yee called Wells’ report ‘a significant and terrible disappointment’, suggesting it ‘ r eached a conclusion f i rst, and then determined so- called facts later’.
Brady plans to appeal his four-game suspension, while Patriots owner Bob Kraft has declared his ‘unconditional support’ for his two-time MVP quarter-back.