Tom Brady’s agent rips the NFL and its ‘sting operation’
Some people, mostly those from the Northeast, have tried to poke holes in Ted Wells’ report on deflate-gate that said two equipment personnel from the New England Patriots probably conspired to deflate footballs and quarterback Tom Brady probably knew about it.
Brady’s agent went on the offensive on Thursday, wondering why the NFL decided to perform a “sting operation” instead of informing the Patriots of a potential issue. He said that part “taints the entire report.”
Part of the report was that the Indianapolis Colts informed the league the day before the AFC championship game of their concerns over the air pressure in the Patriots’ game balls. Colts equipment manager Sean Sullivan told the NFL it was “well known around the league” that the Patriots would deflate footballs with a needle after the officials inspected them before the game.
Yet, the game went on as normal until Colts linebacker D’Qwell Jackson intercepted a Brady pass and the Colts could inspect the ball on the sideline. They found it was under the minimum air pressure of 12.5 psi stipulated in the rules. That set the NFL in motion.
Don Yee, Brady’s agent, ripped the NFL in a statement to Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports 1:
“The Wells report, with all due respect, is a significant and terrible disappointment. It’s omission of key facts and lines of inquiry suggest the investigators reached a conclusion first, and then determined so-called facts later. One item alone taints this entire report. What does it say about the league office’s protocols and ethics when it allows one team to tip it off to an issue prior to a championship game, and no league officials or game officials notified the Patriots of the same issue prior to the game? This suggests it may be more probable than not that the league cooperated with the Colts in perpetrating a sting operation. The Wells report buries this issue in a footnote on page 46 without any further elaboration.
“The league is a significant client of the investigators’ law firm; it appears to be a rich source of billings and media exposure based on content in the law firm’s website. This was not an independent investigation and the contents of the report bear that out – all one has to do is read closely and critically, as opposed to simply reading headlines. The investigators’ assumptions and inferences are easily debunked or subject to multiple interpretations. Much of the report’s vulnerabilities are buried in the footnotes, which is a common legal writing tactic. It is a sad day for the league as it has abdicated the resolution of football-specific issues to people who don’t understand the context or culture of the sport.
“I was physically present for my client’s interview. I have verbatim notes of the interview. Tom made himself available for nearly an entire day and patiently answered every question. It was clear to me the investigators had limited understanding of professional football. For reasons unknown, the Wells report omitted nearly all of Tom’s testimony, most of which was critical because it would have provided this report with the context that it lacks. Mr. Wells promised back in January to share the results of this investigation publicly, so why not follow through and make public all of the information gathered and let the public draw its own conclusions? This report contains significant and tragic flaws, and it is common knowledge in the legal industry that reports like this generally are written for the benefit of the purchaser.”
That’s a heck of a takedown, so let’s look at the various gripes Yee had:
“This suggests it may be more probable than not that the league cooperated with the Colts in perpetrating a sting operation.”
Nice play on words with the “more probable than not,” and yes, back in January Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel called the NFL out for the same issue. The most likely answer is it seems the NFL never took the Colts seriously, until they had a football on the sideline that was deflated. Or perhaps they were lazy and/or didn’t want to know. I don’t really think it was a “sting operation” per se, just that the NFL never intended to follow up on the Colts’ complaint. Then, confronted with evidence (Jackson’s interception ball), they suddenly had to.
“The Wells report buries this issue in a footnote on page 46 without any further elaboration.”
Here’s the footnote he references: “Because Sullivan‟s email did not provide specific factual support for the Colts’ concerns, NFL officials determined that it was not necessary to ask the game officials preemptively to check the air pressure in the Patriots game balls during the game, as Sullivan had requested. They reported during interviews that, without additional specific information that might raise further concern, they believed that the referee‟s standard pregame inspection of the game balls would be sufficient, and that a change in the standard inspection protocols was not necessary. In particular, prior to the game, there was no plan to check the air pressure of the balls at halftime or any other time during the game. There was no ‘sting’ operation, no plan for a ‘sting’ operation and no discussion of a ‘sting’ operation.”
“The league is a significant client of the investigators’ law firm; it appears to be a rich source of billings and media exposure based on content in the law firm’s website. This was not an independent investigation … “
The conflict of interest issue was most notably brought up by CNN Sports’ Rachel Nichols in January (commissioner Roger Goodell wasn’t happy with her) asking how the investigation would be independent when the NFL was paying Wells and his firm. I do trust that Wells would run a fair investigation (I’m not sure why the NFL would want to find its Super Bowl champion and perhaps the greatest player in league history guilty of bending the rules) but the league might have been better off if it would have avoided any conflict of interest.
“For reasons unknown, the Wells report omitted nearly all of Tom’s testimony, most of which was critical because it would have provided this report with the context that it lacks.”
Yee said he has verbatim notes of the interview with Brady. I’d be interested in seeing them. If it helps exonerate his client from any wrongdoing, Yee should have someone typing up the transcript as we speak. There are holes, such as what Brady and assistant equipment manager John Jastremski were talking about on the phone during at least six fairly long phone calls after deflate-gate news broke, and why Jastremski and officials locker room attendant Jim McNally (“the deflator,” his words, not mine) would spend so much time texting about how Brady was upset about the state of the footballs if Brady didn’t care or had no knowledge of it.
Yee also takes a shot at Wells and the investigators for not knowing professional football, and I’d like to know more specifics there as well. How would that affect the investigation into possibly deflating footballs? Or is it just an unnecessary shot at Wells? I’m not sure; hopefully Yee elaborates soon.
What’s clear in all of this is that Brady’s side is already on the offensive and it doesn’t appear that Wells’ report will be the final word in the case.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab