NFL reinstates Patriots’ John Jastremski, Jim McNally

Have we finally heard the last of Deflategate – at least for several months?

The NFL announced on Tuesday night that New England Patriots employees John Jastremski and Jim McNally, aka Dorito Dink and the Deflator from their text messages included in the Wells Report, have been reinstated.

The news came via a brief statement on NFL Communications letterhead.

“Last week, the New England Patriots requested the reinstatement of both John Jastremski and Jim McNally. The Patriots have satisfied the league’s requirements for reinstatement and the league has granted permission for the employees to return.”

The question still remains as to who exactly suspended Jastremski, a longtime equipment manager for the team, and McNally, who has worked for years as a game-day employee; in the NFL’s May 11 announcement of the Patriots’ sanctions – the loss of a first-round draft pick in 2016, a fourth-rounder in 2017 and a $1 million fine – it said New England owner Robert Kraft “advised commissioner Roger Goodell last week” that the pair had been suspended indefinitely without pay. There is no indication there of whose idea it was to make that decision, and given that the league stipulated that it would give the green light for the two to return, it stands to reason the Patriots suspended Jastremski and McNally at the NFL’s request.

Regardless, they’re back now. And maybe we can go a few days – dare we say weeks? – without hearing about Deflategate.