Bill Belichick and Tom Brady have had their entire legacy together questioned over cheating, and both have been punished for it.
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NFL investigator Ted Wells defended his recent report on Deflategate that preceded the league’s massive punishments against the New England Patriots and QB Tom Brady.
In a report that was over 240 pages long, Wells concluded that it was “more probable than not” that Tom Brady and a pair of Patriots staffers were responsible for 11 out of 12 game balls used in the 2015 AFC Championship Game being under-inflated, several of which were by as much as 20-25% of their air.
On Monday the NFL levied its punishments against Brady and the Patriots – suspending the Patriots QB for the first four games of the 2015 season, docking the Patriots a 1st- and 4th-round draft pick in upcoming drafts, and fining the organization $1 million.
In a conference call on Tuesday, Wells revealed that the Patriots had no issue with his impartiality even though he and his report have come under fire for “targeting” the Patriots:
Ted Wells says on a call that no one from Tom Brady’s camp raised any issue with his impartiality. Notes Kraft welcomed his appointment
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 12, 2015
Responding to accusations from Brady’s agent, Don Yee, that Wells was in the pocket of the NFL trying to punish Brady as part of a conspiracy, Wells responded that Yee was just complaining about his findings:
Ted Wells, responding to Don Yee: “I think it’s wrong to question my independence because you don’t like my findings.”
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 12, 2015
Wells revealed that the Patriots were helpful at first, but when he wanted to expound on his investigation, starting posing significant resistance to him and stopped cooperating.
Ted Wells: “Patriots provided me substantial cooperation except in 1 critical & crucial area – I wanted to do a 2nd interview with McNally.”
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 12, 2015
Regarding the phone messages between Brady and the accused members of the Patriots’ staff who may have been responsible for the deliberate ball deflation, Wells said he didn’t intend to look at Brady’s phone, but merely wanted printouts – Brady still refused to submit any information from his phone:
Ted Wells said he told Tom Brady that he wouldn’t even hold his phone. Would just take printouts. Brady would not provide the information
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 12, 2015
Finally, Wells flatly denied being a part of any sort of conspiracy to target the Patriots or Tom Brady.
Ted Wells: “That people at the league office wanted to put a hit on the most popular player, the face of the league, doesn’t make sense.”
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 12, 2015
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