I just heard some of his conference call and he is pissed--he's pissed at Brady's agent, he's pissed at anyone questioning his independence or objectivity, he's pissed at Kraft for questioning his investigation. I can't find the audio, but it'll be up soon and you want to hear it. And now you REALLY want to have Brady appeal and somehow get this guy involved again. He said the Pats refusal to assist in the investigation was the worst he's seen in his career. http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/05/12/ted-wells/8OXNTAab4Aukf5SWkrLOYL/story.html Ted Wells fires back at critics of his report on Deflategate Ted Wells defended his investigation and report to the NFL Tuesday, saying those who question his independence in the matter are wrong. “The conclusions in the report represent the independent opinions of me personally and my team, and those conclusions were not influenced in any way, shape, or form by anyone at the league office,” Wells said in a conference call with reporters. “We made a fair and reasonable review of the evidence and we reached conclusions based on the preponderance of the evidence standard, which I was required to apply based on the league’s rules.” Wells said he held the call to respond to criticism of his report — in particular by Don Yee, agent for Patriots quarterback Tom Brady — and pointed out that he did not feel the need to do so in his prior sports investigations, which included work for the NFL. “This is the first time that after I have issued my report that I find somebody is questioning my independence, and I think that is wrong,” Wells said. Wells noted that his connections to the NFL were made clear at the time he was appointed, including his investigation of the Miami Dolphins locker room bullying case and that his law firm represents the NFL in concussion cases. “When I was appointed to be the independent investigator, no one at the Patriots or in Mr. Brady’s camp raised any issue about my independence or my integrity to judge the evidence impartially and fairly,” said Wells. “In fact, Mr. [Robert] Kraft [the Patriots owner], to my recollection, publicly said he welcomed my appointment.” Wells’s investigation found “it is more probable than not” that Patriots personnel deliberately deflated the team’s footballs in the AFC Championship game and that Brady was aware of it. The NFL on Monday handed down punishment based on the Wells report: Brady was suspended four games, and the Patriots were fined $1 million and stripped of two draft picks. Two Patriots staffers — officials locker room attendant Jim McNally and equipment assistant John Jastremski — likely “participated in a deliberate effort to release air from Patriots game balls,” the report said. Both McNally and Jastremski have been suspended by the Patriots indefinitely and will not be allowed to be reinstated to league activity without the approval of Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations. If reinstated by the Patriots, McNally is barred from serving as an officials locker room attendant and Jastremski cannot have any role in the preparation of footballs for games in the 2015 season. Wells released his report May 6, more than 15 weeks after the controversy known as “Deflategate” began when the Patriots defeated the Indianapolis Colts, 45-7, on Jan. 18. Shortly after the game, a report emerged that the NFL was investigating the air pressure in the balls the Patriots used. _
McNally is believed to be the person responsible for Brady’s under-inflated footballs. “I wanted to do a second interview with Jim McNally,” Wells said Tuesday. “He was the second person I interviewed…and I discovered after the first interview one of the important text messages where Jim McNally not only calls himself ‘the deflator,’ but he says, ‘I have not gone to ESPN.'” “I asked to interview him a second time, I said I’d go to New Hampshire, I’d interview him in the morning, noon, night. Not only did they say I couldn’t interview him, they said they wouldn’t even tell him about my request for an interview.” The Patriots allege that would’ve been McNally’s fifth interview. “NFL officials interviewed him on three occasions,” Wells clarified. “So for them later on to say I couldn’t have a second interview with the most important person in the case was just a lack of cooperation.” McNally is now claiming that he offered to be interviewed over the phone, which is being presented by the Boston media as if that somehow exculpates the Patriots refusal to make him available for Ted Wells, who clearly wanted to speak in-person.
It's too bad the penalty can't get worse in the appeals stage. There is no way they are going to tack on games. UNLESS like with Ray Rice after the video came out, if McNally really opens up and rats Brady and maybe Bellichik out, they can throw the book at him harder. That would be delicious. _
I can understand the Pats side of it cause there isnt blatant proof (ie a video of Brady cause I guess thats what we need these days) but there is just as much proof in Deflategate as there was in Bountygate. And that is good enough to warrant a suspension in professional sports these days.
Ted wells is a low life whore working for a multi billion dollar corporation. Credibility is the last thing he has. Lawyers are raised to be liars the moment they start taking classes.
