http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/tom-brady-deflate-gate-162121409.html

 Quote:


Tom Brady, Patriots get hammered by NFL in deflate-gate punishment

The NFL took deflate-gate very seriously, hammering the New England Patriots with unheard of punishment in the matter of deflated footballs.

The league announced Monday that quarterback Tom Brady was suspended four games, the team was fined $1 million and will lose its 2016 first-round draft pick and a fourth-round pick in 2017. The league has been considering punishment since the release of investigator Ted Wells' report on Thursday.

That's a huge punishment considering there was no evidence Brady was directly involved and the Wells Report said Patriots ownership and coach Bill Belichick weren't involved. The league said the punishment was for violating playing rules and not cooperating fully in the investigation.

Brady plans to appeal the decision. His agent, Don Yee, said in a statement, via Fox Sports' Mike Garafolo: "The discipline is ridiculous and has no legitimate basis. In my opinion, this outcome was pre-determined; there was no fairness in the Wells investigation whatsoever. ...

"The NFL has a well-documented history of making poor disciplinary decisions that often are overturned when truly independent and neutral judges or arbitrators preside, and a former federal judge has found the commissioner has abused his discretion in the past, so this outcome does not surprise me."

In the release, the NFL said Patriots employees John Jastremski and James McNally have been indefinitely suspended without pay by the club, effective May 6. They aren't allowed to be reinstated without the NFL's permission. If they are reinstated, the NFL said "Jastremski is prohibited from having any role in the preparation, supervision, or handling of footballs to be used in NFL games during the 2015 season. McNally is barred from serving as a locker room attendant for the game officials, or having any involvement with the preparation, supervision, or handling of footballs or any other equipment on game day."

In Wells' report, it states "it is more probable than not that Tom Brady (the quarterback for the Patriots) was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities of McNally and Jastremski involving the release of air from Patriots game balls."

Jim McNally is the officials locker room attendant who took the game balls to the field, and stopped in a locked side bathroom for a minute and 40 seconds with the balls inside. Jastremski is the Patriots' assistant equipment man who prepared the game balls. The two texted about Brady's preference over the air pressure. Brady has said his preference was to have it at the low end of the rule, which is 12.5 psi.


The issue came about after the AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts, who told the league the day before the game that they had concerns about the air pressure in the Patriots' game balls, intercepted a Brady pass in the first half and examined it on the sideline. They told the league, and league officials re-inspected the game balls at halftime and found they were under the minimum allowed by league rules.


I'm thinking Wells had money on the Colts and the Hawks.


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