May 14--The New England Patriots have crafted a point-by-point rebuttal to the Ted Wells report in a website launched Thursday, wellsreportcontext.com.
On the site, Patriots attorney Daniel Goldberg deconstructs assertions by the Wells report, commissioned by the NFL, that quarterback Tom Brady likely knew that team staffers deflated footballs for him, counter to NFL rules, and that the team and Brady were uncooperative at times during the investigation.
"The conclusions of the Wells Report are, at best, incomplete, incorrect and lack context," Goldberg writes. "The Report dismisses the scientific explanation for the natural loss of psi of the Patriots footballs by inexplicably rejecting the Referee's recollection of what gauge he used in his pregame inspection. Texts acknowledged to be attempts at humor and exaggeration are nevertheless interpreted as a plot to improperly deflate footballs, even though none of them refer to any such plot. There is no evidence that Tom Brady preferred footballs that were lower than 12.5 psi and no evidence anyone even thought that he did. All the extensive evidence which contradicts how the texts are interpreted by the investigators is simply dismissed as 'not plausible.' Inconsistencies in logic and evidence are ignored."
The site also includes links to correspondence between the Patriots' counsel and the Wells investigators in an attempt to show the team's cooperation during the inquiry.
After the findings, the NFL suspended Brady for four games and sanctioned the Patriots, fining them $1 million and docking them two draft picks.
