Wells report: Tom Brady may have lied, equipment guys may have participated in rules violations

Ted Wells finally released the results of his DeflateGate investigation, and it is interesting to say the least. There are 243 pages of content here, but the executive summary provides a good summation.

Among other things, Wells concludes "it is more probable than not that New England Patriots personnel participated in violations of the Playing Rules and were involved in a deliberate effort to circumvent the rules." Wells points to two locker room/equipment assistants, but he also concludes 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."

Patriots owner Robert Kraft released a statement in which he is not pleased with the results. However, he states that there is no real recourse available, and thus "fighting the league and extending this debate would prove to be futile."

The big question is what kind of punishment the Patriots will face, and more importantly for perception, will Tom Brady face any punishment? The conclusions sound fairly general in nature, but they effectively suggest instances where Brady lied about not knowing the name of one of the locker room attendants.

The report is below, but first, one of the more amusing exchanges between the equipment guys.

Text message exchange between two Pats employees about Tom Brady & getting his footballs ready. Damn. pic.twitter.com/oGBksapACj

— Jimmy Traina (@JimmyTraina) May 6, 2015

Wells Report