Quote:Brady complained about the balls being at 16 psi, 2.5 psi above spec. The refs wouldn't have added air to the balls in the Jets game if McNally had done his job and fully inflated them to 12.5 psi to begin with. That explains why Brady was upset at McNally. 
And doesn't that imply that Brady wants the balls inflated to spec to make sure they stay at the bottom end of the range?

 

The actual measurements show that the balls were at the expected air pressure at halftime, so there was no cheat, at least against the clots. No air was removed after the refs measured them before the game or the halftime pressures would have been a lot lower. Now we're down to some suspicious E-mails and failure to jump through every hoop Wells asked for. People here who emphasize the 'lack of cooperation' angle are assuming that Wells is honest about what he asked for and why. Wells is a lawyer. Do you know how you can tell if a lawyer is lying? His lips are moving.


 

Don't you think that one of the equipment guys would have fessed up if there was anything to confess? This was not a criminal matter. They had already been fired, so there would be nothing to lose by telling the truth at that point.

You ignore the fact that McNally is not supposed to alter the balls in any way once the refs have checked them.  We don't know how 1 or more balls in the Jets game got to 16 psi.  McNally could have made the ball(s) so soft the refs would have added air.  Or, McNally could have overinflated the ball(s) himself to defy Tom Brady's orders to underinflate.  It seems very unlikely that the refs would take balls inflated to spec and add air. 

 

The lack of cooperation is not something you can just blow off by saying the questioner was dishonest.  That is a classic guilty tell.  They were required as a condition of membership in the league to cooperate fully, and did not.  The lack of cooperation is not in dispute, and the Patriots had to know a lack of cooperation would go heavily against them.  There was only one reason to stonewall - they knew the heavy penalty for stonewalling was small compared to the extent of the cheating. 

 

And you are naive if you think the "equipment guys" aren't the key figures in the Patriots' "circle-the-wagons" strategy.  No, it's not a criminal matter, but those 2 lunkheads likely posses information that could take down the Patriots if the extent of the cheating was ever revealed.  You ask why wouldn't they rat?  Be cause a billionaire doesn't want them to rat. 

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