The NFL released the contents of the Wells Report — the league’s independent investigation into the “Deflate-Gate” scandal — on Wednesday. The report absolved most of the Patriots’ organization from blame, yet insinuated that Tom Brady not only knew of deliberate rule breaking on the part of Patriots’ employees, but also had a role in the operation. (RELATED: Wells Report Offers No New Info, Still Busts Brady’s Balls)
On Thursday, Don Yee — Brady’s agent — released a lengthy statement defending his client. Lee blasted the report for containing, “significant and tragic flaws, and it is common knowledge in the legal industry that reports like this generally are written for the benefit of the purchaser.”
Tom Brady's agent responds to the Wells Report: pic.twitter.com/rfWx6vj1qy
— 120 Sports (@120Sports) May 7, 2015
The full text of Yee’s statement:
The Wells report, with all due respect, is a significant and terrible disappointment. It’s omission of key facts and lines of inquiry suggest the investigators reached a conclusion first, and then determined so-called facts later. One item alone taints this entire report. What does it say about the league office’s protocols and ethics when it allows one team to tip it off to an issue prior to a championship game? this suggest it may be more probable than not that the league cooperated with the Colts in perpetrating a sting operation. The Wells report buries this issue in a footnote on page 46 without any further elaboration.
The league is a significant client of the investigators’ law firm; it appears to be a rich source of billings and media exposure based on content in the law firm’s website. this was not an independent investigation and the contents of the report bear that out — all one has to do is rad closely and critically, as opposed to simply reading headlines. the investigators’ assumptions and inferences are easily debunked or subject to multiple interpretations. Much of the reports’ vulnerabilities are buried in the footnotes, which is a common legal writing tactic.
It is a sad day for the league as it has abdicated the resolution of football-specific issues to people who don’t understand the context or culture of the sport. I was physically present for my client’s interview. I have verbatim notes of the interview. Tom made himself available for nearly an entire day and patiently answered every question. It was clear to me the investigators had limited understanding of professional football.
For reason unknown, the Wells report omitted nearly all of Tom’s testimony, most of which was critical because it would have provided this report with the context that it lacks. Mr. wells promised back in January to share the results of this investigation publicly, so why not follow through and make public all of the information gathered and let the public draw its own conclusions? This report contains significant and tragic flaws, and it is common knowledge in the legal industry that reports like this generally are written for the benefit of the purchaser.
