Counsel for the Patriots have "put together a long and detailed rebuttal to the Wells Report, calling it 'incomplete, incorrect,' and lacking in context," according to the BOSTON HERALD. The opening statement of the rebuttal, which was written by team attorney Daniel Goldberg and is located on WellsReportContext.com, reads, "The conclusions of the Wells Report are, at best, incomplete, incorrect and lack context. 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. 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." Brady is expected to appeal his four-game suspension prior to today's 5:00pm ET deadline (BOSTONHERALD.com, 5/14). ESPN BOSTON's Mike Reiss notes the rebuttal is "nearly 20,000 words." The team also included on the website a "scientific conclusion" by former Nobel Prize winner Roderick MacKinnon that "contested the report's findings" (ESPNBOSTON.com, 5/14).
BLOW-BY-BLOW COUNTERARGUMENT: ESPN's Michelle Steele notes the rebuttal is a "virtual blow-by-blow counterargument to every point that Ted Wells made in his original report that was published." There are "two key parts, two things that really figured into the NFL's discipline" -- Wells' "assertion, the evidence of tampering with the footballs," and the "lack of cooperation from the team." The Pats "addressed both of those." They address Jim McNally "going into the locked bathroom with the bag of footballs," claiming that he was in there "for a minute and 40 seconds." Steele: "As far as him referring to himself as ‘The Deflator,’ that had nothing to do with footballs, the Patriots say. That had to do with his attempt to lose weight. Both apparently McNally and Jastremski were trying to lose weight, and McNally referred to himself one time they say in this report as, ‘The Deflator.’" This statement "raises more questions overall, but it definitely shows that the Patriots lawyers are ready to fight” the Wells Report and the NFL discipline ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 5/14).
THE WEIGHTING GAME: Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman wrote on Twitter after the launch of the website, "The Pats report actually says Deflator comments in texts about efforts by Jastremski and McNally to lose weight. Whaaaaaat???????????" NBA.com's Steve Aschburner: "Only folks in world who allegedly use 'deflate' to mean weight loss happen to be only folks in world accused of deflating footballs. Uh huh." ESPN's Robert Flores: "Friend 1:wow you've lost weight. Friend 2: Yep. Just call me The Deflator. Friend 1: what the hell are you talking about?" The N.Y. Post's Bart Hubbuch: "So the Patriots' 'Deflator' was threatening to go to ESPN to tell them about his weight-loss efforts?" WFAN's Kimberly Jones: "And I'm pretty sure we've entered the Theater of the Absurd." FS1's Mike Hill: "Are the Pats really trying to insult our intelligence with this 'weight loss' explanation." Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy: "What we're learning about Patriots is they are an organization with absolutely no sense of shame. (Already knew they had no moral compass.)" XEPRS-AM's Marty Caswell: "So if the texts between McNally and Jastremski were joking in nature, then why did the Patriots suspend them? So stupid." Pro Football Talk's Michael David Smith: "Roger Goodell should strip another draft pick from the Patriots just for thinking anyone would buy the 'Deflator' weight loss excuse." Fox' Jay Glazer: "just to clarify... no dude in the history of life should EVER refer to himself as a Deflator. Even if the pills don't work... just don't."
