Another possible scenario that Wells does not consider is that -- if McNally did deflate Patriot game balls in the bathroom -- that he did so not on Brady's instructions but because he feared that the referees had pumped them up excessively as they had done before the Jets game, incurring Brady's wrath toward McNally. The Wells report describes McNally watching the refs as they added air to some balls as he reminded them that Brady likes the footballs at 12.5 psi. Perhaps, McNally feared that his pleas had been ignored.
So, while Wells does build a circumstantial case that establishes the possibility of wrongdoing by Brady and the two locker room employees, it is far from conclusive as even Wells acknowledges.
"We have concluded that, in connection with the AFC Championship Game, 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 wrote.
"In particular, we have concluded that it is more probable than not that Jim McNally ... and John Jastremski ... participated in a deliberate effort to release air from Patriots game balls after the balls were examined by the referee. Based on the evidence, it also is our view that it is more probable than not that Tom Brady ... was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities of McNally and Jastremski involving the release of air from Patriots game balls."
The phrasing, which arguably pumps up the circumstantial case to its outer limits, is lawyerly and vague with its references to "more probable than not," but -- if there were to be an adversarial proceeding -- a smart defense lawyer would surely have little trouble deflating the NFL's case.
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