NFL finds it probable Patriots deliberately deflated balls

The long-awaited report from attorney Ted Wells regarding DeflateGate was released Wednesday, concluding that "it is more than probable" New England Patriots personnel violated NFL rules in order to use improperly inflated football during the AFC Championship Game against the Colts in January.

The report focuses on New England quarterback Tom Brady, locker room attendant Jim McNally, 48, and equipment assistant John Jastremski, 35, and all but exonerated owner Bob Kraft and coach Bill Belichick.

The Colts released this statement: "The Indianapolis Colts are aware of the findings in the Wells Report and have no comment."

Here are the highlights from the 243-page report:

• "Based on evidence developed in connection with the investigation and summarized in this Report, we have concluded that it is more probable than not that New England Patriots personnel participated in violations of the NFL Playing Rules and were involved in a deliberate attempt to circumvent those rules."

Former Colts executive Bill Polian, who spent 19 years on the competition committee, said the term "more probable than not" has been the standard of proof the NFL has used for competitive violations over the last six years.

"In short, he is finding there was a violation," Polian said on ESPN. "It clearly says a violation occurred."

• In an email to the league office prior to the AFC Championship Game, Colts GM Ryan Grigson warned of the Patriots using deflated footballs:

"As far as the (game balls) are concerned it is well known around the league that after the Patriots (game balls) are checked by the officials and brought out for game usage the ballboys for the Patriots will let out some of the air with a ball needle because their quarterback likes a smaller football so he can grip it better, it would be great if someone would be able to check the air in the game balls as the game goes on so that they don't get an illegal advantage."

• "All 11 of the Patriots game balls tested measured below the minimum pressure level of 12.5 pounds per square inch ("psi") allowed by Rule 2... The four Colts balls tested each measured within the 12.5 to 13.5 psi range." Scientific studies were conducted that determined a 0.4 percent chance "that the difference in average drops between the teams occurred by chance."

Kraft released a statement saying he was disappointed with the NFL's handling of the investigation and disputing the report's information on the impact the atmospheric conditions had on the balls. The full statement is at the end of this article.

• The report all but exonerates Patriots owner Bob Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick:

"We do not believe the evidence establishes that any other Patriots personnel participated in or had knowledge of the violation of the Playing Rules. ... We do not believe there was any wrongdoing or knowledge of wrongdoing by Patriots ownership, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick or any other Patriots coach in the matters investigated."

• The first indication something was wrong prior to the game came when the officiating crew could not find the bag of game balls that had been prepared.

"When (referee Walt Anderson) and other members of the officiating crew were preparing to leave the Officials Locker Room to head to the field for the start of the (AFC Championship) game, the game balls could not be located. It was the first time in Anderson's 19 years as an NFL official that he could not locate the game balls at the start of a game."

• "Based on videotape evidence and witness interviews, it has been determined that (Patriots locker room attendant Jim McNally) removed the game balls from the Officials Locker Room at approximately 6:30 p.m. After leaving the Officials Locker Room carrying a large bag of game balls (Patriots balls and Colts balls), McNally turned left and then turned left again to walk down a corridor referred to by Patriots personnel as the 'center tunnel' heading to the playing field. ... McNally entered the bathroom with the game balls for approximately one minute and forty seconds. He then left the bathroom and took the bags of game balls to the field."

• No official remembered McNally removing the game balls from the officials locker room with receiving permission previously.

• In addition, a study determined the pressure could have been reduced in the balls in that time frame. McNally provided varying accounts for why he stopped at that bathroom and not one in the officials locker room.

• In a number of text messages, "McNally and (Patriots equipment assistant John Jastremski) discussed the air pressure of Patriots game balls, Tom Brady's unhappiness with the inflation level of Patriots game balls."

Here is the full text of the Wells report.

Here are some of those texts:

McNally: Tom sucks... im going to make that next ball a f---- balloon.

Jastremski: Talked to him last night. He actually brought you up and said you must have a lot of stress trying to get them done...

Jastremski: I told him it was. He was right though...

Jastremski: I checked some of the balls this morn... The refs f---- us... A few of (them) were at almost 16.

Jastremski: They didn't re-check (them) after they put air in them.

McNally: F--- Tom... 16 is nothing... wait till next Sunday.

On Oct. 23, 2014, three days before a game against Chicago, the two exchanged more text messages:

Jastremski: Can't wait to give you your needle this week. ;)

McNally: F--- Tom... make sure the pump is attached to the needle... f---- watermelons coming.

Jastremski: So angry.

McNally: The only thing deflating sun..is his passing rating.

More texts between the two the following day:

Jastremski: I have a big needle for u this week

McNally: Better be surrounded by cash and newkicks...or it's a rugby Sunday.

McNally: F--- Tom.

Jastremski: Maybe u will have some nice size 11s in your locker.

• The Wells report continues, "On Jan. 7, 2015, 11 days after the AFC Championship Game, McNally and Jastremski discussed how McNally would have a 'big autograph day' and receive items autographed by Brady the following weekend.

McNally: Remember to put a couple sweet pig skins ready for tom to sign.

Jastremski: U got it kid... big autograph day for you.

McNally: Nice throw some kicks in and make it real special.

From the Wells report: "On Jan. 10... McNally received two footballs autographed by Brady and also had Brady autograph a game-worn Patriots jersey that McNally had previously obtained."

• "During his interview, Brady denied any knowledge of or involvement in any efforts to deflate game balls. ... He claimed that prior to the events surrounding the AFC Championship Game, he did not know McNally's name. ... We found these claims not plausible and contradicted by other evidence."

• "There was a significant exception to the cooperation provided by the Patriots. Although we requested a follow-up interview of Jim McNally after our initial interview, counsel for the Patriots refused our request. ... And we believe that the actions of the Patriots and their counsel in this regard are inconsistent both with the club's public pronouncements of full cooperation with the investigation and its obligations under Section 2 of the Policy of Integrity of the Game & Enforcement of Competitive Rules."

• "We did not receive, and were therefore unable to review, all of the materials we requested or deemed relevant. In particular, we requested electronically stored information, including emails and text messages, from several individuals who declined our request. Of note, Tom Brady was asked to provide emails and text messages in response to narrowly tailored requests pertinent to the subject of our investigation. Brady declined our request."

Counsel for the Patriots "questioned the integrity and objectivity of game officials, various NFL executives and certain NFL Security representatives" at the game. The Wells report found no evidence to support these claims.

• "According to Brady, Jastremski and other Patriots personnel, during the October 2014 Jets game, Brady complained angrily about the feel and inflation level of the game balls. He told Jastremski between drives the the balls felt "like bricks" and were heavier and harder to grip than they had been when he approved them prior to the game. ... Brady also stated that, at some point, he felt a football was inflated to 12.5 psi, and decided that should be the target for all future games because he did 'not ever want to get near the upper range again.' In addition, Brady stated that he suggested that the Patriots give the game officials a copy of Rule 2 when they delivered game balls prior to each game, so that the officials would know that it was not necessary to inflate them further."

• "Jastremski typically finishes preparing the footballs about an hour before Brady selects them, which is typically around three or four hours before a scheduled kickoff time. ... Andrew Luck typically selects his game balls two days before each game. The designated balls are placed into ball bags and kept locked in the Colts equipment room until their pressure is checked again shortly before being delivered to the game officials."

• "In addition, we believe it is unlikely that an equipment assistant and a locker room attendant would deflate game balls without Brady's knowledge and approval. Based on our interviews and assessment of McNally and Jastremski, we also do not believe that they would personally and unilaterally engage in such conduct in the absence of Brady's awareness and consent."

According to the report, Brady had telephone and text message conversations with Jastremski on the day after the AFC Championship Game. Here are some of those communications:

Texts:

January 19, 2015, 9:51 a.m., Brady: "You good Jonny boy?"

9:53 a.m., Jastremski: "Still nervous; so far so good though. I‟ll be alright"

9:54 a.m., Brady: "You didn‟t do anything wrong bud."

9:55 a.m., Jastremski: "I know; I‟ll be all good"

Over the next three days, Brady and Jastremski continued to communicate by phone and text, according to the report, discussing preparation of game balls for the Super Bowl and Jastremski's upcoming wedding.

• The Wells report stated it could not determine when deflating the balls started but noted "McNally referred to himself as 'the deflator' prior to the start of the 2014-15 season.

• Later the report goes into detail of the Colts' aspect of the incident, starting with the ball linebacker D'Qwell Jackson intercepted in the first half:

"(Jackson) handed the ball to David Thornton, the Colts Director of Player Engagement, near the Colts bench and Thornton immediately handed the ball to Assistant Equipment Manager Brian Seabrooks. According to Seabrooks, he believed that the ball felt similar to the footballs intercepted by Mike Adams during the Colts game against the Patriots earlier in the season, so he asked one of the team's equipment interns to locate a pressure gauge and test the inflation level of the intercepted ball. ...

"These concerns were brought by Colts equipment personnel to the attention of a game official on the Colts sideline who was not responsive. ... (Colts equipment manager Sean Sullivan) also alerted Danielle Lee, an NFL Game Operations representative stationed on the Colts sideline, and asked her to contact NFL personnel and have them come to the sidelines because there was a problem with the footballs. ..."

Alberto Riverton, a senior officiating supervisor, decided the balls for both teams should be tested at halftime after being informed the Colts had determined the ball Jackson intercepted was underinflated. Troy Vincent and Mike Kensil, two other senior NFL personnel present at the game reached the same conclusion independently.

Kraft's full statement:

"When I addressed the media at the Super Bowl on January 26 -- over 14 weeks ago -- I stated that I unconditionally believed that the New England Patriots had done nothing inappropriate in this process or in violation of the NFL rules and that I was disappointed in the way the league handled the initial investigation. That sentiment has not changed.

"I was convinced that Ted Wells' investigation would find the same factual evidence supported by both scientific formula and independent research as we did and would ultimately exonerate the Patriots. Based on the explanations I have heard and the studies that have been done, I don't know how the science of atmospheric conditions can be refuted or how conclusions to the contrary can be drawn without some definitive evidence.

"What is not highlighted in the text of the report is that three of the Colts' four footballs measured by at least one official were under the required psi level. As far as we are aware, there is no comparable data available from any other game because, in the history of the NFL, psi levels of footballs have never been measured at halftime, in any climate. If they had been, based on what we now know, it is safe to assume that every cold-weather game was played with under inflated footballs. As compelling a case as the Wells Report may try to make, I am going to rely on the factual evidence of numerous scientists and engineers rather than inferences from circumstantial evidence.

"Throughout the process of this nearly four-month investigation, we have cooperated and patiently awaited its outcome. To say we are disappointed in its findings, which do not include any incontrovertible or hard evidence of deliberate deflation of footballs at the AFC Championship Game, would be a gross understatement. In addition, given our level of cooperation throughout the process, I was offended by the comments made in the Wells Report in reference to not making an individual available for a follow-up interview. What the report fails to mention is that he had already been interviewed four times and we felt the fifth request for access was excessive for a part-time game day employee who has a full-time job with another employer.

"While I respect the independent process of the investigation, the time, effort and resources expended to reach this conclusion are incomprehensible to me. Knowing that there is no real recourse available, fighting the league and extending this debate would prove to be futile. We understand and greatly respect the responsibility of being one of 32 in this league and, on that basis, we will accept the findings of the report and take the appropriate actions based on those findings as well as any discipline levied by the league."

Star assistant sports editor Nat Newell and reporter Blake Schuster contributed to this report.

Call Star online producer Matt Glenesk at (317) 444-6208. Follow him on Twitter: @MattGlenesk.