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Originally Posted by ESPN
The NFL has found that it is probable that New England Patriots personnel deliberately deflated balls during the AFC Championship Game in January and that quarterback Tom Brady was "generally aware" of what was happening.
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According to the report, there was no smoking gun evidence against the Pats although both the Colts and Pats had under-deflated balls for the game. Colts balls were 1.06PSI under-inflated and Pats balls were 1.01PSI under-inflated.
NFL to announce punishments within the next few days with Brady likely getting the harshest. Like the Pats, no smoking gun evidence against him but he did provide the least stuff for the investigation. NFL wanted a lot of personal stuff from him which he refused or gave very little.
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Originally Posted by Wells Report
Based on the 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. In particular, we conclude that it is more probable than not that Jim McNally and John Jastremski participated in a deliberate plan to circumvent the rules by releasing air from Patriots game balls after the examination of the footballs by NFL game officials at the AFC Championship Game. We believe that McNally and Jastremski were aware that the inflation level of the Patriots game balls following pre-game inspection by the game officials would be approximately 12.5 psi and planned for McNally to deflate the balls below that level following the pre-game inspection using a needle provided by Jastremski. Based on the evidence, we also have concluded 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.73
We do not believe that the evidence establishes that any other Patriots personnel participated in or had knowledge of the violation of the Playing Rules or the deliberate effort to circumvent the rules described above. In particular, we do not believe there was any wrongdoing or knowledge of wrongdoing by Patriots ownership, Head Coach Belichick or any other Patriots coach in the matters investigated. We also do not believe there was any wrongdoing or knowledge of wrongdoing by Patriots Head Equipment Manager Dave Schoenfeld.
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