(KRON/CNN) The agent for New England Patriots quarterback and San Mateo native Tom Brady Thursday called the findings of the NFL’s “Deflategate” investigation flawed, biased, and terribly disappointing.
A report released by the NFL found that “it is more probable than not” that Brady was “at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities” of locker room attendant Jim McNally and equipment assistant John Jastremski, who has been with the team since 2001.
The report also said that the Super Bowl MVP did not turn over personal information like texts and emails. And it doubted the quarterback’s claim that he didn’t know the name of McNally, the part-time Patriots employee who investigators think most likely improperly deflated footballs just before the team faced off in January’s AFC Championship game.
In a statement Thursday, Brady’s agent Don Yee characterized the report as “a significant and terrible disappointment.”
He questioned the role of the Indianapolis Colts in the scandal. The Colts played the Patriots in the January AFC Championship game, and the Patriots won, 45-7, before going on to win the Super Bowl.
“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, and no league officials or game officials notified the Patriots of the same issue prior to the game?” Yee said. “This suggests it may be more probable than not that the league cooperated with the Colts in perpetrating a sting operation.”
Brady’s agent went on to challenge the integrity of the investigation, noting that “the league is a significant client of the investigators’ law firm.”
The investigation was conducted by NFL appointed attorney Ted Wells.
“This was not an independent investigation and the contents of the report bear that out — all one has to do is read closely and critically, as opposed to simply reading headlines,” he said. “The investigators’ assumptions and inferences are easily debunked or subject to multiple interpretations.”
Yee concludes, “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.”