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The New England Patriots were found to have likely deflated balls during last season's 45-7 AFC Championship victory against the Indianapolis Colts, according to the Ted Wells report released Wednesday. The report details interviews with members of the Patriots and support staff, as well as shows text messages and phone records from those directly involved.
You can read the full DeflateGate report here. It's 243 pages long. https://t.co/0IBuJUYUNA
— SB Nation (@SBNation) May 6, 2015
Among other things, we learned that Jim McNally, the officials locker room attendant for the Patriots, and John Jastremski, the team's equipment manager, deliberately tried to release air from game balls after they were examined by referees. We also learned that quarterback Tom Brady was aware of what McNally and Jastremski were doing.
With an early-season matchup in Week 3 against the Patriots, this could be huge for the Jacksonville Jaguars. If the NFL suspends Brady for at least three games, the Jaguars' first road game could be against Jimmy Garoppolo.
While a suspension could easily be less than three games (or not even happen at all) it's important to note that commissioner Roger Goodell's infamous "ignorance is not an excuse" line in reference to the New Orleans Saints bounty case could come back to haunt him. Brady didn't order the footballs to be deflated, but he didn't do anything to stop it from happening.