Howe: Wells Report 'A 243-Page Assumption'
BOSTON (CBS) -- Ted Wells released his long-awaited report on the whole Deflategate mess on Wednesday, casting quite the shadow on Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
Over the course of his lengthy, four-month investigation, Wells determined that Patriots team employees likely deflated footballs and Brady may have known about it.
Read: The Wells Report (.pdf)
Given that Wells states they are probably guilty right off the bat, and about a Dickens novel later says data couldn't determine with absolute certainty that there was tampering ahead of the AFC Championship game, The Boston Herald's Jeff Howe sees Wells' report as one giant assumption.
"It was extremely sloppy in my opinion, and I thought the tone of Wells overtook the vast majority of the report, which really, in my opinion, shook down as a 243-page assumption," Howe told 98.5 The Sports Hub's The Adam Jones Show on Wednesday night. "There was very little, if any, incriminating evidence. But Tom Brady and the two ball attendants were labeled in the fourth paragraph of the opening section, 'more probable than not' guilty in this whole thing. That's the fourth paragraph of the opening section, yet on the 228th page, it says in sum, the data could not provide a basis to determine with absolute certainty whether there was or was not tampering.
Read: Hurley: Not Enough To Condemn Brady
"You're talking about leading this thing off with that fourth paragraph, and then you wait to the 228th page – and let's be serious, we could probably count on one hand the amount of fans who read all 243 pages of this thing – so you know where you can put certain bits of information and kind of sway the opinion of this report," said Howe. "The tone of this entire report was critical or incriminating of Brady when the evidence was not."
But in the court of public opinion, Brady and the Patriots are guilty. Howe says a hefty fine is likely for the quarterback, as he can't see the NFL suspending one of the faces of the league for their season-opening game.
"I'll be honest, I'd be shocked if the NFL really had it in them to take Brady out of that opening night celebration at Gillette when they're raising the banner. Forget the Patriots, that doesn't look good for the league almost as much as it doesn't look good for the Patriots," he said. "Maybe they fine Brady $500,000. We don't have any comparable to this story. A lot of people believe there could be a suspension, but I'd be shocked if the NFL did that to themselves."
