Ted Wells: NFL Didn’t Take Initial Complaint Against Patriots Seriously

The NFL did not take deflated footballs very seriously in the days leading up to the AFC Championship Game. That leads one to wonder how we arrived at this point.

Ted Wells said in a conference call with the media Tuesday that the NFL didn’t take the Indianapolis Colts’ initial complaint the Patriots were using deflated footballs seriously.

“I did not interview Commissioner (Roger Goodell),” Wells said. “It was my understanding he was not brought into the loop regarding the complaint. What the evidence showed — and I talked to Mr. (Mike) Kensil, Mr. (Alberto) Riveron, I talked to all of the people who were in that loop, including the referee Walt Anderson — and the truth of the matter is, no one took the complaint that seriously. The complaint was not supported by any evidence, and although they passed it on to the referees, the referees did not do it as a red, you know, fire alarm or something. No one took it that seriously, and that’s why I came out and said ‘This is not a sting operation.’ In fact, just the opposite. They gave the Patriots the benefit of the doubt.”

“They didn’t overreact,” fellow attorney Lorin Reisner butted in.

“Yeah, they did not overreact,” Wells agreed.

Colts general manager Ryan Grigson emailed David Gardi and Mike Kensil, both senior members of NFL football operations team, on Jan. 17, the day before the AFC Championship Game, raising concerns about deflated footballs used by the Patriots, according to the Wells Report. The email included a note from Colts equipment manager Sean Sullivan.

Gardi replied to Grigson, saying Kensil would be at the game and would speak to the game officials about the concern. Kensil forwarded the email to NFL director of game operations  James Daniel, who then forwarded it to “other game operations personnel who would be at the game,” according to the report. Kensil also forwarded the email to Dean Blandino and Riveron, both senior members of the NFL officiating department.

Riveron and Blandino decided they would tell Anderson, according to the report.

Wells said he specified there was no sting operation in his report based on requests made by the Patriots to check in on the matter.

“The Patriots were all over me from Day 1 about why the NFL did not warn them of the complaint and alleging it was a sting operation,” Wells said. “That came from the Patriots to me. And I responded to it. I investigated that issue, the Patriots asked me to investigate that issue, and I did not find there was a sting. What the facts show is just the opposite.

“When the Colts made the complaint, no one at the league office took the complaint seriously. The flipped the complaint by email to operations people so they knew about it, they told the refs. Walt Anderson thought it was just a normal complaint. You get these types of things all the time. Nobody paid that much attention to it.

“There was no sting operation, and I addressed it because the Patriots urged me to look at that issue, and I did.

“And I want to say this: There’s a policy question one can ask whether you tell another team about a complaint or not. That’s not a sting operation, that’s a discretionary policy issue. That doesn’t have anything to do with my report. There was no sting, and that issue was addressed because the Patriots raised it.”

Four months later, apparently the NFL has changed its tune about the seriousness of deflated footballs.

Thumbnail photo via Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports Images