Mike Kensil, public enemy No. 1 among New England Patriots fans, has been transferred out of his position as NFL vice president of football operations.
Kensil, the alleged source of the erroneous report that helped turn Deflategate into the behemoth it became, now operates under the title “vice president of game operations — international,” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy confirmed Thursday in an interview with ProFootballTalk.
“We needed a senior executive to work exclusively in this priority area,” McCarthy told PFT. “He’s been in Mexico City and China the last few weeks.”
CSNNE.com and Sports Illustrated previously reported that Kensil, a former New York Jets employee, was the primary instigator of the underinflated footballs controversy that has yet to be resolved 15 months after the initial story broke. CSNNE.com called Kensil the “driving force” behind the investigation.
“Patriots sources are steadfast — and their belief was conveyed to the league, according to a source — that Mike Kensil, the NFL’s VP of game operations, walked up to Patriots equipment manager Dave Schoenfeld on the sideline after halftime and said, ‘We weighed the balls. You are in big f—— trouble,’ ” SI’s Greg Bedard wrote last May. “New England and Kraft thought this incident, and others, showed bias by the league and would be explored in the Wells report.”
Deflategate is back in the news after the U.S. Court of Appeals on Monday reinstated Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s four-game suspension.
Thumbnail photo via Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-USA TODAY Sports Images
