New England Patriot's star Quarterback Tom Brady arrived at NFL Headquarters in New York City this morning with a tense expression on his face, as he prepared to fight a $1.8 million fine and a 4 game suspension following the Wells report investigation into deflategate.
Brady faced a frenzy of reporters lined up outside the Park Avenue building for the scheduled 9:30 a.m. hearing, that was being overseen by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, regarding his alleged deflation of footballs during the AFC championship game against the Colts.
Ben Volin, a NFL and Patriots writer at the Boston Globe, spoke with WGBH Morning Edition host Bob Seay and says Brady's lawyers will argue he did nothing wrong. “They never found anything where Tom Brady asked the two ball boys to illegally under-inflate the footballs,” says Volin. “The report really didn’t find much. And then when you look at the science… they poked a lot of holes in the Wells report. And there’s a good case to be made that the Patriot footballs were never really under-inflated, that it can be explained away by science.”
Volin says there would be anywhere from 12-15 people in the hearing room during the appeal, with no media permitted. “They’re not letting us in the room and there’s a clear demarcation on the sidewalk in front of the building. The plaza in front of the building is a public space but they have security guards watching to make sure media doesn’t come onto the plaza,” according to Volin.
Ted Wells, who investigated and delivered the report to the NFL suggesting that Brady had some knowledge the footballs were deflated during the AFC championship game, was expected to attend the hearing. Volin adds that Brady's attorneys will go on the defense, arguing that the penalty is unfair treatment, and that the four game suspension is grossly out-of-whack with other penalties similar to this.
Volin says it will take several weeks to render a decision, possibly the end of July, right before the start of NFL football training camp. Initially it was reported the hearing may continue Thursday, if more time is needed.
To listen to the interview between Ben Volin and WGBH’s Bob Seay click on the audio file above.
