The NFL asked Ted Wells to be thorough. And they’re getting their money’s worth.
As pointed out by Peter King of Sports Illustrated, today is Day 70 of Ted Wells’ investigation into #DeflateGate.
Granted, that leaves it four weeks short of the amount of time he needed to investigate the Dolphins bullying scandal, but it’s still a significant amount of time.
When asked at the owners meetings about the status of the investigation, and whether it needed to be tied up before the 2015 NFL Draft, commissioner Roger Goodell offered no schedule.
“We have not put a timeframe on Ted Wells,” Goodell said. “We’ve asked him to be thorough, complete and when he’s finished then he’ll give it to us and to the public in general.”
That was followed by one reporter from the greater New England region asking Goodell if he had any “regrets” for the topic dominating Super Bowl conversation and whether it “prematurely stained the reputations of the Patriots and Tom Brady and Bill Belichick?” (Which seemed at the time, and again today, more than a little parochial.)
“I made it very clear at the Super Bowl that we were not making any judgments and that we were obligated, as part of our role, to make sure we understand the facts whenever there is a charge, potentially, of a violation of our rules,” Goodell said. “We take it very seriously and that’s our obligation. It’s our obligation to the other 31 clubs. Ted Wells will be going through the report and if there was anything that we as a league did incorrectly, we’ll know about it in that report.”
When we’ll know it remains to be seen. But until the clock strikes about 6 p.m. today and the next several Fridays, skepticism and conditioned response makes it reasonable to wonder if today’s going to be the day.