The Patriots are not letting Deflategate go.
Ten months after Ted Wells issued his report finding it more likely than not that Tom Brady had schemed with team employees to deflate footballs, the Patriots have updated their website, WellsReportContext.com, to offer what the team calls 15 myths about Deflategate.
The 15 myths make up a long and detailed document, put forward by Patriots counsel Daniel L. Goldberg, in which the Patriots make several claims, including:
— Changes in air pressure to the Patriots’ footballs could be the result of the weather at the AFC Championship Game, rather than someone intentionally deflating footballs.
— The inflation measurements taken both before the game and at halftime may have been unreliable.
— The NFL can’t be sure which gauge referee Walt Anderson used to test the PSI of the Patriots’ footballs.
— Texts between two Patriots employees don’t show that they schemed to deflate footballs.
— There’s nothing suspicious or improper about contact between Brady and a Patriots employee.
— There’s nothing suspicious or improper about Brady destroying his phone.
— The Patriots employee who took game balls into a restroom wasn’t in there long enough to deflate a dozen footballs.
— Brady never said he wanted footballs below the league’s minimum inflation level.
The Patriots have already given up on trying to get back the first-round draft pick the league took as a result of the Wells Report. But they’re still hoping that Brady ultimately prevails in fighting his suspension, and they’re still hoping they ultimately prevail in their public relations battle with the league. The Patriots are a long way from giving up on that fight.