There’s a theory (which I happen to subscribe to) that the Colts and the NFL were hoping to “catch” the Patriots doing something – ANYTHING! – to the footballs on the night of the AFC Championship Game.
Testimony from Tom Brady’s appeal detailing how NFL personnel mobilized in the second quarter of the AFCCG seems like an effort to make league personnel appear less vested and in the loop than the findings of the Wells Report.
Almost as if NFL operations personnel didn’t want to appear to be in cahoots with the Colts equipment man who tested a ball that wound up on the Indianapolis sideline.
Just a little background on the notion of a sting.
Despite Wells’ dismissive footnote in his report that, “there was no plan to check the air pressure of the balls at halftime or any other time during the game. There was no 'sting' operation, no plan for a 'sting' operation and no discussion of a 'sting' operation" actions that night suggest otherwise.
Start with the fact Colts equipment man Sean Sullivan and his equipment staff quite obviously planned to “check the air pressure of balls” if the opportunity arose. Evidence? Sullivan wrote the email that was passed up the chain imploring the NFL to check footballs during the game concluding with: “It would be great if someone would be able to check the air in the game balls as the game goes on so that they don’t get an illegal advantage…”
That email was received by Colts GM Ryan Grigson and forwarded prior to the game to NFL Operations personnel Dave Gardi and Mike Kensil. Grigson called the email “another FYI” and closed with this fawning line: “Thank you for being vigilant stewards of that not only for us but for the shield and overall integrity of our game."
Gardi emailed back saying, in essence, “Thanks. We’re on it. Good luck.”
Grigson emailed Gardi again to say the NFL’s diligence was appreciated and requested Gardi “Send….MOJO”
Anyway. The point is Kensil and Gardi were on alert as was Troy Vincent, the NFL’s VP of Operations.
The Wells Report states that, when the Colts intercepted Brady in the second quarter, a Colts equipment assistant said the football felt soft and had an intern measure it. It came back at 11 PSI, so Sullivan was alerted and he told Danielle Lee, a Game Operations official on the Indy sideline, who radioed NFL personnel – including Kensil – to come to the sideline. Sullivan then told the team’s VP of Equipment Jon Scott, who notified Grigson.
The Wells Report states that, Grigson then headed for the NFL control booth to alert Kensil and Vincent but when he got there, they were “already putting their jackets on to go down to the field.” Also from the Wells Report, “Kensil had already told (additional NFL operations personnel) over the radio system that the game balls should be collected and he and Vincent already had decided that the footballs for both teams should be checked at halftime.”
So pretty solid. Kensil and Vincent were mobilizing. At least one of the men, no doubt, had mentioned the fact Indy harbored suspicions prior to the game and notified – repeatedly – the NFL’s operations guys.
Check out the testimony from Vincent at the appeal. Questioned directly by NFLPA counsel Jeffrey Kessler, here’s Vincent’s recollection.
Kessler: “Okay. So let me ask you first, Mr. Vincent, how did you first learn that there was any issue or allegation about the footballs that the Patriots were using in the AFC Championship Game?
Vincent: “It was first brought to my knowledge approximately six or seven minutes remaining in the second half [sic] of the AFC Championship Game. There was a knock on the door by the General Manager from the Indianapolis Colts, Ryan Grigson. He proceeded in the room and he brought to myself, and Mike Kensil was actually sitting to my left, and said, "We are playing with a small ball." That was my first knowledge of the situation.
Kessler: “You had never heard anything about the Colts having made allegations before the game started prior to that time?
Vincent: “No, sir.”
So which is true? Kensil and Vincent were alerted by radio, moving fast and had a plan of action? Or they were just twiddling their thumbs watching some football when – like a bolt from the blue – here’s the Colts GM with a “small ball” issue?
The testimony, at least from Vincent in June (no idea why Kensil wasn’t deposed), paints the operations people as blissfully going along watching the game. The Wells Report paints a picture of a proactive department ready to act.
Look, there are plenty of things that have come from the Patriots or Brady’s side that cause an eyebrow to rise over the past seven months.
But the effort by Vincent to remake the way the NFL Operations people learned of the alleged infraction during the appeal in contrast to the way Wells described it is more important than any of the “defendant’s” inconsistencies.
We’ve been told there was no sting, no setup, no plan to check over and over and over. Yet the evidence – Sullivan’s email, Grigson’s follow-ups, Kensil’s suspicions that I reported existed prior to January and the failure to tell the Patriots there were concerns – all point to a staff on alert and ready to move. And now Vincent is trying to make it seem that much more benign?
