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INVESTIGATIVE REPORT CONCERNING FOOTBALLS USED DURING THE AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME ON JANUARY 18, 2015 By: PAUL, WEISS, RIFKIND, WHARTON & GARRISON LLP Theodore V. Wells, Jr. Brad S. Karp Lorin L. Reisner Dated: May 6, 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................................... 1 INVESTIGATIVE ACTIVITIES .................................................................................. 22 I. Scope of Investigation........................................................................................... 22 A. Witnesses Interviewed .......................................................................................... 24 B. Materials Reviewed .............................................................................................. 29 C. Expert Consultation .............................................................................................. 31 D. BACKGROUND ............................................................................................................. 32 II. Rules and Practices Regarding Footballs Used in NFL Games ............................ 32 A. Playing Rule 2 ........................................................................................... 32 1. Guidelines Concerning the Preparation of Footballs ................................ 33 2. Pre-Game Review of Footballs by NFL Game Officials .......................... 36 3. Ball Preparation Process Used by the New England Patriots ............................... 37 B. Preparing the Shape and Surface .............................................................. 38 1. Setting the Inflation Level ........................................................................ 39 2. Selecting Footballs For Game Use ........................................................... 41 3. Role of Jim McNally ............................................................................................. 42 C. EVENTS SURROUNDING THE AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME .......................... 44 III. Pre-Game Events .................................................................................................. 44 A. The Colts Communicate Concerns about 1. Patriots Game Balls Prior to the AFC Championship Game .................... 44 The Officials Prepare for the AFC Championship Game ......................... 46 2. The Patriots Prepare and Select Game Balls............................................. 49 3. Inspection of Game Balls by Referee Anderson ....................................... 50 4. Anderson and Other Officials Cannot Locate the Game Balls ................. 54 5. The Game Balls are Taken to the Field by McNally ................................ 57 6. Events During the First Half ................................................................................. 63 B. Events During and Following Halftime ................................................................ 66 C. Post-Game Testing of Game Balls ........................................................................ 72 D. COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN JASTREMSKI AND IV. MCNALLY PRIOR TO THE AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME ............................... 74 McNally Labels Himself the Deflator ................................................................... 75 A. ii Communications About Inflation and Deflation................................................... 75 B. Brady‟s Dissatisfaction with Game Balls During the Jets Game ............. 75 1. The “Alternate†Explanation Offered by 2. Jastremski and McNally for the October 17 Messages ............................. 83 Additional Deflation Reference by McNally ........................................................ 87 C. McNally Requests and Receives Items D. Autographed by Brady, Sneakers and Apparel ..................................................... 87 Items of Value Received by Jastremski from Brady ............................................ 89 E. INITIAL INVESTIGATIVE STEPS AND POST-GAME EVENTS ........................ 95 V. NFL Security Interviews McNally ........................................................................ 95 A. McNally Speaks with Schoenfeld and Jastremski ................................................ 96 B. Media Reports ....................................................................................................... 97 C. Patriots Personnel Begin Asking Questions ......................................................... 99 D. The NFL Commences a Formal Investigation and Notifies the Patriots ............ 100 E. COMMUNICATIONS FOLLOWING THE AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME ...... 101 VI. January 19, 2015 ................................................................................................. 101 A. Jastremski Learns of Early Media Reports and Contacts Brady............. 102 1. Jastremski Calls McNally after Brady .................................................... 103 2. Brady Checks in on Jastremski and Asks to Meet in QB Room ............ 104 3. Jastremski Speaks Again with Both McNally and Brady ....................... 106 4. January 20, 2015 ................................................................................................. 108 B. Jastremski and Brady Continue to Speak by Phone................................ 108 1. Jastremski Calls McNally ....................................................................... 109 2. January 21, 2015 ................................................................................................. 109 C. SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE AND ANALYSIS ............................................................ 110 VII. Analysis of the Halftime Data............................................................................. 113 A. Experiments and Game Day Simulations ........................................................... 115 B. Consideration of Statements Made and C. Experiments Conducted by the Patriots .............................................................. 119 Tests on the Time Needed to Deflate Footballs with a Needle........................... 121 D. iii CONCLUSIONS REGARDING THE GAME BALLS VIII. USED BY THE PATRIOTS IN THE AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME ................. 121 THE KICKING BALL ISSUE .................................................................................... 132 IX. Preparation of Kicking Balls ............................................................................... 132 A. Pre-game Activities at the AFC Championship Game ....................................... 133 B. The Removal and Retrieval of “K-Ball #1†........................................................ 135 C. The Attempted Reintroduction of “K-Ball #1†................................................... 137 D. Conclusions ......................................................................................................... 138 E. 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY On January 18, 2015, the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts played in the AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts to determine which team would advance to Super Bowl XLIX. During the first half of the game, a question was raised by the Colts concerning the inflation level of the footballs being used by the Patriots. As a result, at halftime, members of the officiating crew assigned to the game, overseen by a senior officiating supervisor from the National Football League (the “NFL†or the “Leagueâ€), tested the air pressure of footballs being used by each of the Patriots and the Colts. All eleven of the Patriots game balls tested measured below the minimum pressure level of 12.5 pounds per square inch (“psiâ€) allowed by Rule 2 of the Official Playing Rules of the National Football League (the “Playing Rulesâ€) on both of two air pressure gauges used to test the balls. The four Colts balls tested each measured within the 12.5 to 13.5 psi range permitted under the Playing Rules on at least one of the gauges used for the tests. On January 23, 2015, the NFL publicly announced that it had retained Theodore V. Wells, Jr. and the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison (“Paul, Weissâ€) to conduct an investigation, together with NFL Executive Vice President Jeff Pash, into the footballs used by the Patriots during the AFC Championship Game. The investigation was conducted pursuant to the Policy on Integrity of the Game & Enforcement of Competitive Rules. That Policy provides that “[a]ctual or suspected competitive violations will be thoroughly and promptly investigated.â€1 This Report is the product of that investigation. It was prepared entirely by the Paul, Weiss investigative team and presents the independent opinions of Mr. Wells and his colleagues. 1 Under the Policy, the “standard of proof required to find that a violation of the competitive rules has occurred†is a “Preponderance of the Evidence,†meaning that “as a whole, the fact sought to be proved is more probable than not.†2 The primary topic of the investigation has been the circumstances surrounding the use by the Patriots of footballs inflated at below-regulation air pressure levels during the AFC Championship Game, including whether Patriots personnel were involved in deliberate efforts to circumvent the Playing Rules. The investigation also has involved an assessment of the circumstances surrounding a possible attempt by the Patriots to introduce to the playing field a non-approved kicking ball during the AFC Championship Game. For the reasons described in this Report, and after a comprehensive investigation, we have concluded that, in connection with the AFC Championship Game, it is more probable than not that New England Patriots personnel participated in violations of the Playing Rules and were involved in a deliberate effort to circumvent the rules. In particular, we have concluded that it is more probable than not that Jim McNally (the Officials Locker Room attendant for the Patriots) and John Jastremski (an equipment assistant for the Patriots) participated in a deliberate effort to release air from Patriots game balls after the balls were examined by the referee. Based on the evidence, it also is our view that it is more probable than not that Tom Brady (the quarterback for the Patriots) was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities of McNally and Jastremski involving the release of air from Patriots game balls. Based on the evidence, the investigation has further concluded that that there was no deliberate attempt by the Patriots to introduce to the playing field a non-approved kicking ball during the AFC Championship Game. Although Patriots personnel provided a kicking ball to game officials that did not have the distinctive inspection mark of the referee, we find that the Patriots personnel involved believed the ball to be authentic and appropriate. We do not believe that there was any attempt by Patriots personnel, including Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski, to deliberately circumvent the rules by offering the kicking ball for play. 3 We do not believe that the evidence establishes that any other Patriots personnel participated in or had knowledge of the violation of the Playing Rules or the deliberate effort to circumvent the rules described in this Report. In particular, we do not believe there was any wrongdoing or knowledge of wrongdoing by Patriots ownership, Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick or any other Patriots coach in the matters investigated. We also do not believe there was any wrongdoing or knowledge of wrongdoing by Patriots Head Equipment Manager Dave Schoenfeld. In reaching these conclusions, we have considered, among other things, the following facts that we believe are established by the evidence for the reasons detailed in this Report: 1. Rule 2 of the Official Playing Rules of the NFL requires that footballs used during NFL games must be inflated to between 12.5 and 13.5 psi. In particular, the rule states that “[t]he ball shall be made up of an inflated (12½ to 13½ pounds) urethane bladder enclosed in a pebble grained, leather case (natural tan color) without corrugations of any kind.†2. Several hours before the AFC Championship Game, Jim McNally, the Patriots employee responsible for delivering the Patriots game balls to the game officials for pre-game inspection, brought the balls into the Officials Locker Room at Gillette Stadium. At or around that time, McNally told the referee, Walt Anderson, that Tom Brady, the Patriots quarterback, wanted the game balls inflated at 12.5 psi. McNally has been employed by the Patriots as a seasonal or part-time employee for the past 32 years. His work for the Patriots during the 2014-15 NFL season took place only on a part-time/hourly basis on days on which the Patriots had home games. His legitimate job responsibilities as Officials Locker Room attendant did not involve the preparation, inflation or deflation of Patriots game balls. 3. During the pre-game inspection, Anderson determined that all but two of the Patriots game balls delivered by McNally were properly inflated. Most of them measured 12.5 psi. Two tested below 12.5 psi and Anderson directed another game official to further inflate those two game balls, which Anderson then adjusted to 12.5 psi using a pressure gauge. Most of the Colts game balls tested by Anderson prior to the game measured 13.0 or 13.1 psi. Although one or two footballs may have registered 12.8 or 12.9 psi, it was evident to Anderson that the Colts‟ inflation target for the game balls was 13.0 psi. No air was added to or 4 released from the Colts game balls pre-game because they were all within the permissible range. 4. When Anderson and other members of the officiating crew were preparing to leave the Officials Locker Room to head to the field for the start of the game, the game balls could not be located. It was the first time in Anderson‟s nineteen years as an NFL official that he could not locate the game balls at the start of a game. Unknown to Anderson, and without Anderson‟s permission or the permission of any other member of the officiating crew, McNally had taken the balls from the Officials Locker Room towards the playing field. According to Anderson and other members of the officiating crew for the AFC Championship Game, the removal of the game balls from the Officials Locker Room by McNally without the permission of the referee or another game official was a breach of standard operating pre-game procedure. According to Anderson, other members of the officiating crew for the AFC Championship Game and other game officials with recent experience at Gillette Stadium, McNally had not previously removed game balls from the Officials Locker Room and taken them to the field without either receiving permission from the game officials or being accompanied by one or more officials. 5. Based on videotape evidence and witness interviews, it has been determined that McNally removed the game balls from the Officials Locker Room at approximately 6:30 p.m. After leaving the Officials Locker Room carrying two large bags of game balls (Patriots balls and Colts balls), McNally turned left and then turned left again to walk down a corridor referred to by Patriots personnel as the “center tunnel†heading to the playing field. At the end of the center tunnel on the left-hand side, approximately three feet from the doors that lead to the playing field, is a bathroom. McNally entered that bathroom with the game balls, locked the door, and remained in the bathroom with the game balls for approximately one minute and forty seconds. He then left the bathroom and took the bags of game balls to the field. 6. In the weeks and months before the AFC Championship Game, McNally periodically exchanged text messages with the Patriots equipment assistant primarily responsible for the preparation of the Patriots game balls, John Jastremski. In a number of those text messages, McNally and Jastremski discussed the air pressure of Patriots game balls, Tom Brady‟s unhappiness with the inflation level of Patriots game balls, Jastremski‟s plan to provide McNally with a “needle†for use by McNally, and McNally‟s requests for “cash†and sneakers together with the “needle†to be provided by Jastremski. A sports ball inflation needle is a device that can be used to inflate a football (if attached to an air pump) or release air from a football (if inserted alone into a ball). For example, on October 17, 2014, following a Thursday night game between the Patriots and the New York Jets during which Tom Brady complained angrily about the inflation level of the game balls, McNally and Jastremski exchanged the following text messages: 5 McNally: Tom sucks...im going make that next ball a fuckin balloon Jastremski: Talked to him last night. He actually brought you up and said you must have a lot of stress trying to get them done... Jastremski: I told him it was. He was right though... Jastremski: I checked some of the balls this morn... The refs fucked us...a few of then were at almost 16 Jastremski: They didnt recheck then after they put air in them McNally: Fuck tom ...16 is nothing...wait till next sunday Jastremski: Omg! Spaz On October 21, 2014, McNally and Jastremski exchanged the following text messages: McNally: Make sure you blow up the ball to look like a rugby ball so tom can get used to it before sunday Jastremski: Omg On October 23, 2014, three days before a Sunday game against the Chicago Bears, Jastremski and McNally exchanged the following messages: Jastremski: Can‟t wait to give you your needle this week :) McNally: Fuck tom....make sure the pump is attached to the needle.....fuckin watermelons coming Jastremski: So angry McNally: The only thing deflating sun..is his passing rating The next day, October 24, 2014, Jastremski and McNally exchanged the following messages: Jastremski: I have a big needle for u this week McNally: Better be surrounded by cash and newkicks....or its a rugby sunday McNally: Fuck tom Jastremski: Maybe u will have some nice size 11s in ur locker McNally: Tom must really be working your balls hard this week 6 On October 25, 2014, McNally and Jastremski exchanged the following messages: Jastremski: Size 11? Jastremski: 2 or 3X? McNally: Tom must really be on you McNally: 11 0r 11 half......2x unless its tight fitting Jastremski: Nah. Hasn‟t even mentioned it, figured u should get something since he gives u nothing On January 7, 2015, eleven days before the AFC Championship Game, McNally and Jastremski discussed how McNally would have a “big autograph day†and receive items autographed by Brady the following weekend, before the playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens. McNally and Jastremski exchanged the following text messages: McNally: Remember to put a couple sweet pig skins ready for tom to sign Jastremski: U got it kid...big autograph day for you McNally: Nice throw some kicks in and make it real special Jastremski: It ur lucky. 11? McNally: 11 or 11 and half kid On January 10, 2015, immediately prior to the game between the Patriots and the Ravens, in the Patriots equipment room with both Brady and Jastremski present, McNally received two footballs autographed by Brady and also had Brady autograph a game-worn Patriots jersey that McNally previously had obtained. 7. In addition to the messages described above, before the start of the 2014-15 season, McNally referred to himself as “the deflator†and stated that he was “not going to espn……..yet.†On May 9, 2014, McNally and Jastremski exchanged the following text messages: McNally: You working Jastremski: Yup McNally: Nice dude....jimmy needs some kicks....lets make a deal.....come on help the deflator
