NFL says Patriots can reinstate employees suspended for ‘Deflategate’
The New England Patriots were cleared by the NFL on Wednesday to reinstate John Jastremski and Jim McNally, the suspended employees who allegedly took air out of game balls in the Deflategate scandal.
“Last week, the New England Patriots requested the reinstatement of both John Jastremski and Jim McNally. The Patriots have satisfied the league’s requirements for reinstatement and the league has granted permission for the employees to return,” the NFL said in a statement.
The Patriots suspended Jastremski, the team’s equipment assistant, and McNally, the team’s officials locker room attendant, after the Ted Wells investigation into whether quarterback Tom Brady and the Patriots conspired to break rules by intentionally deflating game balls in the AFC Championship game.
Jastremski and McNally became central figures in the case due to text messages they exchanged in the weeks and months prior to the January game against the Indianapolis Colts.
In one of the texts uncovered in the probe, McNally referred to himself as “the deflator.”
The Patriots suspended Jastremski and McNally despite the team denying any wrongdoing. Team sources had told ESPN that the club was informed by league officials that if it didn’t suspend Jastremski and McNally, the NFL would do so. Jastremski and McNally have been banned from working for the Patriots until they are cleared by the NFL.
During an appearance on ESPN’s “Mike and Mike” last week, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was asked whether the suspensions of the two employees came at the request of the league.
“Absolutely not. That was a decision by the Patriots,” Goodell said.
Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, asked recently to meet with Jastremski and McNally.
The two staffers will be banned from the preparing, handling or supervision of the team’s game balls, according to The Boston Globe.
Brady’s four-game suspension by Goodell was nullified in federal court on Sept. 3 by U.S. District Court Judge Richard M. Berman.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft did not appeal the Patriots’ $1 million fine and the loss of a first-round draft pick next year and a fourth-rounder in 2017 as part of the Deflategate penalties.
Brady has expressed empathy for Jastremski and McNally, saying he wanted the staffers back with the team.