Tom Brady: NFL star's agent says Deflategate report is a 'sting operation'

Don Yee says report is 'tragically flawed'

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy on Sunday night (AP) (AP)

Tom Brady's agent, Don Yee, is defending his client after an NFL investigation concluded that Brady was likely guilty of improperly deflating footballs before a crucial game.

“This report contains significant and tragic flaws, and it is common knowledge in the legal industry that reports like this generally are written for the benefit of the purchaser,” Yee writes.

Independent investigator Ted Wells released a 243-page report on Wednesday 103-days after it was commissioned. The report claims that the Patriots' quarterback was “generally aware” of what took place during place during the AFC Championship game earlier this year.

After the New England Patriots defeated the Indianapolis Colts 45-7 in the game, the Colts claimed that several footballs were under-inflated. The NFL later confirmed that 11 of 12 footballs were under the required limit.

After the New England Patriots defeated the Indianapolis Colts 45-7 in the AFC Championship game, the Colts claimed that several footballs were under-inflated. The NFL later confirmed that 11 of 12 footballs were under the required limit. Balls that are less inflated are easier to throw.

However, Mr Yee has claimed that the league set up Brady and orchestrated the investigation to discredit the four-time Super Bowl winning quarterback.

Here’s Mr Yee’s complete statement via Fox Sports' Mike Garafolo:

“The Wells report, with all due respect, is a significant and terrible disappointment. It’s omission of key facts and lines of inquiry suggest the investigators reached a conclusion first, and then determined so-called facts later.

"One item alone taints this entire report. What does it say about the league office’s protocols and ethics when it allows one team to tip it off to an issue prior to a championship game, and no league officials or game officials notified the Patriots of the same issue prior to the game? This suggests it may be more probable than not that the league cooperated with the Colts in perpetrating a sting operation.

”The Wells report buries this issue in a footnote on page 46 without any further elaboration. The league is a significant client of the investigators' law firm; it appears to be a rich source of billings and media exposure based on content in the law firm's website.

"This was not an independent investigation and the contents of the report bear that out – all one has to do is read closely and critically, as opposed to simply reading headlines. The investigators' assumptions and inferences are easily debunked or subject to multiple interpretations.

"Much of the report’s vulnerabilities are buried in the footnotes, which is a common legal writing tactic. It is a sad day for the league as it has abdicated the resolution of football-specific issues to people who don’t understand the context or culture of the sport. I was physically present for my client’s interview. I have verbatim notes of the interview. Tom made himself available for nearly an entire day and patiently answered every question. It was clear to me the investigators had limited understanding of professional football.

“For reasons unknown, the Wells report omitted nearly all of Tom’s testimony, most of which was critical because it would have provided this report with the context that it lacks.

Mr Wells promised back in January to share the results of this investigation publicly, so why not follow through and make public all of the information gathered and let the public draw its own conclusions? This report contains significant and tragic flaws, and it is common knowledge in the legal industry that reports like this generally are written for the benefit of the purchaser.”