http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/the-nfls-basic-due-process-is-the-real-issue-in-the-deflategate-controversy/2015/07/30/ebda3b02-3666-11e5-9d0f-7865a67390ee_story.html
About that exploding cellphone. You know, the one NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell seems to think belonged to Machine Gun Kelly and was used in the kidnapping of the Lindbergh baby, as well as the Krupp diamond theft. The one that Ted Wells said he didn’t want or need to complete his investigation into DeflateGate. The one the NFL’s own investigator said wasn’t necessary to the case.
That one.
Wells never asked for Tom Brady’s cellphone and didn’t require it. “Keep the phone,” Wells told Brady and his agent. He insisted his investigation was thorough without it. “I don’t think it undermines in any way the conclusions of the report,” he said. Those were his exact words. So were these, after interrogating Brady for more than five hours: “Totally cooperative,” Wells said of Brady’s testimony.
Yet somehow Goodell found Brady guilty of lack of cooperation and willful destruction of evidence on appeal, all because he upgraded to an iPhone 6?
They didn't ask Brady for the phone, they asked him for any texts and emails on his phone related to the inquiry. Brady didn't provide that information, and destroyed his phone so that information would be irretrievable.
I find the whole phone thing very confusing and I am definitely leaning towards the conclusion that it is an NFL smoke screen. If these statements from Sally Jenkins are actually true and the investigator in the case actually said that I don't need his phone and he was totally cooperative, how on earth is this even still a story?
Second, I have long been of the understanding that there are at least two ends of every text (some texts have more). So they had the phones of the employees who allegedly did the dirty work but there were no texts from Brady so what is the story?
The third considerations seems to be the idea that texts can be deleted so having the employees' phones may not have all the evidence but Brady can delete texts too. But the employees didn't delete the crazy deflator texts but did delete the texts from Brady? I don't know that there is anything at the end of this line of thinking.
Bottom line,
if Sally Jenkins is correct in her reporting about Well's statements about the phone and the cooperation, the league has nothing. NOTHING. No proof that the balls were even tampered with and nothing to substantiate the Brady didn't cooperate.
All the NFL has is cryptic texts between ball attendants months ago and a guy going to the bathroom on game day. Both could be interpreted to be incriminating or could be easily explained but in now way is either proof. What the Pats/Brady have is a long line of false leaks by the NFL and a clear pattern of deception.