Patriots employees implicated in Deflategate reinstated by NFL
John Jastremski and Jim McNally, the two New England Patriots employees suspended indefinitely without pay for their role in the Deflategate scandal have been reinstated, the NFL announced Wednesday.
The Patriots had reportedly filed a formal request last week to have the men reinstated.
Jastremski, an equipment staffer, and McNally, a locker room attendant, were suspended after investigator Ted Wells determined they conspired to deflate footballs for Tom Brady in exchange for memorabilia.
The NFL has placed limitations on their duties, however: Jastremski has been prohibited from handling footballs, and McNally is barred from working as a locker room attendant for officials or handling equipment.
In text messages obtained by Wells and published in his report, McNally referred to himself as “the deflator.” In their rebuttal to the Wells report, the Patriots argued that McNally was suggesting he needed to lose weight. The team edited that explanation out of its rebuttal weeks after it was published.
Brady has lobbied for the men to be reinstated, telling a Boston radio program “I feel terrible for what they’ve been put through.”
- Dan Gartland
