The pair of New England Patriots employees who were indefinitely suspended for their alleged involvement in the DeflateGate scandal were reinstated by the NFL Wednesday. The league released a statement, and said the Patriots have satisfied all of the reinstatement requirements.
The Patriots employees who allegedly deflated footballs have been reinstated by the NFL
John Jastremski and Jim McNally were indefinitely suspended in May for their involvement in DeflateGate, but will work for the Patriots again in new roles.
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Former assistant equipment manager and full-time employee John Jastremski and former officials locker room attendant Jim McNally, a part-time employee, will reportedly have new roles when they return to the Patriots. The Patriots requested last week that the pair be allowed back to work, but the NFL asked to meet with them first before making any decision.
Jastremski is prohibited from handling footballs & McNally is barred from being a locker room attendant for officials or handling equipment
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 16, 2015 Jastremski and McNally were indefinitely suspended in May after the release of the Wells Report. In the 243-page report, text messages between the two Patriots employees were included, which appeared to show proof that the footballs were deflated at Tom Brady’s request. Despite maintaining innocence, Patriots owner Robert Kraft indefinitely suspended Jastremski and McNally at the NFL’s request when he accepted a fine and the forfeiture of draft picks as punishment for the scandal.
Last week, shortly after his four-game suspension was nullified in federal court, Brady spoke to WEEI on Tuesday about the pair of employees and said he hoped they would get their job back.
“None of those things are my decisions, but I feel terrible -- like I said the other day -- for what they’ve been put through, what their families have been put through, what my family has been put through, and what’s happened. I just feel terrible that they’re not with our team.”
In May, the NFL announced that if Jastremski was ever reinstated he would be “prohibited from having any role in the preparation, supervision, or handling of footballs” during the 2015 season and McNally would similarly be barred from “having any involvement with the preparation, supervision, or handling of footballs or any other equipment on game day.”
Those terms were agreed to by the Patriots when the team accepted the punishments that included the forfeiture of picks, so it’s unlikely that the Patriots will be allowed to give Jastremski or McNally ball boy positions again, or at least for the 2015 season. While it was initially reported that additional punishments could be on the way upon reinstatement, Volin says no further discipline will be handed down.
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