Roger Goodell expects Deflategate findings to be released 'soon'
Goodell and the league office have been pretty tight-lipped in terms of how far along Ted Wells and his team are in the process. Speaking to Charlie Rose on "CBS This Morning," Goodell said the following, according to ESPNBoston's Mike Reiss:
Rose: Why is this hard?
Goodell: Well, I think it's hard because you wanna make sure you have all the information. It's not just...
Rose: It's one game, one ball.
Goodell: The question is, one of the things that he would be asked to look for is, was it just one game?
Rose: Is there any suspicion that it wasn't one game?
Goodell: There's no suspicion of anything. What we're trying to do is just make sure we're thorough. The most important thing here is, was there a violation of the rules? And if so, how did that occur?
Rose: When do you expect his report?
Goodell: I don't expect it other than I do think it'll be soon. We have a responsibility to the 32 teams -- not just to one team, to 32 teams -- and our fans, and the general public here to make sure that things were done fairly.
Goodell also said that he hasn't given Wells a time frame, which is why he's never given a specific date for the report to be released. Additionally, Goodell has said that Wells and the league will take as much time as both parties need to complete the investigation.
On the subject of Goodell's most recent interview, it almost seems that Goodell created more questions than he answered, as he's known to do. When the NFL first looked into Deflategate, ESPN's Adam Schefter said multiple times that the league was having a hard time finding any evidence that suggests the Patriots were responsible for any wrongdoing.
No one has heard a peep out of Wells or the league since, and as this drags on, it seems as if Schefter could very well be proven right. Regardless, it's likely the Patriots will be slapped with some kind of fine even if they're proven innocent.
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