Adam Schefter Essentially Says Roger Goodell Lied, the NFL Suspended John Jastremski & Jim McNally

Remember when Bill Simmons was suspended in 2014 for calling Roger Goodell a liar on a podcast? Well ESPN’s ace NFL reporter, Adam Schefter, dropped a hammer on Roger Goodell this morning on the radio, and it’ll be interesting how the network handles the brush back from this one.

For months now, the NFL commissioner has asserted that the Patriots were the ones to suspend employees John Jastremski and Jim McNally for their role in the deflated footballs during the AFC Championship game. Goodell reiterated that fact this week in an ESPN radio appearance.

Schefter has been saying otherwise for months, and this morning on ESPN radio, his words were stronger than ever (bold ours):

"“It’s odd to me why if the Patriots suspended them, why they would have to go to the league to ask permission to reinstate them. Again, I’m not not here to debate anybody, I reported over two months ago, in the beginning of May, that the league asked the Patriots to suspend those two employees, which is in fact what happened. Anybody can say what they want, I’m not trying to make anyone look bad, it’s not the goal, I’m just telling exactly what I was told from people that I trust from people that understand and know the situation. Why else would the Patriots have suspended them? “Just think about it logically. It makes very little sense for the Patriots to go ahead when they believe in their innocence when they accepted the findings to go ahead and do this. And they did it. That’s it. That’s the deal.” “As forcefully as others say that the league did not do that, I’m telling you as forcefully the league did do that.”"

The “anyone” here is Roger Goodell.

Disney’s Bob Iger did not like it when Simmons called Goodell a liar last year. The big difference here between Schefter’s thoughts versus those of Bill Simmons last year (on an entirely different subject) is that one came from a reporter standing behind a specific factual claim, while the other was purely opinion, and one where the word “liar” was explicitly used. [via WEEI Patriots Blog]