Tom Brady denied part in 'Deflategate' scandal under oath in testimony

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Brady denied knowing name of 'Deflator' Jim McNally or discussing ball air levels before this year's AFC championship game against Indianapolis
Previous report that led to Brady's four-game suspension had cited text conversations between Patriots employees about changing the balls
More than 450 pages of documents and testimony released as NFL Players Association takes league to federal court in New York
Investigator Ted Wells said that quarterback's decision to not turn over cell phone was 'ill-advised' but that he didn't threaten punishment if he didn't

By Associated Press and Christopher Brennan For Dailymail.com

Published: 21:30 EST, 4 August 2015 | Updated: 07:58 EST, 5 August 2015

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Tom Brady denied under oath to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell that he tampered with footballs before the AFC title game

NFL investigator Ted Wells said in a transcript that he never warned the New England Patriots quarterback he would be punished if he didn't turn over his cellphone for the so-called 'Deflategate' scandal.

Both revelations come as a trove of details about the scandal were released a 457-pages deluge of documents submitted to a federal court on Tuesday.

The testimony sees Brady maintaining his innocence. denying discussing air level with the ballboys or even thinking about how inflated the footballs were when he selected them.

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More than 450 pages of documents have been released as Tom Brady and the NFL Players' Association battle the NFL in federal court

Brady denied discussing the air pressure in footballs being used for his AFC championship win over Indianapolis. Above, he arrives at NFL headquarters in New York for an appeal hearing on June 23

'No hard evidence': Patriots owner stands by Tom Brady

He also said he's never asked anyone from the Patriots to tamper with footballs. He claimed he did not know equipment manager Jim McNally, who is at the center of the scandal, other than as a face among those working for his team.

Brady said that he did not know McNally's name until allegations about his involvement in deflating footballs before the AFC championship, according to CBS Sports.

Texts between McNally and equipment assistant John Jastremski released in Wells's report earlier this year seem to suggest that Brady spoke with Jastresmski and had discussion inflation levels with him.

McNally also referred to himself as 'the Deflator' in the texts, though the Patriots later said it was because he was trying to lose weight.

When asked about the conversations Brady said: 'So obviously, those text messages didn’t involve me. I didn’t know the spirit of their relationship, so I think it was kind of unfair for me to speculate that they did something wrong when they told me they didn’t do anything wrong'

Brady was suspended four games and the team was docked $1million and two draft picks after Wells's the NFL-sanctioned investigation.

It found that the Patriots supplied improperly inflated footballs for the conference championship game against the Indianapolis Colts, which New England won 45-7.

Jim McNally is very clearly the lone man responsible for #Deflategate http://t.co/1v9Y3rR8FF pic.twitter.com/PHE98bu3Tx
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) May 6, 2015

Brady (left) said that he did not know the name of Jim McNally (above, in tweet) before allegations that he and John Jestremski (right) deflated footballs. Texts between the two employees see them discussing air pressure

NFL investigator Ted Wells said in the testimony that he thought Brady's decision not to give up his cell phone was ill-advised, but that he did not threaten the star with punishment if he didn't

The Patriots advanced to the Super Bowl and beat the Seattle Seahawks 28-24 for Brady's fourth NFL title.

Brady appealed the punishment. Goodell decided to hear the appeal himself and upheld the penalty on July 28.

Both sides went to federal court, and US District Judge Richard Berman told them to work out a settlement.

To encourage them, he ordered both Brady and Goodell to appear in court in person during the upcoming NFL preseason, and a resolution is expected before the regular season, according to USA Today.

New England's season begins September 10 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The transcript filed by the NFL Players Association included the appeal testimony from Brady and Wells on June 23.

Wells explained that he did not believe Brady had nothing to do with the ball deflation because the quarterback refused to provide all of the documents that were requested.

Tom Brady was suspended for four games over Deflategate

Roger Goodell gave Brady a four-game suspension to start the 2015 season, also fining and taking away a draft pick from the Patriots. Above, he is pictured at the 2015 NFL Draft

The NFLPA and NFL are expected in court later this month. Above, a Patriots fan holds a pro-Brady sign at the teams training camp in Foxborough, Massachusetts

'In my almost 40 years of practice, I think that was one of the most ill-advised decisions I have ever seen because it hurt how I viewed his credibility,' Wells testified.

'It hurt my assessment of his credibility for him to begin his interview by telling me he declined to give me the documents.'

Although Wells asked repeatedly for Brady's cellphone, the investigator also testified: 'I did not tell Mr. Brady at any time that he would be subject to punishment for not giving -- not turning over the documents. I did not say anything like that.'

Brady's lawyers have said that the league made up its rules without proper notice to Brady, and that it didn't follow its rules at all in some cases.

They claim that the NFL's 'integrity of the game' policy does not apply to players, but only to figures such as coaches and owners, according to

The lawyers have also questioned whether Goodell was independent enough to conduct a fair hearing, even though the collective bargaining agreement gives him that authority.