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Legal analyst Michael McCann: Tom Brady has case for defamation suit vs. NFL

It's easy to see why the NFL wouldn't want to release PSI data from a public relations standpoint alone.

Any evidence exonerating the Patriots in Deflategate would make Roger Goodell and the commissioner's office look foolish for spending millions on something that could be explained by basic science.

Sports Illustrated legal analyst Michael McCann believes there might be another reason the NFL wouldn't release numbers: a defamation lawsuit from Tom Brady could lighten their wallets even more.

"He would have to show that the NFL had actual malice," McCann said on WEEI. "That it not only lied about him, but did so knowingly.