Words are neat. Because words can be used however we want to use them, regardless of whether we’re using them in a way that meshes with their actual meaning.
Sure, there’s the whole Eighth (or for some religions Ninth) Commandment thing that restricts creativity when it comes to using words. But when it comes to applying general labels to something, there’s no true or false, right?
For the investigation of the Patriots, the NFL applied the label “independent” to Ted Wells from the initial announcement of his assignment. The initial assignment also said that the investigation would be led jointly by NFL general counsel Jeff Pash and Wells.