Ted Wells to attend Tom Brady hearing

Attorney Ted Wells, whose investigative findings into the deflation of New England Patriots footballs led to severe penalties handed down by the NFL, will be present during Tom Brady's appeal hearing Tuesday in New York, according to league and union sources.

Brady is appealing a four-game suspension stemming from Wells' 243-page report, which found that the star quarterback was "at least generally aware" of a scheme to illegally deflate footballs for the AFC Championship Game.

Brady will be represented by the NFL Players Association and its outside counsel, Jeffrey Kessler, during the appeal process.

Wells will be available to answer questions from both Brady's side and commissioner Roger Goodell, who will hear the appeal and ultimately decide whether the suspension will stand, be reduced or vacated, sources said told ESPN.

Thursday has also been set aside for the hearing to continue, if necessary.

Wells' attendance at the hearing was reported earlier Monday by NFL Network.

Brady was suspended for the first four games of the 2015 season, and the Patriots were fined $1 million and stripped of two picks -- a first-rounder in the 2016 draft and a fourth-rounder in the 2017 draft. Patriots owner Robert Kraft said last month that he will not appeal those penalties.

In a four-page letter sent to the NFL on May 14 by NFL Players Association general counsel Tom DePaso, key points of Brady's appeal were detailed.

Brady's counsel will contend that Goodell violated the collective bargaining agreement by delegating authority to executive vice president Troy Vincent to hand down Brady's punishment.

Brady's counsel also plans to argue that the penalties for Brady are "grossly inconsistent" with the league's past discipline of similar alleged conduct.

In addition, Brady's counsel will detail how the Wells report "grasps at dubious, contradictory and mischaracterized circumstantial evidence." Because of this, it will be argued that the report is a "legally inadequate basis upon which to impose unprecedented discipline."

ESPN.com Patriots reporter Mike Reiss contributed to this report.