Deflategate: The infamous scandal that forever TARNISHED Tom Brady and the New England Patriots’ legacy
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The deflategate scandal is the biggest controversy that the iconic duo of Tom Brady and Bill Belichcik had to endure.
The greatest players of every sport are always remembered and revered fondly. In basketball, it is Michael Jordan and in football, it will be Tom Brady. Both athletes have left a resume that is impossible to replicate, but they have also had controversies throughout their careers. No matter how many things they were able to achieve, some controversies will always be attached to their name.
For Jordan, it was suspicions regarding his gambling addiction and a theory stating the 1-year hiatus he took from basketball in 1993 to pursue his career in baseball was a secret suspicion handed down by the then Commissioner David Stern that the world now knows to be a mere hoax.
For Brady, it will be the deflate-gate scandal that took place in 2015. The scandal revolved around allegations that indicated Brady and the New England Patriots indulged in unsportsmanlike conduct by lowering the air levels of game balls. Tom Brady was believed to be in the middle of this, as the quarterback preferred a softer grip. How did the NFL unearth this scandal?
The league did an unexpected and unprecedented inflation check at halftime in the 2014 AFC Championship game between the Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts. New England obliterated Indy 45-7 but following the discovery of tampering with the game ball, the NFL spent nearly $22 million to investigate and discipline the GOAT and the Patriots organization.
The Deflategate scandal will forever be a black mark on Tom Brady’s image as the greatest to ever do it
New England went on to win the Super Bowl that year, but the NFL was keen to get to the bottom of this scandal. From that point on, a new rule came into being: the league can pick any games and randomly select footballs to be removed and analyzed at halftime. An official game ball has to be inflated anywhere between 12.5 and 13.5 pounds per square inch or PSI.
Prior to 2015, the league did not note down the pregame measurements of the balls, which meant there was no official record to figure out if there was any tampering done or not. Considering the matter involved Brady and the Patriots, football fans saw a multitude of theories come into play. The majority defended him and gave rise to scientific theories that explain how different temperatures and other conditions had an impact on pressure.
The NFL’s investigation resulted in a 253-page intense and detailed report that held the Patriots guilty. In one of the press conferences that immediately followed the ruling, HC Bill Belichick brushed off some of the blame onto his quarterback rather than defending him. The NFL also concluded that the quarterback was “at least generally aware” of a plot to deflate the footballs.
Brady was suspended for the first four games of the 2016 season and the Patriots were subject to a $1 million fine and the team’s first two draft picks were taken from them. The QB has unequivocally denied all the accusations levied against him. The report by the league claims that former Patriots equipment managers Jim McNally and John Jastremski were involved in a deliberate scheme to deflate footballs and that it was “more probable than not” they had a part to play in this scandal.
The report brought to light an instance wherein McNally took approved footballs into the bathroom before the 2014 AFC title game, this is suspected to be the time when he deflated the 13-game balls using a needle. When questioned, McNally stated he took footballs into the bathroom before games on multiple occasions, but the report was not able to corroborate those claims.
The NFL unearthed a series of text messages to Jastremski in May 2014. In one of those messages, McNally is seen referring to himself “the deflator”. This message was considered one of the key pieces of evidence that stated the Patriots knew what they were doing.
Tom Brady’s involvement in Deflategate
Despite all of this, Tom Brady’s involvement in this scandal is circumstantial at best. The only suspicious act done by the quarterback, which was considered unusual, was that he destroyed his phone before the NFL could get its hands on it. Roger Goodell referred to this as an act of willful obstruction of evidence.
Brady, however, stated under oath in 2015 that he regularly has his old phones to assistants to be destroyed. That claim did make it seem as if he were “hiding something and maybe guilty.”
Tom Brady served his four-game suspension before returning to the Pats in the 5th Week of the NFL season. The scandal failed to impact his greatness or his competitive spirit as, that year, the Patriots went on to win the Super Bowl yet again, with Tom Brady winning the MVP award in that game.
There are a lot of suspicions that surround the deflate-gate scandal. Why would the team want the footballs to be deflated? How much of it did Tom Brady and Bill Belichick know? These are questions that can merely be speculated upon. The deflate-gate scandal will forever haunt Tom Brady along with the ‘Tuck Rule’ game, in which the call given by the referee is still considered being a faulty one by many.
Sourced From: ESPN & USA Today
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Sumedh Joshi
(2314 Articles Published)