New England Patriots publicly address Deflate-Gate
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Bay Area native and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, and his coach, denied any wrongdoing in the NFL Deflate-Gate scandal.
So who let the air out of their footballs on Sunday? That's the big mystery.
The Patriots responded to Deflate-Gate Wednesday with both head coach Bill Belichick and Brady saying they have no idea how their footballs used in the AFC title game turned out to be under-inflated.
To recap, the NFL rules state footballs must be inflated between 12.5 and 13.5 pounds per square inch. The Patriots' footballs were inspected and passed. Then somehow, when they were checked at halftime, 11 of 12 of them were under-inflated.
So were the Patriots just flat out cheating? What did Belichick know and when did he know it?
In the press conference Belichick said, "I have no explanation for what happened. To me, the footballs are approved by the league and game officials pre-game and we play with what's out there. Tom's personal preferences on his footballs are something that he can talk about in much better detail."
So as Belichick would say, we're on to Brady. The quarterback came out and frankly was not very convincing.
Brady reportedly told his teammates earlier on Wednesday that he "likes his footballs a certain way." But he told reporters he has no idea how the air came out of those balls.
"You know I didn't alter the ball in any way. I mean I feel like I've always played within the rules. I would never do anything to break the rules. I have no knowledge of any wrongdoing. Yeah, I'm very comfortable saying that. I'm very comfortable saying that nobody did it, as far as I know. I don't know everything. I also understand that I was in the locker room preparing for a game. I don't know what happened over the course of the process with the footballs," Brady said.
And did you notice the screen behind both Brady and Belichick during the press conference advertised a Gilette razor called the "Flexball." That's kind of ironic, given the situation.
