WITH A COURT ruling on superstar quarterback Tom Brady’s four-game suspension due any day, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft this week called the “Deflate-gate” controversy the “most overblown story in recent NFL history.”
Speaking at a Patriots charity function on Tuesday night in Foxboro, Massachusetts, the 74-year-old Kraft said he had explained to Patriots players and staff how he thought they should proceed with preparations for the 2015 season in the face of the ongoing saga.
“I spoke on behalf of the team and addressed the organisation’s position regarding, in my opinion, the most overblown story in recent NFL history,” Kraft said.
“I advised our coach, his staff and all of our players to ignore the noise and keep their focus on what was most important for this upcoming season.”
Brady, who is fighting a four-game suspension over the controversy, mentioned it publicly for just the second time since a league investigation found that he was probably “generally aware” that Patriots employees purposely deflated footballs below NFL minimum levels prior to the American Conference final playoff game.
NFL investigator Ted Wells found Brady uncooperative when asking questions about the January playoff game, which the Patriots won on their way to capturing the Super Bowl crown. In the appeal hearing in June, Brady was found to have destroyed a mobile phone but said he typically does that to preserve family privacy.
Brady has denied any wrongdoing, but was nonetheless suspended for the first four games of the 2015 season by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. When Goodell upheld that punishment upon appeal, Brady took his case to court, and US District Judge Richard Berman in New York said Monday he expects to rule this week.
“Yeah, it’s been such an enjoyable offseason,” Brady said Tuesday, drawing laughter as he took part in a panel discussion with team-mates who were asked to talk about one cool thing they had done this summer.
It’s the only public reference to the scandal Brady had made since the investigation apart from comments on 7 May at Salem State College in Massachusetts, where he insisted the Patriots’ Super Bowl win over the Seattle Seahawks in February wasn’t tainted by the scandal.
Brady and Goodell had been urged by Berman to try to settle the case without a court ruling, but the judge said Monday the sides had failed to do so.
Now even Berman’s ruling might not be the end of the matter, with both parties expected to appeal if his ruling goes against them.
If Brady’s suspension stands, the Patriots could potentially be forced to bench him in favor of reserve Jimmy Garoppolo for their opening 10 September game as well as games on 20 September at Buffalo, 27 September at home against Jacksonville and at Dallas on 11 October.
(C) AFP 2015
