New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick on Thursday denied that he had any knowledge of footballs being under-inflated in the AFC Championship Game, and he actually sounded believable.
I’m not saying Belichick was telling the truth, but he was very convincing. The 62-year-old addressed the issue head-on with his opening statement, emphatically stating that he had no knowledge of footballs being deflated below league standards and was “shocked” to learn of the investigation when he got to work on Monday.
Simply put, Belichick passed the buck to Tom Brady. Here’s the portion that stuck out the most.
“I think we all know that quarterbacks, kickers, specialists have certain preferences on footballs,” Belichick said, via Jeff Howe of The Boston Herald. “They know a lot more about it than I do. They’re a lot more sensitive to it than I am. I hear them comment on it from time to time, so I can tell you and they will tell you that there is never any sympathy from me on that subject. Zero.
“Tom’s personal preferences on his footballs are something that he can talk about in much better detail than information that I can possibly provide.”
While it is difficult to believe that a coach who is detail-oriented would not be aware of everything that is going on underneath him, Belichick told reporters he was not even familiar with the NFL’s rules on air pressure in footballs or the process that goes along with checking game balls.
In addition, Belichick said his players could tell you he makes balls wet, slippery and as difficult to handle as possible in practice to prepare them for any scenario on game day.
The way I see it, there are two possible interpretations of Belichick’s lengthy (by his standards) statement. Either he is lying, which would surprise no one, or — as this former NFL quarterback speculated — this was Brady’s doing. Maybe Belichick is legitimately angry that something like this went on without him knowing and, more importantly, that his players got caught doing it.
