ESPN finally apologizes to Patriots for Deflategate mess

It took more than a year, but ESPN has finally decided to address the mistakes the network made in covering Deflategate.

In a lengthy piece that was published Thursday, ESPN public editor Jim Brady went into great detail about the contentious relationship between New England Patriots fans and the World Wide Leader. Brady tried to make no topic off-limits, discussing everything from Chris Mortensen’s infamous report about New England’s game balls being 2.0 psi underinflated to the times ESPN referenced a false report about Spygate.

Brady openly admitted that Mortensen’s initial Deflategate report — and the lack of clarification from ESPN after it was proven inaccurate — looked very bad.

To those looking for a smoking gun around some kind of ESPN-NFL collaboration in impugning the Patriots, I don’t have it. But that doesn’t mean you’re crazy for wondering whether something was afoot. The sources of Mortensen’s story were inside the NFL, and the league never made any attempt to refute the incorrect reference to 2 psi in that story. If you believe the thesis of Van Natta and Wickersham’s piece, the NFL wanted to come down hard on the Patriots for Deflategate, and there’s little question that Mortensen’s story made that easier. This is a case where it would behoove ESPN to be as transparent as possible about its Deflategate coverage precisely because of its $1.9-billion-a-year relationship with the NFL.

ESPN has just now decided to include a clarification to Mortensen’s initial report, noting that the Patriots’ balls in the 2015 AFC Championship Game were “significantly underinflated” rather than 2.0 psi. That was done in correlation with Brady’s column.

“In the case of Deflategate, the lack of transparency and accountability made it much harder to judge the journalism on its merits,” Brady wrote.

An ESPN editor who was involved in some of the Deflategate coverage had similar things to say.

“The bottom line is it’s been our lack of transparency and accountability with the Mortensen report that’s been our biggest mistake in the reporting of Deflategate,” the editor told Brady. “In my opinion, ESPN does not have an institutional bias against the Patriots. It was just editors — in most cases well-intentioned — making hasty decisions. Had we corrected the Mortensen report, been more up front about stating something as fact that was found to be untrue and been honest about why a reporter’s piece was mysteriously cut eight hours after it was posted, I think we’d be better off as a company when it comes to the perception in New England.”

Whether you’re a Patriots fan or not, the entire piece is worth reading. Brady even tried to explain that infamous tweet ESPN sent during a game last year that Patriots fans interpreted as yet another a shot at their organization. He also touched on the Mike Reiss reaction piece that was, for some reason, edited and trimmed after being published.

Whether you think the Patriots cheated against the Indianapolis Colts or not, most can agree that ESPN badly mishandled its Deflategate coverage. Brady’s piece probably should have been written a long time ago, but you know what they say — better late than never.