When last we heard from the father of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, the elder Brady went berserk on the league’s handling of #DeflateGate. Now that the league has made it clear that whatever random data regarding air pressure in footballs the league collected during 2015 games won’t be disclosed, Tom Brady Sr. has more to say.
“That’s laughable. It’s just laughable,” Brady Sr. told Christopher L. Gasper of the Boston Globe. “I don’t unfortunately think it was in the league’s best interest to release something that exonerated Tom. All the rest of it is nonsense. It’s air.”
That may be the last Tom Brady Sr. has to say on the topic, if he can help it.
“My wife and I have decided as much as it affected us last year, we’re not going to let it affect us moving forward,” Brady Sr. told Gasper. “We’re trying to forgive an obvious plastering of our son’s reputation. We’re trying to say, you know what, forgive and forget. As a Christian, it is eating me up inside. It ate my wife up. It’s hard to do. It’s easy to be bitter.”
Tom Brady Jr. likely remains bitter, and for good reason. The league still wants to suspend him four games, and the cloud that hovered over the 2015 offseason has returned for 2016, with Brady’s case headed for a hearing in federal appeals court next month. He still could miss the first four games of the next regular season.
It has caused many to wonder whether Brady Jr. will join all other past Super Bowl MVPs on Sunday, when the league hopes to trot them out for the 50th Super Bowl. No one knows whether Brady Jr. will be there, including Brady Sr.
“He said he would let us know soon,” Brady Sr. said. “I have no idea whether he is going to do it or not do it. I didn’t know he was going to Michigan [for National Signing Day] until I read the paper.”
Before simply showing up on Sunday, Brady Jr. should ask his lawyers to see if his willingness to participate in the dog-and-pony portion of the proceedings could be used as a carrot to entice a settlement of his case. Maybe the 50th Super Bowl is the best backdrop for putting #DeflateGate to bed, once and for all.