Bill Belichick uses the media better than almost anyone, which is why he addressed the deflate-gate allegations at length at the start of his press conference Thursday.
He knows what’s at stake here, and it’s far more significant than reciting a weekly injury report or explaining an in-game coaching decision. For right or wrong, Belichick’s legacy is on the line. There are few things more important to a football-lifer than that.
“I’ve never touched a game ball. I was completely unaware of any of this until Monday morning,” Belichick said. “In my entire coaching career, I have never talked to a player or staff member about football air pressure.”
Belichick lost the benefit of doubt the moment the Patriots had to surrender a first-round pick for illegally videotaping opposing teams’ defensive signals in 2007. He is guilty until proven innocent, and the facts mean very little.
It doesn’t matter that Chris Mortensen’s ESPN report about the 11 severely deflated balls the Patriots played with in the first half of Sunday’s AFC Championship Game doesn’t specify how they lost air. The perception is that Belichick will do anything to gain an advantage – from filming other teams’ sidelines to letting the air out of footballs.
If Belichick refused to address deflate-gate Thursday, it would’ve been interpreted as an admission of guilt. So he pleaded ignorance, and passed the buck to his Hall of Fame quarterback, Tom Brady.
“I think we all know that quarterbacks, kickers, specialists have certain preferences on footballs,” Belichick said. “Tom’s personal preferences on his footballs are something that he can talk about in much better detail and information that I can possibly provide.”
There’s little doubt that Belichick and Brady have discussed their plan to defuse this controversy. The public is a lot kinder to Brady, and he should be able to handle the plethora of questions that will come his way when he speaks to the media Thursday afternoon.
If Belichick gets implicated here, he becomes a deceitful, evil genius whose hubris and paranoia prohibited him from playing within the rules in the eyes of many. His Hall of Fame candidacy debate would likely begin and end with his supposed penchant for gaining illegal advantages whenever possible.
But Brady has never been embroiled in a controversy. His face is friendlier, and track record is clean.
Brady can handle taking the blame for this one if the Patriots did deflate footballs after the referees had inspected them. It helps that a number of quarterbacks, including Aaron Rodgers and Brad Johnson, have admitted to their habits of doctoring footballs over the last couple of days as well.
Belichick’s reputation can’t afford to take another hit. He may act like he doesn’t care, but that’s not the case.
If it were, he wouldn’t have adamantly denied his role in deflate-gate for the first eight minutes of his press conference Thursday morning.
