Did Bill Belichick blame Tom Brady for deflated footballs?

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick seemed to direct the angry mob looking for answers to the deflated footballs to quarterback Tom Brady.

On Thursday morning, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick addressed the media and before taking questions decided to get ahead of things by addressing the deflated football scandal hanging over their AFC Championship victory.

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It was an uncharacteristic press conference for Brady that saw him speak uninterrupted for roughly nine minutes. During the press conference he routinely denied any prior knowledge of the football conditions and handling.

Belichick went on to describe the way his team uses football’s in practice as an integral part of his coaching philosophy.

“My personal coaching philosophy, my mentality, has always been to make things as difficult as possible for players in practice,” Belichick said. “With regards to footballs, I’m sure that any current or past player of mine will tell you the balls we practice with are as bad as they can be.

“Wet, sticky, cold, slipper, however bad we can make them, I make them. Anytime the players complain about the quality of the footballs, I make them worse and that stops the complaining.”

So if the Patriots players are used to poor quality balls, there is no incentive to tamper with them right? Well what about kickers? They’re notorious for tampering with footballs.

Right after that explanation Belichick added “we play with whatever, or kick with whatever, we have to use.”

Next: Tom Brady tells teammates he likes his balls a certain way

So he is taking the kickers out of the equation, but what about quarterback Tom Brady, the guy who handles footballs on every play of offensive drive.

“Tom’s personal preferences on his footballs are something he can talk about in much better detail than I could possibly provide,” Belichick added.

Well if Brady is used to playing with bad footballs because it is a vital piece of Belichick’s coaching philosophy, and Brady has played his entire NFL career under Belichick, than why would direct the angry mob to Brady?

Again, this was a voluntary statement Belichick said, he wasn’t responding to a question.

Belichick could’ve easily said, “well Brady is used to playing with those crappy footballs I just described, so I doubt he has any personal preference because if he complained about them I would’ve made them crappier.”

Instead, Belichick redirected the angry mob looking for answers to Brady, and to the NFL.

Belichick also added this cherry on top right after throwing Brady under the bus: “In my entire coaching career I have never talked to any player, staff member about football air pressure. That is not a subject that I have ever brought up.”

In another way, it is a contradiction of the statement he just said. If you’re controlling footballs, how can Brady develop a personal preference, you’re intentionally monitoring the football conditions and intentionally making them as worse as possible.

He went on to say that he never touches game footballs, with the exception of an errant pass. He also denied any knowledge what so ever, but remember, he said you could ask Brady about it.

So much for the coach defending his player.

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