Did Tom Brady’s arrogance prompt the Ravens to blow the Deflategate whistle?
COMMENTARY
’’The Patriot Way. I think it’s just that simply no one player or group of players is bigger than the team or the organization.’’ – Former Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe, November, 2013
For a franchise and a coach that infamously preach team over individual, the New England Patriots’ superstar quarterback has sure made his team look pretty sheepish with his inability to shut his mouth.
The weight of Tom Brady’s ego has never been questioned, especially in light of the well-known revelation that the sixth-round draft pick had the nerve to tell Patriots owner Bob Kraft that he was the best decision the team ever made as a rookie way back in 2000. But Brady’s careful persona has also been one that plays the ultimate sportsman, giving due to his opponents and detractors, and following the edict of head coach Bill Belichick, who appreciates a war of words in the media about as much as he does lukewarm reviews for Bon Jovi’s forthcoming album.
But even Brady couldn’t resist firing a bullet back at New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress as the Patriots were putting the finishing touches on what would have been the NFL’s first, perfect, 19-0 campaign back in January, 2008.
“We’re only gonna score 17 points?’’ the record-settling Brady, who set the NFL’s touchdown record that season, asked incredulously when informed that Burress predicted a final, Super Bowl score of 23-17, Giants.
Of course, the Giants ended up winning, 17-14. Not like you need the reminder.
Fast-forward seven more years, which saw Brady and his team not only back in the Super Bowl, but winning it in thrilling fashion over the Seattle Seahawks back in early February, capping off a fortnight that saw Brady’s name being dragged through the Arizona desert in light of accusations of deflating footballs in the AFC Championship game, and, yet again, putting the spotlight on the Patriots being regarded as cheaters.
It’s an ongoing saga that Brady, quite frankly, brought upon himself.
Now that we definitively know that it was indeed the Baltimore Ravens who blew the initial whistle in what has snowballed into Deflategate, how much did Brady’s cannonball launched in the direction of Ravens coach John Harbaugh affect what was to come over the next seven months?
“Maybe those guys gotta study the rule book and figure it out,’’ Brady said after Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels dug deep into their bag of tricks to defeat the Ravens for the right to host the AFC title game against the Indianapolis Colts the following weekend.
It was widely speculated that Harbaugh tipped off his old buddy, Colts head coach Chuck Pagano, in the days leading up to the game that the Patriots were using footballs not set to the air pressure standards of the NFL. Well, close.
Among the hundreds of pages of documents released Tuesday from Brady’s appeal hearing before NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, there was an email from Colts equipment manager Sean Sullivan to the team’s general manager, Ryan Grigson, alleging that Ravens special teams coordinator Jerry Rosburg called Pagano, a former Ravens assistant, before the game to warn him about the condition of the designated “kicking’’ footballs.
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Of course, Harbaugh has always maintained that the Ravens had nothing to do with blowing the whistle.
“It’s ridiculous. It never happened. I never made any call. Nobody in our organization made any call,’’ Harbaugh told NBC before the Super Bowl. “Just to make sure I had all the facts, I called Chuck Pagano this week and asked him, ‘Did anybody else in our organization tip you off about any deflated footballs?’ And he said, ‘No way.’’’
Way.
Naturally, you could chalk the Ravens’ motives to sour grapes, or just friends helping friends in need.
Or, you could assume that Brady’s snickering press conference during which he laughed off Harbaugh’s claims that the league would look into the Patriots’ wacky formations, just might have been the tipping point for the suddenly-humbled Ravens.
As much as the New England Patriots are clearly regarded as one of the league’s model franchise, the contagious arrogance that spreads throughout One Patriot Place is the very trait that has helped drag out the dumbest controversy in the history of professional sports.
Imagine the grimace Belichick had on his otherwise-celebratory mug after hearing Brady taunt the opposition, likely knowing that was goes around comes around. Perhaps his fury was even enough to toss his quarterback to the wolves later in the week during his “talk to Tom’’ press conference.
The Ravens released a statement on Wednesday to deny the claims made in the email exchange, reading, “Prior to the AFC Championship game, no one from the Ravens talked to the Colts about deflated footballs. We knew nothing of deflated footballs. John Harbaugh has been consistent in his answers to reporters about this since he was first asked on NBC-TV at the Super Bowl.
Ravens kicking consultant Randy Brown texted the following to Pagano, according to the Ravens: “Make sure the refs rotate the kicking balls cause last week they wouldn’t let our ball in the game. Their ball was done so poorly that it was nearly impossible to kick off deep…It was hard and not worked in well at all…Let Tom (McMahon, Colts special teams coordinator) know he can call me at any time.’’
Harbaugh also claims that his team knew nothing about the accusations in the days leading up to the AFC Championship.
“I’ve been consistent from the beginning when asked about whether the Ravens tipped off the Colts about deflated footballs. I’ll say it again – we didn’t. We knew nothing about deflated footballs, he said. “As a former special teams coach, I know that members of the kicking group from teams talk to their counterparts all the time about conditions, including field, weather and footballs. I learned this morning that our kicking consultant sent a text to Coach Pagano on Jan. 16 suggesting to the Colts that they pay attention to how the officials rotate the kicking balls into the game. Coach Brown’s text did not mention the Patriots and did not complain about anything the Patriots did. The Colts never responded to Randy’s text, and he had no further communications with the Colts on this matter.’’
Sorry. Not buying the excuses, particularly from an organization that has proven itself to be one of the more despicable entities among American sports franchises.
Others might tell you that honor falls on the New England Patriots, who preach teamwork and common goal, as their quarterback fights to have his good name re-instituted and his four-game suspension wiped out, ultimately putting his team in limbo in not knowing who its quarterback will be for Week One against the Pittsburgh Steelers, not to mention the three games that follow.
“No one player or group of players is bigger than the team or the organization.’’
Turns out the most damaging hot air released in this whole charade may have come from Tom Brady himself.
Pictures: The best front pages on Tom Brady’s suspension
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