John Elway on Tom Brady: Don’t poke the bear
Think of Tom Brady as a bear — a 6-foot-4, 225-pound, uniform-wearing, football-slinging bear.
“The last thing you want to do is poke the bear,’’ Broncos general manager John Elway told MMQB.com. “The bear got poked, and this is what happened.’’
Elway is referring to Deflategate, the ball-deflating scandal for which Brady was implicated and suspended, only to have that suspension vacated in New York District Court.
And in Brady’s 2015 campaign — one where he almost missed the first four games — the New England Patriots quarterback has thrown for 1,699 yards and 14 touchdowns while leading the Patriots to a 5-0 record.
After the AFC Championship Game and the fallout of Deflategate, Elway, a Hall of Fame quarterback, said he spent some time throwing balls with different PSI, as he’d never concerned himself with ball presure during his playing days.
“I mean, it’s not that big a difference,’’ Elway said. “It’s hard to tell the difference. Not a big enough difference to have the attention on this that it’s gotten. What I come down to is, does it really matter? Some guys like the ball a little softer. And if a guy likes a harder ball, that’s fine too. We want the quarterbacks to be as successful as they can be, and we want them to give the fans the best entertainment they can. Who cares if a quarterback likes it at 10 and a half? If that makes him play better, fine.’’
Brady said in an interview with WEEI in 2011 he preferred a deflated football, but avoided questions about his preference during the court hearing in August.
Elway’s comments come 10 months after the inception of the scandal, and six weeks before the Patriots face his Denver Broncos in primetime on Nov. 29.
A matchup with “the bear’’ is looming.
h/t — ESPNBoston.com
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