Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer was asked Wednesday during a conference call with New England media members to share his thoughts on Tom Brady’s four-game Deflategate suspension.
Palmer’s response was as interesting as it was convoluted.
“I tried not to follow (Deflategate), just because it was everywhere for so long,” he said. “But I go back, and you follow what the rulebook says, and you go about your business and your work, and if they tell you not to do it, and you get busted, and what happens happens, then you suffer the consequences.
“I’m sure you guys (in New England) look at it a lot differently, but I know a lot of players around the league, just looking at it, I don’t know if you can feel too strongly one way or the other.”
Asked if he believes, as many outside of New England do, that Brady “must have done something” to deserve his ban, Palmer responded: “Supposedly the balls went somewhere when they weren’t supposed to go there. There was humidity, not enough humidity, altitude — whatever it was. I don’t know.
“I didn’t follow the story. As soon as it came on, I just turned it off, because I was so sick of hearing about it. Whatever the league comes down upon, and whatever ruling they make is what they make. You don’t have much of a decision after that. You can fight it for a little bit, but after a while, you’ve just got to abide by what they say.”
So … is that a yes?
Admittedly, Palmer’s comments read a bit like something out of the “Billy Madison” academic decathlon, but the quarterback definitely does not seem to be part of the “Tom Brady did nothing wrong” camp.
The Cardinals host the Brady-less Patriots on Sunday night in the regular-season opener for both teams.
Thumbnail photo via Troy Taormina/USA TODAY Sports Images
