The New England Patriots’ Deflategate scandal might be over, but that doesn’t mean a few interesting nuggets won’t surface from time to time, especially as the careers of quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick wind down and various authors dissect the franchise’s dynasty from several angles.
For instance, a new book by ESPN’s Ian O’Connor, “Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Football Coach of All Time,” is scheduled to hit shelves next week and feature a boatload of details about Belichick’s tenure in New England. Some of the book’s notable material was highlighted in an article published Wednesday on ESPN.com, and Deflategate evidently is among the topics O’Connor explored.
From the ESPN.com article about the book’s content:
In the early days of the case, Belichick was among the Patriots officials who had “serious doubts” about Brady’s claim he had no involvement in the potential deflation of footballs used in the January 2015 AFC Championship Game victory over the Colts.
Brady was suspended four games for his alleged role in Deflategate. He denied any involvement in the cheating scandal and went through a lengthy legal battle before ultimately serving the suspension to begin the 2016 season. But did Belichick believe him?
While Belichick didn’t exactly throw Brady under the bus immediately after news of the deflated football controversy broke in January 2015, the Patriots coach didn’t go to great lengths to defend his quarterback, either.
