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Patriots' Belichick, Brady say they don't know how balls were deflated

 
Patriots coach Bill Belichick says at a packed news conference that never in his career has he brought up football inflation.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick says at a packed news conference that never in his career has he brought up football inflation.
Published Jan. 23, 2015

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — At about 9:40 a.m. Thursday, Patriots coach Bill Belichick walked 10 minutes late into a packed media room at Gillette Stadium and said that he had no knowledge of how the Patriots came to use underinflated footballs in Sunday's AFC title game rout of the Colts.

In front of a sea of mostly unfamiliar faces, Belichick addressed what he called the football issue, which had lured so many to the stadium and prompted Boston television stations to interrupt programming to carry the news conference live.

He said he was "shocked" when he arrived at work Monday morning and heard that the Patriots were said to have used footballs that did not meet the NFL's inflation guidelines. Multiple news reports over the past few days have indicated that the NFL found as many as 11 of the 12 footballs used by the Patriots to be inflated significantly below league requirements.

"I had no knowledge whatsoever of this situation until Monday morning," Belichick said, adding: "I can tell you that 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."

Belichick acknowledged that individual players might have preferences for game balls and deferred to quarterback Tom Brady on what he preferred. In a sign that the Patriots might want to move on from this issue, the team moved Brady's news conference up a day, to Thursday.

Several hours later, Brady stepped to the same lectern. He said he was just as shocked as Belichick when he found out Monday about the report that the team's game balls were underinflated. He followed all his normal routines Sunday, he said, and had no idea what occurred between the time he chose the game balls and the time they appeared on the field.

"From the first half to the second half, I didn't put one thought into the footballs," Brady said. "I thought we won the game fair and square."

Brady said he would never break the rules. He said he had not been contacted by the NFL, which said it was still investigating the issue. Belichick declined to answer repeated questions about it, telling persistent questioners that he had told them all he knew and that he had no explanation for what had happened. He said the Patriots were cooperating with the NFL "fully, quickly and completely with every request they made." He also said the Patriots would take the necessary steps going forward to make sure their footballs were properly inflated.

Brady was more congenial than Belichick, spending three times as long on the lectern. But he had little more to add than Belichick, even though as a quarterback he is intimately involved in the selection of game-day footballs.

Softer balls are generally considered easier to throw and catch.

Brady said he liked game balls with 12.5 pounds per square inch of pressure inside, the minimum the league requires. He said he did not notice anything out of the ordinary during the game.

"Everyone's trying to figure out what happened," Brady said. "I was as surprised as anyone at what happened."

With none of the reporters apparently interested in how the Patriots would contain Seahawks stars Marshawn Lynch and Russell Wilson in the Feb. 1 Super Bowl, Belichick left the lectern 10 minutes after he arrived. He said his team was preparing for Seattle, but he addressed no other topic.

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This was the most widely anticipated Belichick briefing since July 2013, when he talked about the arrest of tight end Aaron Hernandez. Until Thursday, he had deflected questions about the footballs.

He said Thursday that he had learned more about football pressure and inflation guidelines over the previous 72 hours than he had in his entire 40-year coaching career.

"I had no knowledge of the various steps involved in the game balls and the process that happened between when they were prepared and went to the officials and went to the game," he said. "So I've learned a lot about that. To me, the footballs are approved by the league and game officials pregame, and we play with what's out there. And that's the only thing I have ever thought about that."

He said he could not remember even handling a football during a game.

Special teams captain Matthew Slater said Thursday that he viewed the Patriots as "a pillar of integrity in the community" and called the situation "unfortunate."

Slater added: "As an organization and as a team, we try to do the right thing. We will move forward. That is the message that has been relayed through this locker room."

Center Ryan Wendell snapped the ball 78 times against the Colts.

"Just felt like any other game," Wendell said. "Felt the same throughout the game. So I don't know what the difference would be."

Wide receiver Brandon LaFell, in his first season with the Patriots, said: "We've had our backs to the wall before, but we always find a way. Around here, it's 'do your job' and 'only worry about what you can control.' This is no different."