Bill Belichick will meet with the media today at 9:30 a.m

When tom talks at 4pm, I guarantee he doesn't start off by laughing at the topics...

It will be interesting to hear how all this shakes out with the media/haters calling for heads.

MoreBellhorn said:

I don't think he's throwing Tom under the bus. He's just saying players have their preference. My thinking is the balls were inflated at the minimum level and they deflated during the game. Pretty simple.

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This. This is what Brady is going to say too. Our boys are actually innocent in all this crap. On to the Super Bowl! Let's beat Seattle!

Biggest non story in sports history, the pitchfork holding, angry media are left standing around with loaded rifles an no one to shoot at.

condon84 said:

He didn't have to say that. It surprised me that he said it to be honest. Maybe it's nothing but I suspect the media might start to put Brady more in the spotlight after this.

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why not?

Brady is the guy who touches the ball most and so will/should use this opportunity to give his thoughts. Obviously both (BB and TB) have discussed it and I am 100% sure BB is aware that TB is addressing it first thing in his PC at 4 pm today.

Media might 'start to put Brady more in the sportlight'? Yes they have! Even two days back Dan Weitzel (?) on yahoo pointed out that Brady is in the middle of it and has to answer.

IF Brady comes out and say he knew all about about it. Learned from hes personal trainer and baseball, that Cold weather lowers the pressur in balls and he on purpose pumped them to 12.5, knowing they would "Loose" air afterwards since the ball will be moved outside. If he do so, then he puts all blames on him, NOT Patriots, AND didnt cheat, BUT knew what the result would be. Doubt he do so, but i would respect him even more afterwards.

The best thing that can happen this week is that the NFL finds zero evidence of wronging and the pats proceed to go on the warpath in the super bowl. Clearly, this team is not happy.

Schefter is very good. Pretty much saying that if this were Tennessee or Jacksonville we wouldn't hear about it. He also said that the NFL is going to have a hard time finding evidence to pin this on the Patriots organization.

Hopefully after Brady gives his PC, the heat will be off for a bit.

This presser is better than the state of union address

patsinthesnow said:

@Edwerderespn: Bill Belichick's denials are going to shift suspicion to Tom Brady.

@mortreport: After Belichick’s remarkable opening statement, clearly he has shifted the focus to Tom Brady

Media's already starting

I overreacted, and you're probably right Jack. But why do you guys think BB/Brady agreed to do this course of action (shifting the media frenzy of stupidity to Brady?)

Brian Dawkins already pinning it on Tom

Did Tom say, "lemme handle this?"

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Why should Belichick take the fall IF Brady is having the balls deflated?

It seems like the heat wave is dying down.

The second day was the worst, everyone calling for our heads, but slowly, it's being diffused. That's what it seems like anyways.

Deliberate plan by the NFL?

The interesting thing that came out of that was his statement that they inflate to 12.5, which explains how so many balls came in under, as any deflation would put any ball under specs. IMO this is a no harm no foul situation and all by that is needed is better rules and handling by the league. The NFL needs to have the courage to be honest about this and clear the Patriots of any wrongdoing and own their own ****.

saspack said:

This presser is better than the state of union address

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Watching paint dry is better than the SOU.

This was Must See TV. A Belichick press conference...who woudda thought was riveting stuff.

I hope Brady follows up with a scathing dissection of the sports media.

Tom either has 0 knowledge of this too or he's a complete madman. He laughed this issue off like a lunatic on WEEI Monday.

grux said:

Why should Belichick take the fall IF Brady is having the balls deflated?

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Who said Brady is having footballs deflated?

josh77 said:

I feel that if that happens or if Brady is singled out for punishment, other star QB's are going to go to bat for him. This isn't some run of the mill QB- this is one of the best QB's in NFL history getting singled out for something that is now sounding like an activity all QB's partake in to some extent- and I don't think the other QB's are liking this whole spectacle either.

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yup, which is precisely why it is a wise decision to let the star QB handle this controversy, especially as his hands are on it. (no pun intended.)

Knowing TB, I am sure he will handle the PC very well and will be more than well-prepared to go over the difficult questions, including one that will ask about his 'ridiculous' response when the story broke out.

just hate that this team has to go over such unnecessary negative attention before another SB. At least this blew up two weeks before it and so should hopefully give them enough time to put this nonsense behind them soon and get back to whuppin the Seahawks.

GO PATS!!

saspack said:

This presser is better than the state of union address

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I can't honestly answer that as I didn't watch the SOTU address, but did watch the BB presser.

Uncle Rico said:

Curious: Doesn't it specify a $25,00 fine somewhere? Is that in the rule book? or the Field Operations Guide?

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Operations guide says that altering balls after checkin is subject to but not limited to discipline (doesn't define further) and a fine of $25,000.

Also, according to SI's McCann (a sports lawyer), the NFL Bylaws and Constitution has a provision giving the Commissioner power to pretty much make arbitrary punishments with respect to things affecting competition. (IIRC that's the hook the league hung the Cameragate punishment on).

Unless I'm missing something wouldn't BB's denial indicate the Pats have never been warned about under inflated footballs?

robertweathers said:

Yea he didn't throwTB under the bus, but he did leave it to him to offer another point of view and additional insight into how game day balls are handled. With that, TB has plenty of wiggle room in his response.

No question BB/TB collaborated on their positions and stories....and Kraft...and Stacy James.

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I think Belichick is genuinely upset that this reflects poorly on the Patriots and feels a responsibility for anything that takes place under his watch.