Tom Brady Makes Surprising Confession About Deflategate
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was forced to sit out the first four games of the 2016 season as punishment for his role in deflategate. The scandal started during the playoffs in January 2015, after the Indianapolis Colts accused Brady and the Patriots of deflating balls that were used during the game.
At first, Brady tried to fight the suspension, but he eventually gave up in July 2016, and accepted his four-game suspension.
While he was serving his suspension, the Patriots got off to a good start and were 3-1 when he rejoined the team. He would go on to lead the Patriots to their fifth Super Bowl win, and lost only one game the rest of the season.
After years of silence, Brady fin ally opened up about why he decided to accept the suspension during an interview with Oprah Winfrey.
“Just too much anxiety,” he said. “I realized I couldn’t win. It was divided attention and I was tired of that, tired of waking up and having a call with someone from the Players Association. I said, ‘You know what, I’m going to use this as an opportunity, to have the month of September off for the first time in like 16, 21 years, and ‘I’m going to take advantage of this.'”
Brady’s suspension was initially supposed to start at the beginning of the 2015 season because the suspension had been overruled by a judge. The NFL appealed the ruling after the season and won, which made the suspension valid for the 2016 season.
“I think it taught me a lot of things,” Brady explained about Deflategate. “It taught me about the people I could really count on, the people that really supported me, and it taught me a lot about life. Sometimes you do the best you can do, and it doesn’t work out. There are a lot of frustrations. I tried to fight as hard as I could for what I believed in.”
In a surprising twist, Brady called the suspension a great experience.
“Man, that was the best month off I think I’ve ever had,” Brady said. “In some ways, it was a great experience. I think you look back on those experiences and it was a really tough experience in my life.”
