Tom Brady's "Deflategate" NFL Controversy Explained: What Happened & What The Jokes Mean In His Netflix Roast

The Roast of Tom Brady pulled all the punches, bringing up just about every controversy, scandal, and embarrassing moment about the life and career of Tom Brady. One of the most notorious parts of Brady’s career was undoubtedly “Deflategate”, in which Brady was accused of tampering with NFL game balls to gain an advantage over his opponents during the 2014 NFL Playoffs. This is only one of the major controversies surrounding the New England Patriots, whose unparalleled dynasty in the NFL ended in 2020 when Brady left to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, winning them a championship in his first year.

“Deflategate” is the biggest controversy surrounding the New England Patriots and Tom Brady, specifically. “Spygate” was another major controversy during the 2007 season, in which the New England Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick were accused of recording other teams’ coaching signals during games, a tactic that broke NFL regulations and labeled the Patriots as cheaters. While Brady wasn’t handed as much responsibility for “Spygate” as he was for “Deflategate”, both controversies fueled a lot of animosity against him, with many NFL fans discrediting his status as the greatest quarterback of all time as a result.

Reducing the air pressure of footballs makes them easier to grip, throw, and catch

“Deflategate” came about in January 2015 after the New England Patriots’ resounding 45-7 victory against the Indianapolis Colts during the AFC Championship Game, which took place on January 18, 2015. In the weeks leading up to Super Bowl XLIX, which the Patriots would win by a score of 28-24 against the Seattle Seahawks, a media frenzy erupted when the Colts called Brady and the Patriots cheaters by reducing the air pressure of the footballs, making them easier to grip, throw, and catch. The NFL requires that all official game balls be inflated to a gauge pressure between 12.5 and 13.5 ppi.

In the NFL, each team uses their own footballs while on offense, which is how Brady and the Patriots could have allegedly ordered them to be under-inflated. Following the allegations made by the Colts, there was an outcry to prevent the Patriots from playing in the Super Bowl, which was not effective. The NFL’s $20 million investigation began before Super Bowl XLIX and concluded in May of that year. Both Brady and Belichick denied responsibility or awareness of the deflated footballs. The final report by sports attorney Ted Wells vaguely implied but did not confirm their involvement with absolute confidence.

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What Tom Brady & The Patriots’ Punishment Was For Deflategate

Brady was suspended for 4 games and the Patriots were fined $1 million

Although the language used in the Wells Report didn’t elicit absolute certainty, it still provided enough evidence to have Brady and the Patriots organization face harsh penalties. The Patriots Super Bowl XLIX title would ultimately not be stripped or affected whatsoever, and the punishments were all made to be effective at the start of the 2015 NFL season. Brady was suspended for four games, with backup quarterbacks Jacoby Brissett and Jimmy Garoppolo each starting for two games in his place. Brissett and Garoppolo were still able to get the Patriots’ season off to an undefeated 4-0 start during Brady’s absence.

The Patriots organization was also fined $1 million, which isn’t much considering it has become one of the most valuable sports teams in the world, estimated to be worth $6.7 billion as of 2023 (via Sports Illustrated). The team was also forced to forfeit a 2016 first-round pick and a 2017 fourth-round pick in the annual NFL Draft (via Bleacher Report). Two members of the Patriots equipment team, John Jastremski and James McNally, were also suspended. The 4-game suspension of Brady seems to have been the biggest slap on the wrist that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell enforced on the Patriots for “Deflategate” in retrospect.

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Netflix’s Tom Brady Roast “Deflategate” Jokes Explained

One of Brady’s jokes also doubled as a tongue-in-cheek confession

There were many references and innuendos made about “deflated balls” during The Roast of Tom Brady, many of which were made by former star players of the team. Virtually nothing was off-limits during the hilarious Netflix special, and Brady himself made some of the most unhinged jokes of the entire night. One of Brady’s jokes also doubled as a tongue-in-cheek confession, saying “The NFL spent $20 million and found it was more “probable” than not that I was “generally” aware that someone may have deflated my footballs. You could have just given me the $20 million and I would have just told you I f–king did it.” While Brady was clearly being facetious, it was a bold move, even for the G.O.A.T.

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