Bill Belichick Deflategate Press Conference: Top Comments, Reaction
January 24, 2015
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has always marched to the beat of his own drum in handling media relations. That's part of Belichick's "Patriot Way" mystique.
Saturday's press conference to address the Deflategate controversy transcended the mundane, monotone and uninteresting deliveries of Belichick's past, though it still demonstrated his brilliance as a tactician. He also proved to be a scientific expert on deflated footballs, too.
Plenty of questions loom ahead of the Patriots' attempt to knock off the defending champion Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. It remains to be seen whether Belichick's explanation of Deflategate will yield more questions or answers on the issue that's overshadowed the big game.
SportsNation wrote that Belichick was reminiscent of another Bill during the presser:
On Sunday morning, ESPN's Kevin Negandhi provided a statement from Bill Nye discussing Belichick's press conference on Good Morning America:
Michael Hurley of CBS Boston Sports has more from Belichick, who insists the organization has abided by the rules:
Rotoworld's Patrick Daugherty noticed a difference in Belichick's tone with reporters once he finished explaining the ball-pressure fiasco:
Bleacher Report documented the bottom-line message Belichick attempted to communicate:
ESPN's Field Yates poked a bit of fun at the repeated tagline that has driven New England's success in 2014 and summarizes Belichick's usual press attitude well:
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network analyzed the gist of what Belichick said about an internal study the Patriots conducted:
Around The NFL logged some of the fancy language the Patriots boss used to illustrate his points:
Sports Illustrated's Andrew Brandt offered his take:
For those who doubted the Hoodie's pop-culture savvy, Belichick proved at least some doubters wrong, even if he didn't win over any of those dubious of the team's Spygate past in light of this purported bending of the rules:
Darren Rovell of ESPN shared an illustration to describe what he'd witnessed:
CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora was among those convinced of Belichick's seemingly spot-on testimony:
Jeff Darlington of NFL Network analyzed what Saturday's press conference means moving forward, as the NFL will presumably look into the matter through its own investigation:
One way to silence critics is to simply beat the Seahawks, which would mark Belichick's fourth Super Bowl triumph as New England's coach. Come Super Bowl Sunday, all the talk of cheating will be cheap if the Patriots emerge with the Lombardi Trophy in their collective grasp.
But for a team that has had so much success without winning the Super Bowl in a decade, the pressure is on New England to win in Glendale, fair and square.
Whatever explanation Belichick provides won't mitigate the indelible mark on his legacy that Spygate and Deflategate have left if he can't win another championship ring. Opportunities like these are running out, as it likely depends on how much longer 37-year-old quarterback Tom Brady can play at a high level.
Related Deflategate Content
- Patriots Investigated by NFL for Using Deflated Footballs vs. Colts
- NFL Reportedly Finds 11 of 12 Balls Used in AFC Championship Were Under-Inflated
- Twitter Reacts to Report of NFL Finding 11 AFC Championship Balls Under-Inflated
- Bill Belichick on Deflategate: Top Comments, Reaction on Latest Patriots Scandal
- NFL, Patriots Issue Official Statements on Deflategate