Bill Belichick says he was shocked to hear about the now-infamous Deflategate scandal on Monday morning and has never put any thought into the inflation level of balls throughout his 40-year coaching career. The full video of the news conference can be seen above. Belichick steps up to the podium at the 1:20 mark.
The embattled Patriots coach, whose team faces the Seahawks February 1 amid the growing controversy, told a throng of reporters he had “no explanation” for how New England’s game balls may have become deflated during the Pats’ 45-7 thrashing of the Colts in the AFC title game.
He repeatedly said he had “no explanation what happened” and said that quarterback Tom Brady would be far more qualified than Belichick to talk about his preferences to game balls.
He said, “Tom’s personal preferences on his footballs are something he can talk about in much better detail and information than I could possibly provide.”
Belichick also said, “I’ve told you everything I know,” multiple times.
A somber Belichick opened his press conference with a lengthy statement on the scandal, which has taken attention away from the sixth Super Bowl appearance of Belichick’s tenure in Foxboro.
He insisted he had no knowledge of the process by which footballs are inspected by officials and handled by team personnel.
The deflection to Brady was out of character for a coach famous for shielding his players from media attention.
Twitter erupted with reaction to Belichick deflecting questions to Brady:
Most important line from today’s press conference: When BB said Brady can address his preference for the footballs.
Message being delivered by Bill? Talk to the Quarterback…
Coach Bill Belichick directed inquiries to Tom Brady…well, Brady will address the media at 4p ET today
I will say this: Belichick certainly passed the buck to QB Tom Brady.
Only one remaining question about DeflateGate: Who is Bill Belichick throwing under the bus? Because it sure sounded like it’s Tom Brady.
When asked about the issue Monday morning on WEEI’s Dennis and Callahan, Brady laughed off the accusitions.
Brady is scheduled to address the media at 4:15 p.m. ET.
