Sports Final: How Will DeflateGate Impact Tom Brady's Legacy?
BOSTON (CBS) -- After winning his fourth Super Bowl in February, Tom Brady was considered by many fans and analysts to be the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. And if anyone didn't think he was the very best, they still likely ranked him very, very high among the all-time greats.
But now that Brady's name and reputation have been wrapped up in the ongoing drama known as DeflateGate, and now that the NFL has painted him as a liar and -- to a small extent -- a cheat, will the quarterback's legacy take a hit?
WBZ-TV's Dan Roche posed the question to ESPNBoston's Mike Reiss and CBSBoston.com's Michael Hurley.
"For the people that want to point things out, they'll bring this up quickly," Hurley said. "But for anyone that reasonably assesses Tom Brady's career, they'll still think of him -- right now, he's either the best quarterback of all time, or in the top three or five at worst. And I don't think that's going to change from this for anyone that actually wants to talk about football, wants to assess what he does with the football in his hands, everything he's done for his 15 years in the league so far. It's one of the most unbelievable stories.
"This will ultimately be a footnote for people that actually want to analyze it," Hurley concluded, noting that many football fans still mention Spygate any chance they get. "People that want to bring it up will bring it up as a way to try to tear down what they've done. But overall, what Tom Brady's done speaks for itself."
Reiss believes the saga qualifies as more than just a footnote, but ultimately agreed that Brady's legacy should not be affected in any great way.
"It's a chapter in the book, and it's unfortunate because the book didn't need a chapter like that, to take a turn that way," Reiss said. "I think it's somewhat amazing to me that Roger Goodell could create this situation and, [in an effort] to try to get out of it, take Tom Brady down with him. That's what stands out to me. Tom Brady's 'approval rating,' if you believe some of these polls, is as low as it's ever been. I find that really, extremely disappointing. There's no direct evidence linking him to this thing.
"To me, this is still the greatest quarterback of all time. If not the greatest, then one of the greatest," Reiss continued. "I think unfortunately for some people, they'll always say, 'Well, how much did those underinflated footballs matter?' When if you actually read the report, when you go deeper and drill down -- which I think only people in New England are going to really do -- you'll realize that's such a small part of this story."
Roche also geared the discussion toward whether or not Brady will eventually win his appeal and if the quarterback will be on the field for the Patriots' banner-raising season opener in Week 1. Reiss and Hurley disagreed.
"Right now I'll say no, only because he got four games," Reiss said. "The more likely scenario is it is cut in half. Because what did they say? It was two games for the penalty and two games for not cooperating, so let's just assume he goes in to whoever is the arbitrator here, states his case and cooperates fully. They can maybe erase two games, and it goes from four to two. Would it go from four to zero? I'm not saying it's not possible; I just don't think the odds are better than 50/50."
"I still see him out there on opening night," Hurley responded. "Goodell has a history of losing these appeals -- and losing them badly. Given the lack of hard evidence against Brady -- and the Patriots pointed out there are no texts that say [McNally] should have the footballs be under 12.5 PSI, and there's no texts that say 'you need to deflate them after the inspection.' So as bad as that McNally bathroom trip looks, there is still no hard evidence tying Brady to this. Logic might assume he was involved, but to say that hearsay got him a suspension, I think it's a good argument."
Watch both discussions with Roche, Reiss and Hurley in the clips above, and catch Sports Final and Sports Final OT on WBZ-TV every Sunday night at 11:35 pm!