Bill Belichick 'Shocked' By Patriots' Deflated Football News
(CBS Boston) Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Thursday morning he was "shocked" to learn that 11 of the 12 footballs New England used in its AFC Championship victory against Indianapolis were inflated below the NFL requirement.
"When I came in Monday morning, I was shocked to learn of the news reports about the footballs," Belichick said. "I had no knowledge whatsoever of the situation until Monday morning. I would say I've learned a lot more about this process in the past three days than I knew or have talked about it in the last 40 years that I've coached in this league.
"I had no knowledge of the various steps involved in the game balls and the process that they went through that happened between when they were prepared and went to the officials and went into the game. So I've learned a lot about that."
Belichick denied that he has ever instructed any player or staff member to deflate or inflate a football.
"I can tell you that in my entire coaching career, I have never talked to any player, staff member, about football air pressure," Belichick said. "That is not a subject that I have ever brought up. To me, the footballs are approved by the league and game officials pregame, and we play with what's out there. And that's the only way that I have ever thought about that."
Belichick said his contact with footballs on game days is minimal.
"My overall knowledge of football specifications, the overall process that happens on game day with the footballs is very limited," he said. "I would say that during the course of a game, I honestly — it probably has happened on an incomplete pass or something — I have never touched a game ball. That's not something that I have any familiarity with on that. And again, I was completely and totally unaware of any of this that we're talking about in the last couple of days, until Monday morning. So based on what I knew Sunday, Sunday night, thinking back on this, which I've done several times, I really can't think of anything that I would have done differently based on what I knew then, based on what I know now."
With regard to how quarterback Tom Brady prefers his footballs for games, Belichick said the quarterback is the only one who can answer that.
"Tom's personal preferences on his footballs are something that he can talk about in much better detail and information than I could possibly provide," Belichick said.
Brady will speak to reporters at Gillette at 3 p.m. CT.