Tom Brady puts an end to Deflategate on his own terms during Netflix roast
BOSTON -- Based on social media reaction alone, the Netflix roast of Tom Brady on Sunday night was a hit. With comedic performances by Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft, Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski and a host of actual comedians, Patriots fans were given a rather unique evening of shock and laughter.
And for some people in the world who hoped for some Deflategate content, Brady himself delivered on that one.
During Brady's time at the dais, the quarterback spoke about one person who was not in attendance for the festivities: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
"But where's Roger Goodell?" Brady said with some mischief in his voice. "Remember Deflategate? The NFL spent 20 million dollars and found that it was 'more probable than not' that I was 'generally aware' that someone may have deflated my footballs. You could've just given me the 20 million and I would've just told you I [bleeping] did it."
That comment generated a standing ovation on the stage for Brady, though it left Gronkowski looking a bit puzzled.
(With the warning that a naughty word pops up, video is here.)
Brady never has spoken too much about that farcical saga that spanned from January 2014 through October of 2016, a period which featured Goodell going to great lengths to try to tear down Brady's entire legacy, only to see the quarterback author a third Hall of Fame career from ages 39 to 45. The recent episode of "The Dynasty" docuseries included Darrelle Revis saying that Brady was "bawling his eyes out" when addressing the team as the controversy began, and considering the greatest player of all time suddenly found himself being accused of being a cheater, it clearly is something that he's taken personally.
Yet Brady's taken the high road whenever crossing paths with Goodell -- meetings that typically happened under confetti showers following Super Bowl wins, or at the Super Bowl MVP press conference the day after a championship. And now he's at least able to fire off a joke about the whole thing.
