Tom Brady Sr. says Goodell doesn't belong on any stage beside his son
Tom Brady has been doing what he can to downplay the Deflategate narrative heading into Super Bowl LI, explaining Friday that he's motivated to win for his teammates rather than get any sort of revenge on the NFL.
Roger Goodell also did his part by calling the New England Patriots quarterback "one of the all-time greats" and saying "it would be an honor" to hand him the Lombardi Trophy on stage Feb. 5.
What else were they going to say, right?
Still irked about the events that led to his son being suspended four games to start the 2016 season, Brady's father was far less diplomatic when reached for his thoughts on the matter.
Tom Brady Sr. blasted Goodell in a recent interview with KRON 4 News, calling out the commissioner for what he deemed to be lies throughout the never-ending saga.
"When it happens to your son, it's a whole different context," Brady Sr. said. "Or your daughter or any one of your kids and I think any parent kind of understands that. They'd rather take the slings and arrows in the heart than have their kids take it. For what the league did to him (Tom Brady) and what Roger Goodell constantly lied about is beyond reprehensible as far as I'm concerned."
And he wasn't done there. The way the elder Brady sees it, the league was dead set on ensuring that punishment would be served one way or another, evidence be damned.
"He went on a witch hunt and went in way over his head and had to lie his way out in numerous ways and the reality is that Tommy never got suspended for deflating footballs," Brady Sr. said. "He got suspended because the court said that he could. Roger Goodell could do anything he wanted to do to any player for any reason whatsoever. That's what happened. The NFL admitted they had no evidence on him."
As for Goodell's comments about the pleasure he would take in presenting the trophy to the veteran signal-caller, Brady Sr. didn't exactly disagree.
"It should be an honor because somebody that has Roger Goodell's ethics doesn't belong on any stage that Tom Brady is on," he said.
Super Bowl week media availability with Brady, the rest of the Patriots team, and Goodell just got a whole lot more interesting.