Patriots' Brady on whether Wells Report taints Super Bowl XLIX win: 'No, absolutely not'
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady spoke publicly Thursday for the first time since the release of the Wells Report, which found that the Patriots likely violated league rules by doctoring footballs during the AFC Championship Game.
The report asserted that Brady was aware of the inappropriate activities of team personnel and was generally uncooperative with the investigation.
But Brady doesn't feel the findings of the report tainted the Patriots' latest Super Bowl in any way.
"No, absolutely not," was his emphatic response when asked if the report had detracted from his joy of winning.
"We earned everything we got and achieved as a team," Brady added, "and I am proud of that."
Appearing at Salem State University, alongside reporter Jim Gray and to raucous crowd support, Brady offered a defacto no comment on the details of the report - citing time constraints as the reason for his lack of insight into his role in any wrongdoing.
"I don't have any reaction," Brady told Gray. "Our owner commented on it yesterday ... it's only been 30 hours, I haven't had much time to digest it."
Demurring further, and possibly speaking to his agent's strong comments from earlier Thursday, Brady indicated that he would eventually address the scandal and his role in it.
"Hopefully soon," he told Gray. "I'll certaintly want to be very comfortable in the statements I want to make."
Asked how the investigation was effecting him personally, Brady said:
I've dealt with a lot of things in the past, and I dealt with this three months ago before the Super Bowl. I've dealt with a lot of adversity over the course of my career, my life. I'm very fortunate to have so many people that love me and support me. Life is so much about the ups and downs and certainly I accept my role and responsibility as a public figure, and I think a lot it - you take the good with the bad. Dealing with the different adversities in life, you just try to do the best you can do. I was raised by a great mom and dad, and I have a lot of great teammates that support me, so we'll get through it.