COUNTERPOINT: Controversy calls Brady’s legacy, morality into question

When Saturday Night Live released a skit mocking the press conferences that followed the New England Patriots’ “Deflategate,” it was not far off from the reality. The skit was made more to mock the media coverage, as many news outlets have been treating the scandal as a much more earth-shattering event than many believe it to be.

The deflated balls obviously did not cause the Patriots’ win. Deflation serves only the quarterback, Tom Brady. In fact, even the opposing team’s Indianapolis Colts players tweeted after the game that the inflation of footballs had nothing to do with the loss; the Patriots simply ran over them.

With the Patriots so clearly in control of the outcome of that game, it’s ridiculous to be treating the scandal like it will actually have any impact on the Super Bowl. The importance of Deflategate, then, lies with the history and future career of Brady and head coach Bill Belichick.

The Brady-Belichick era has been marked with excellence. The two of them have bagged three Super Bowls, and they are both arguably the best at what they do. Belichick being in the conversation for the best coach ever puts him on the fast track to be memorialized, but now, the packaged deal of Brady and Belichick is going to have a new twist to it.

Had a documentary been made about the Brady-Belichick duo without Deflategate, it would have been mostly on amazing feats of the partnership. Now, their storyline has this ridiculous scandal tacked on to it, and given the amount of media outcry that it has already attracted, one can be sure a documentary would do the same kind of unnecessary digging.

The next twist is Brady’s new contract. Up until December, Brady’s salary was guaranteed for the next three seasons, meaning that the Patriots could only get out of that contract if Brady retired or was traded. Now, he’s on a contract guaranteed only for injury, which theoretically frees up $24 million for the Patriots that would otherwise have to be deposited in advance.

The Patriots made this look like a selfless move on Brady’s part to make it easier for his team to pull in more talent. Given that the Patriot’s owner is worth $4 billion, however, it’s hard to believe that the Patriots had to put Brady’s guaranteed contract on the backburner just to save a little money. And even so, it’s not like the team still doesn’t have to pay him, they’re just giving themselves more money to play with during the season.

Grantland writer Bill Barnwell’s theory is that Brady signed the new contract for more flexibility. After a stunning loss in October, there were whispers that Brady feared for his career, and “under his old deal, Brady wouldn’t have been able to move on easily, because the Patriots would have been loath to pay the guaranteed money were they to release their longtime quarterback.”

The chances of Brady actually leaving the Patriots for another team are slim, but for Patriots fans, even the possibility is a blow. Deflategate wouldn’t be enough to get him to leave, but with Belichick and the entire city of Boston blaming Brady, Patriots fans better think about how their team would fare without him.

Deflategate doesn’t mean the end of the football as we know it. With the Boston media joining Belichick in throwing the signal-caller under the bus, for the first time in more than a decade, Patriots fans are confronted with the possibility of a life after Brady. Deflategate has forced many to consider the mortality of a man who has been a mainstay for a generation of football fans.

Claire Cahoon is a sophomore majoring in English. “Point/Counterpoint” runs Tuesdays.