Tom Brady felt stabbed in the back.
The Patriots star was furious over Robert Kraft’s capitulation to Roger Goodell in the Deflategate scandal, according to a book excerpt released by The Athletic.
When Kraft held a news conference in May 2015 to announce he would accept Brady’s four-game suspension and the loss of draft picks after the league accused Brady of conspiring to deflate footballs in the 2014 AFC Championship, the quarterback called NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith to express his outrage.
“What the f–k,” Brady said, according to “12: The Inside Story of Tom Brady’s Fight for Redemption,” which was released Tuesday. “Why am I not getting the support I deserve on this thing?”
Of course, Deflategate was far from over. Backed by Smith and the Players’ Association, Brady went on to appeal the suspension and win in advance of the 2015 season, before the appeal eventually was overturned in advance of the 2016 season. That was done not on the grounds that Brady deflated footballs, but that as commissioner, Goodell had leeway to do whatever he wanted in the scope of doling out suspensions.
“No matter what Kraft says, it has no bearing on our appeal of the four-game suspension,” Smith reportedly told Brady. “We’ll be ready for that. Trust me.”
It turned out Smith was right, as the seemingly endless controversy would drag on over another year.