FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Deny, deny, deny.
If you thought the Patriots would come clean Thursday about the discovery of at least 11 underinflated footballs in the AFC Championship Game, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady had other ideas during a pair of lengthy and awkward — yet defiant — press conferences at Gillette Stadium.
When they weren’t using what seemed like every “ball” adjective humanly possible, coach and star quarterback of the Super Bowl XLIX-bound Patriots repeatedly insisted they had no idea whatsoever how the whole controversy happened.
Brady and Belichick basically blamed the incident on gremlins and dared NFL investigators to prove they cheated.
“I didn’t alter the ball in any way,” Brady said, nervously and not altogether believably, in a 30-minute afternoon interview with a throng of reporters. “I feel like I’ve always played within the rules, and I would never do anything to break the rules. I believe in fair play, and I respect the league.”
Amid his denials, Brady also surprisingly revealed the NFL — which had investigators at Gillette Stadium on Thursday — still had not questioned him about the allegations four full days after they were made.
Brady’s denials, meanwhile, were merely echoing Belichick from earlier in the day. The Patriots boss repeatedly claimed Thursday morning he didn’t even know what the NFL’s pregame football inspection process was until this week.
“I had no knowledge whatsoever of this situation until Monday morning,” Belichick said. “I’d say I’ve learned a lot more about this process in the last three days than I’ve talked about it in the last 40 years that I’ve coached in this league.”
It was the first substantive response from Brady and Belichick since the latest cheating allegations engulfed the Patriots early Monday morning, just hours after all 12 of their primary batch of balls in a 45-7 win over the Colts were found to be well below the league minimum.
The league hasn’t commented, but former longtime NFL referee Gerry Austin told ESPN this week that league officials informed him a halftime inspection showed 11 of the Patriots’ footballs were at least two pounds per square inch (PSI) below the minimum of 12.5 psi and the 12th was at least one pound below.
The 12 balls supplied by the Colts were all properly inflated within the acceptable parameters, Austin added.
An underinflated football would be an advantage because it is considered easier to throw and catch in cold or wet weather.
The ball is now in the league’s court as to whether to punish the Patriots or let the allegations pass because of to a lack of hard evidence and not overshadow New England’s Feb. 1 Super Bowl matchup with the Seahawks in Glendale, Ariz.
The NFL could fine the Patriots at least $25,000 and dock a draft pick, though commissioner Roger Goodell could levy even harsher punishment because Belichick and the Patriots would be repeat offenders after the 2007 Spygate scandal.
Brady initially laughed off the allegations, telling a Boston radio station on Monday morning they were “ridiculous.”
“I now know this is a very serious topic,” Brady said Thursday. “Obviously the integrity of the league is very important.”
Brady said he has a pregame process where he picks 12 balls and has them inflated to the minimum 12.5 psi, then tells the equipment staff to not touch them.
“To me, those balls are perfect — and that’s what I expect when I show up on the field,” Brady said. “I like them at 12.5 [psi]. That’s the perfect grip for a football.
Added Brady: “Some guys like them round. Some guys like them thin. Some guys like them tacky. Some guys like old balls.”
Where Brady stretched his credibility was when he claimed he doesn’t squeeze the footballs in warmups and insisted he never noticed the balls he was throwing in the first half were lighter than a normal ball.
Belichick, a notorious socks-to-jocks micromanager, raised eyebrows of his own by claiming to be totally ignorant of the pregame ball inspection process.
Belichick then fueled his skeptics by saying he pays excruciating detail to the balls the Patriots use in practice while professing not to care or even know their status on gameday.
“In my entire coaching career, I have never talked to any player or staff member about the football air pressure,” Belichick said. “That is not a subject that I have ever brought up. To me, the footballs are approved by the league and game officials pregame, and we play with what’s out there. That’s the only way that I have ever thought about that.”
Belichick complained about the timing of the controversy overshadowing his team’s Super Bowl run.
“It’s unfortunate that this is a story coming off two great playoff victories by our football team,” Belichick said. “But again, we’ve been cooperative with the NFL investigation and will continue to do so.”