New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said on Monday that he had imposed a media blackout on his father after he ripped into NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Brady, who headed to Houston with the Patriots on Monday as the final countdown to Super Bowl 51 began, quipped that his father’s outburst against Goodell would be his last.
“I’ve banned my dad from talking,” Brady told Boston’s WEEI radio.
“He’s no longer available to the media,” the four-time Super Bowl winner quipped.
Brady’s father, Tom Brady Sr, unleashed a scathing criticism of NFL commissioner Goodell on Friday last week over the four-game ban handed to his son over the “Deflategate” saga.
Brady Sr accused Goodell of lying to bolster his case, describing the pursuit of his son as a witch hunt.
“What the league did to him and what Roger Goodell constantly lied about is beyond reprehensible as far as I’m concerned,” Brady Sr said. “[Goodell] 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. He got suspended because the court said that Roger Goodell could do anything that he wanted to do to any player for any reason whatsoever. That’s what happened. The NFL admitted they had no evidence on him.”
The perceived tension between Goodell and Brady Jr is the most talked about sub-plot of this year’s Super Bowl, which sees the Patriots face the Atlanta Falcons at Houston’s NRG Stadium on Sunday.
However, Brady Jr has been at pains to play down any suggestion that he is motivated by revenge against Goodell, who could end up handing him the Vince Lombardi Trophy on Sunday if the Patriots win.
Goodell, meanwhile, said last week it would be “an honor” to hand the NFL championship trophy to Brady.
That, in turn, allowed the quarterback’s father the opportunity to make another pithy riposte.
“It should be an honor, because somebody that has Roger Goodell’s ethics doesn’t belong on any stage that Tom Brady is on,” Brady Sr said.
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