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The documentary Man in the Arena aired its seventh episode this week as it chronicles quarterback Tom Brady and his time with the New England Patriots.
This week's episode addressed a controversial topic in the history of Brady and the Patriots' dynasty: "deflategate," the infamous deflation of footballs that caused Brady to be suspended for four games in the 2016 NFL season.
Brady and his sisters all spoke about what the experience was like for them while Brady was underfire for the scandal. When Brady spoke about it, he said that, essentially, he didn't need to speak about that matter any further.
“I don’t need to defend myself. I’ve defended myself for a long time. I said what I had to say multiple times, in front of a lot of different people, in court, in public. I felt I had given them what they needed to make the right decision, but I feel like they had their mind made up.”
Tom Brady moving on from "deflategate"
During the seventh episode of the Man in the Arena documentary on ESPN+, quarterback Tom Brady and his family spoke about the impact that his suspension and the scandal had on them.
When asked why he didn't try to fight it, Brady simply said that he knew he wouldn't win. Brady also said that he used the time away from the Patriots to take a much-needed family vacation and spend time with his wife Gisele. Brady said that a positive thing about the scandal and then suspension was that he was able to have much-needed quality time with his loved ones, time he wouldn't normally have because he would be on the field.
Brady returned to the Patriots in October 2016 and then helped lead them to another Super Bowl victory, which also brought about the best comeback in Super Bowl history over the Atlanta Falcons.
Brady's storied career will likely lead him to the NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame, five years after he decides to retire, of course. But, the one gray area that remains is the "deflategate" scandal that left him out of the Patriots' first month of the season in 2016. Being five years removed from the scandal, it's not likely to affect Brady and his Hall of Fame induction, but this is a topic that he is clearly done speaking about.
