"The Dynasty": Tom Brady "was bawling his eyes out" during Deflategate address to Patriots teammates

BOSTON -- Truth be told, Tom Brady did not open up very much when discussing the saga known as Deflategate for the seventh episode of "The Dynasty" docuseries.

With nearly a decade having passed since the "scandal" was birthed, there could have been some hope or belief that Brady would go deep on his true feelings about the national assault on his character and achievements, based on the never-before-discussed-or-examined element of PSI levels in footballs. Alas, the always-careful Brady was extremely reserved when sitting down for his interview on this topic.

Yet while Brady himself didn't spend too much time reexamining that era of his life, the episode -- titled "Under Pressure" -- featured plenty of behind-the-scenes recollections of how the quarterback handled the unfathomable level of scrutiny and criticism that was thrust upon him over the inflation levels of footballs.

"The two weeks were very difficult on Tommy," Patriots owner Robert Kraft said of the days between the AFC Championship Game win over the Colts and Super Bowl XLIX against the Seahawks. "He was taking it very hard."

So hard, in fact, that Brady couldn't control his emotions when speaking to the team, according to one teammate from the 2014 championship season.

"When the Deflategate happened and Tom was the headliner of the whole situation, he addressed us as a team," Hall of Fame cornerback Darrelle Revis said. "You can tell he was distraught. He said, 'This is something I wouldn't do. I would not ruin the season for us. The allegations are false.' He was actually bawling his eyes out in front of us."

Brady made sure not to recreate any of those tears for this docuseries, but the filmmakers included commentary from his parents and his sister Julie to provide some conception of the emotional state of the entire family.

"It was extraordinarily difficult in the life of the Brady family," Tom Brady Sr. said. "Not only did I suffer from it, but my wife, it crushed her. Because he's not a liar."

"I felt very helpless as a mom," Galynn Brady said. "Watching Tommy having to go through this, there's nothing that we could do about it. But for Tommy on the football field, that's when he could prove that he was calling the shots."

As for that football? Well, Patriots fans who have endured the past few episodes will be pleased to see the return of a Super Bowl victory, with the coverage of Super Bowl XLIX -- the Patriots' fourth Super Bowl victory -- being the first such focus in the series since the first Super Bowl win against the Rams. But of course, while this episode does include some quality clips from that incredible win and improbable finish against the Seahawks, it is by and large an episode about Deflategate.

Here's everything that stood out in this 40-minute installment.

--This is every single thing Tom Brady said in the episode about Deflategate.

His initial thoughts when the allegations were reported: "Early on, I kind of laughed it off. But there was a lot of built-up tension and hate from a lot of people that was part of, I think, our success at the Patriots."

His thoughts on the midweek press conference when he was peppered with questions for a half hour: "I think if there was a hornet's nest. I mean, man, was I in it."

On his emotional state in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, amid all the national criticisms: "When the shots are being fired at you, you can handle it. When they're being fired at people you care about, that's when it gets hard."

When asked if he'd like to respond to any of the Deflategate allegations: "No. (With a smile and chuckle.) I mean look, I saw, like, venom from people that was so far beyond comprehension. But it was more than about underinflated footballs in the end. Now it's probably football lore. But at that time, it was exhausting. And at some point, you just drop the rope and you go, OK, like, enough's enough, you know?"

And that is ... it. Brady wasn't really willing to reflect on the whole matter, outside of that little glimmer at the end about seeing the venom.

--We also didn't get to hear Bill Belichick's thoughts on Deflategate, as he did not appear in the episode at all, outside of footage from the press conference he delivered just before Brady the week following the AFC Championship Game. It's unclear if director Matt Hamachek asked Belichick about it, only to get stonewalled, or if Deflategate didn't come up in what we can only imagine to have been a rather brief sitdown with the coach.

The aforementioned press conference, though, was accurately depicted as Belichick distancing himself from the matter entirely when it happened, so as to not get swept up in another "cheating" scandal. 

"When I came in Monday morning, I was shocked to learn of the news reports about the footballs," the January 2015 clip shows Belichick saying at the podium. "I could tell you that in my entire coaching career, I have never talked to any player about football air pressure. I think we all know that quarterbacks, kickers, specialists, have certain preferences on footballs, and TOM'S PERSONAL PREFERENCES ON FOOTBALLS ARE SOMETHING THAT HE CAN TALK ABOUT IN MUCH BETTER DETAIL THAN I COULD POSSIBLY PROVIDE." (!!!!)

Clips from CNN, ESPN and Fox News followed Belichick's press conference clip, with talking heads criticizing the coach for throwing Brady under the bus with this one.

--Here's what Robert Kraft thinks about the whole matter: "Our team was performing at a level -- no one could believe it. And anyone who's fortunate enough to be in that position has to understand: jealousy and envy are incurable diseases. When you become number one, people are gonna come after you every way they can."

As for his eventual decision to stop fighting the league and accept the severe punishments, Kraft said, "When we have a fight, we like to win, and win every battle. But in the end, [Roger] Goodell has the ultimate authority. We weren't going to win the battle. And I wanted to get it over."

--As for Roger Goodell ... well. He said this: "Any time there's a violation of the rules, my job is to approach these things without emotion and without a view of anything other than what truly transpired here, and deal with it."

Dear reader, please suppress your laughter.

He also added this: "What I'm living on is what we have to do as a league to deal with this appropriately."

As a reminder, the NFL paid for the "independent" investigation, the NFL had its general counsel (Jeff Pash) edit the final report before it was made public, Goodell oversaw Brady's appeal hearing (that is to say, Goodell over saw an appeal of a ruling made by Goodell to determine if it was fair) as a "neutral arbitrator," the NFL shared incorrect PSI numbers with the Patriots when demanding they submit to an investigation, the NFL refused the Patriots' requests to correct the public record on other false numbers that had been leaked to the media by NFL employees, and the NFL collected PSI data during the 2015 season to check if PSI numbers actually fluctuated after halftime, only to later destroy that data and never release it to the public.

But yes. Goodell approached the matter without emotion and with the intent of discovering what truly transpired. A strange, strange man remains strange.

--The docuseries, unfortunately, did not track down Jim McNally or John Jastremski, the two employees at the heart of the controversy who have since vanished off the face of the earth. We can assume there were some heavy NDAs signed by both when they had to leave the organization, but still. One day, we'll hear from those guys. One day. (Hopefully, unlike Watergate, it happens in less than 31 years.)

There was also nothing new in terms of, say, surveillance footage from the night in question, unfortunately. Most of the reliving of the event was captured through the media hysteria that took over the nation.

That included clips from sports networks but also news networks and even business news networks. The nation was obsessed with this story, and that fever was captured in this episode. (Unfortunately, Mark Brunell crying on TV about Tom Brady's press conference didn't make the cut, which is too bad, because that's still objectively one of the funniest things that's ever happened on this planet.)

--Much of the public perception of this series has suggested it's very pro-Kraft and very anti-Belichick. I don't agree entirely with that assessment, but I'd say the most protected person in the series is undoubtedly Tom Brady. He didn't weigh in on anything Spygate, he didn't appear at all in the Aaron Hernandez episode, and he's the lone interviewee to have the benefit of having his parents and sister interviewed to speak about his trials and tribulations and his feelings associated with those moments. Brady was given the opportunity to address Deflategate (and, presumably, some of the other more controversial topics from his New England tenure) but didn't appear to be pushed beyond his comfort zone. We can probably assume that such is the cost of doing business with a mega-celebrity like Brady, who had already produced his own docuseries ("Man In The Arena") and was under no obligation to participate in this one. It is nevertheless notable that his side of various controversies and struggles is presented by his immediate family throughout the series.

 --It stood out as crazy to see so many human beings on television shout the word "cheater" over this matter. The case is what the case is, but never before had anyone so much as spent one solitary moment pondering the impact of specific air pressure measurements in footballs. Yet after one quick accusation of ball deflation, Tom Brady was a cheater, cheater, cheater, cheater. And nobody had any hesitation in saying so. And then, after Brady won four Super Bowls after the accusations were made and the footballs were guarded like the Hope Diamond, everybody went back to not caring one bit about the PSI measurements of footballs.

A crazy, stupid time.

--The episode didn't really explore many elements that crazed New Englanders uncovered through the multiple years of Deflategate, and that's largely understandable. That episode would have to be 5 hours long, and it would appeal to very few people.

Still, one portion of the episode sought to show Patriots fans' attempts to push back against the cheating. That part of the episode included MIT professor John Leonard explaining the ideal gas law. John Leonard, though, is not a Patriots fan. He's an Eagles fan. He's also a professor of mechanical and ocean engineering. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His clip in the episode was shown immediately after a fifth-grader presented his science project.

--Former Boston Globe columnist Jackie MacMullan provided some good commentary on the matter: "It just became, in my opinion, a witch hunt. It was a witch hunt. And Tom Brady was the witch that was getting hung at Salem. … Did Tom Brady deflate footballs? He probably did, but what are we talking about here? It just makes me -- all these years later, I still can't believe it."

--Legendary play-by-play announcer Al Michaels, who called Super Bowl XLIX, said: "This is a story that should've been a speck. But it's the Patriots. It's the biggest story in town."

A clip of Michaels on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" was also shown, in which Michaels pointed out that the world news overlooked some serious stories in order to cover the deflated football accusations. A clip of Matt Lauer transitioning out of Deflategate coverage into an ISIS hostage situation drove that point home.

--Jonathan Kraft's thoughts: "It was like the crime of the century had occurred for the NFL's lawyers. For whatever reason, they chose to drag out everything and create a huge distraction. I think it hurt the NFL. It didn't help it."

--Bill Belichick's thoughts: Unknown. (Would have been nice.) (The Mona Lisa Vito press conference from the day before the Patriots left for the Super Bowl could have worked, too.)

--The episode also covered the group from Barstool that got arrested for holding a sit-in at NFL headquarters to protest Brady's suspension. "If you look back at it, for such a stupid thing, it was crazy," Barstool founder Dave Portnoy said. "It was crazy for a long time, it was crazy."

It was crazy. 

--As stated, there WAS actual Super Bowl coverage in this episode. It wasn't much -- about six minutes of it -- but it did represent just the second bit of real coverage of the dynasty in "The Dynasty."

--One highlight showed Brady entering the huddle with the Patriots trailing the Seahawks 24-21 in the fourth quarter, saying, "Hey we need a big f----ng championship drive. That's what we need." At some point, we apparently entered into a world where we are allowed to see unedited NFL Films content. No announcement was made that we got here, but it's a welcome development.

--Malcolm Butler had some choice quotes about this game, which launched him from an unknown into an unforgettable part of Patriots and NFL history. 

"Last year, I worked at Popeye's in Vicksburg, Mississippi. As a rookie, my first year in the NFL, I go to the Super Bowl. I know I did the best I can do, but like, god damn, I'm gonna feel like if we lose, it's my fault," Butler said regarding the tipped pass caught by Jermaine Kearse.

--Butler recalled what he was seeing before his infamous goal-line interception of Russell Wilson, saving the win for the Patriots. 

"I was looking at Russ," Butler said. "I was like … he LOOKING over here too much. He's looking too much."

All these years later, seeing Butler appear seemingly out of nowhere to intercept that pass remains shocking. (Brady's high-pitched screaming/leaping-like-an-excited-child-on-the-sideline clip is included in the episode.)

--Amid the chaotic celebration on the field, Brady walked up to Butler with a simple question. "Malcolm!" Brady shouted. "Are you f------ kidding me?! What a f------ play!"

"I think that's one of the best things I heard in my life, Tom Brady telling me that," Butler said.

--The episode began with Rupert Murdoch and Robert Kraft retelling the well-known story of Vladimir Putin essentially stealing Kraft's Super Bowl ring in 2005. It didn't really tie in to the rest of the episode, but as one of the wilder offshoots of the dynasty years, it found a spot in the docuseries.

--And the episode ends with a setup for the next episode. Danny Amendola, who earlier in the episode said that Brady had trouble dealing with his kids hearing about Deflategate accusations at school, touched on Brady's mentality after accepting the four-game suspension in 2016.

"Obviously Tom, it took a massive toll on him," Amendola said. "All Tom wanted to do was be a good teammate and be out on that field. But after training camp, he was gonna miss four games. And he was pissed. He was f------ angry. There was definitely the feeling like, when he gets back after his suspension, he's gonna bring vengeance upon thee."

That he did.

You can read the recap of Episode 8, "Score To Settle," here.