Deflategate is still up in the air

But it's still business as usual for the Patriots as training camp opens; they're ready -- with or without Brady

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Deflategate. At this time a year ago, it wasn’t even a word. Now, it’s part of our lexicon.

And it doesn’t appear to be going away any time soon.

Last year at this time, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was deluged with questions about his age and ability and whether he was still elite.

He answered by leading the Patriots to their fourth Super Bowl win of his tenure and being named the game’s Most Valuable Player as New England defeated the defending champion Seattle Seahawks.

But for most of this offseason, it was not his ability but his integrity that was questioned.

Hanging over his head was the cloud of Deflategate, the NFL’s investigation, Ted Wells’ report, Brady’s subsequent four-game suspension, his appeal of that suspension, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s upholding of that suspension and the NFL Players Association’s appeal on Brady’s behalf in court.

A lot to deal with in one offseason. But, if we’ve learned just one thing since Brady became the Patriots full-time quarterback in 2001 it should be this: Never count him out.

Since being drafted out of Michigan in the sixth round with the 199th overall pick in 2000 – the seventh quarterback taken that year, ahead of just five other QBs -- Brady has made a career of comeback victories. If he can convert this one, it will be another addition to his list of Hall of Fame credentials.

Brady has played in 209 career regular-season games. The 10 other quarterbacks taken in 2000 appeared in a combined 277 games, including 230 by the six quarterbacks taken ahead of him. He’s outlasted all of them. Chris Redman was the last to play, appearing in five games for the Atlanta Falcons in 2011.

A two-time MVP and 10-time Pro Bowler, Brady is fifth all-time among NFL quarterbacks with 37 wins on game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime during the regular season, behind Peyton Manning (51), Dan Marino (47), Brett Favre (43) and John Elway (40).

Brady’s come-from-behind win in Super Bowl XLIX, with two fourth-quarter touchdowns to beat the Seahawks 28-24, was just the most recent example of his ability to perform under pressure.

But the Deflategate pressure kept inflating, and even when Brady’s suspension was announced May 11 (the Patriots also were hit with a $1 million find and the loss of two draft picks), he wouldn’t talk to the media about it.

The only time he addressed it publicly, he gave it cursory treatment at a paid appearance at Salem State University the day after the NFL released Wells’ report.

“It’s only been 30 hours so I haven’t had too much time to digest it fully,” Brady said at the time, “but when I do I’ll be sure to let you know how I feel about it.”

Brady didn’t back down, however, when asked whether the controversy tainted the team’s Super Bowl win.

“Absolutely not,” he said. “We earned and achieved everything we got (last) year as a team. I’m very proud of that.”

This might help

If Brady and the NFLPA don’t overturn the suspension in court, perhaps there could be a silver lining for the Patriots. Perhaps Brady, 38, will be rested at the end of the season, healthier for a potential run at Super Bowl repeat. Perhaps he returns from his exile with a vengeance and a giant chip on his shoulder.

“You don’t take him for granted because of the way he works,” tight end Rob Gronkowski told the Boston Herald. “He is a leading example of how to work and how to come out and prepare every single day as a true professional.”

At the start of offseason workouts, coach Bill Belichick declined to address the situation regarding Brady and insisted his players’ focus was simply on improving every day.

Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said, “We’re doing the same thing we would have always done. Our quarterbacks, our first two, are getting a lot of reps and splitting a lot of periods…It’s really business as usual for us.”

Back-up quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo did get a good deal of time working with the top offensive unit, while Brady worked with other players. Garoppolo also spent time working out in California with Gronkowski and wide receiver Julian Edelman, among others. The pair are two of Brady’s favorite targets.

“I’m just going out to practice every day, trying to improve, trying to get my teammates better and me better and we’ll go from there,” Garoppolo said, sounding much like Belichick. “That’s all you can control at the end of the day.”

In a video he posted on Bleacher Report, Gronkowski, Gronkowski, in typical Gronk fashion, called out the media for its focus on Deflategate and not his offseason charity work. At the end of the video, he flexed his biceps and said:

“You know these sure aren’t deflating. These are only inflating. So get ready, because I’m going to be ready.”

You can be sure Brady will be ready, too, when he gets to play.

But when that will be remains uncertain. The day before the Patriots opened training camp in July, Goodell upheld the original four-game suspension, noting that Brady had an assistant destroy his cellphone, thereby obstructing the investigation.

Brady addressed the issue through social media.

“I am very disappointed by the NFL’s decision to uphold the (four-)game suspension against me. I did nothing wrong, and no one in the Patriots organization did either,” he wrote on his Facebook account. “I have never written, texted, emailed to anybody at any time, anything related to football air pressure before this issue was raised at the AFC championship game in January. To suggest that I have destroyed a phone to avoid giving the NFL information it requested is completely wrong.”

Patriots owner Robert Kraft said in May he would reluctantly accept the team’s punishment – the fine and loss of draft picks. His tone changed after Goodell’s decision.

“The decision handed down by the league yesterday is unfathomable to me,” Kraft said before the start of training camp.

“I continue to believe and unequivocally support Tom Brady. I first and foremost need to apologize to our fans, because I truly believe that what I did in May, given the actual evidence of this situation and the league’s history on discipline matters, would make it much easier for the league to exonerate Tom Brady. Unfortunately, I was wrong.”

Belichick would not address the matter, saying, “We’re going to continue to get the team ready for the 2015 season.”

But Brady’s teammates offered support.

“All of us in here are part of a family,” wide receiver Matthew Slater said. “And the guys in this locker room, we feel as though we’re family in there. Good or bad, things happen in life, and you stick with your family, no matter what the outcome, and I think that’s the way we’re going to approach it. But in the meantime we’re just going to focus on improving ourselves throughout the course of training camp and just take it one day at a time.”

But it bothers them to see the shine taken off their quarterback’s image.

“I feel like everyone else does – it’s been disappointing,” defensive back Devin McCourty said. “I think, like anybody in this organization, we’d rather not go through it, but we understand what it is, and we just have to deal with it.”

Later that day, the NFLPA field a petition on Brady’s behalf against the NFL in Minnesota district court. An injunction could allow Brady to be on the field Sept. 10 when the Patriots host the Pittsburgh Steelers to kick off the season.