The New England Patriots are preparing for the Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks and things now are focused on the game after media day for Tom Brady and Bill Belichick and this comes after owner Robert Kraft defended his coach and organization regarding Deflate Gate, saying the NFL owes them an apology if they are cleared of wrongdoing.
The Patriots come into the Super Bowl with controversy hanging over them, but Brady and Belichick have said that they are focused only on the matchup with the Seahawks. According to Pro Football Talk, the NFL is investigating the whole Deflate Gate controversy and the league is focusing on the time between when the balls were checked before the game and when they came out onto the field. The Patriots ball manager has received scrutiny and both Belichick and Brady have denied any knowledge of the deflation.
Kraft was strong in his remarks about the scandal, saying that the NFL should give the Patriots, Belichick and Brady and apology if no wrongdoing is found. Kraft spoke about his team and said that he did not think the media attention would hurt the preparation for the Super Bowl against the Seahawks. The Patriots are in a tough spot with all that is going on and if there is evidence that the team tampered with the balls, it will be very hard to live that down with the Spygate mess also attached to the franchise.
According to Pro Football Talk, the NFL has video of a locker room attendant taking the game balls into the bathroom before kickoff and that could be where the investigation takes a major turn. The video reportedly shows the attendant in the bathroom for 90 seconds with two bags containing twelve balls each. The bags had the Patriots and Colts balls and that could be where the issues with the Pats balls occurred. Brady has said in the past he liked a deflated ball and now he is one of the central figures in this story.
Danny Amendola is likely to get released this offseason and that could make the Super Bowl his final game with the Patriots. Amendola was signed to help make up for the loss of Wes Welker, but he had trouble staying healthy in 2013 and was mostly a non-factor this past season. Amendola had just 27 catches for 200 yards this past season and while he played in 16 games he was not productive enough to justify being on the roster. Amendola had 54 catches for 633 yards in 12 games last season and now it's likely he will be playing elsewhere in 2015.