2) DeflateGate
PHOENIX, AZ – FEBRUARY 02: (L-R) Tom Brady of the New England Patriots with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the Super Bowl XLIX MVP trophy during a press conference folowing the Patriots Super Bowl win over the Seattle Seahawks on February 2, 2015 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
The most recent “controversy” to hit the countdown surprisingly did not come in at top spot. DeflateGate is fresh in everyone’s minds and it’s been the summer months when the story has really made fans want to go all Gus Frerotte and pound their head into the nearest concrete wall. At first DeflateGate was a great distraction – it gave us something to talk about in the weeks between the AFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl after all!
But as the story has dragged on… and dragged on… and dragged on, we’re left with nothing to do but tap out and seek out Love it or List It marathons instead of watching anything sports-related.
Seriously, how has this gone on for eight months?!?! How has this not reached some kind of resolution??? We’ve had to endure Wells Reports, appeals, science reports, false reports from ESPN, and now if that wasn’t enough, DeflateGate is heading to court. Yay.
The last couple weeks have seen non-stop DeflateGate coverage in the most barren time of the sports calendar and Goodell, Brady, Kraft, and PSI numbers have absorbed every ounce of coverage you can think of. We’re at the juncture now where Brady’s choice of cellphone brand and non-descript e-mails are becoming major talking points.
New documents released by NFLPA suggest Brady replaced Samsung phone w/another Samsung, not an iPhone 6 as he stated
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) August 5, 2015
The thing with DeflateGate is that it feels like we’ve all been here before. The NFL botching a high-profile investigation is nothing new (see: BountyGate and Ray Rice) and there’s only so many times we can have righteous indignation over Roger Goodell being a real-life Mr. Magoo before it just becomes tiring and exhaustive. Combine that with the persecution complex and conspiracy theories coming from a team that nobody really wants to have any sympathy for in the four-time champion New England Patriots, and we just want everyone to go away at this point.