Peter King talks out of both sides of his mouth regarding Deflategate regret

It may be early in 2024, but why wouldn't Deflategate still be in the news nine years after the alleged incident occurred in the 2015 AFC Championship game?

It feels like an event that will never go away, and it has become especially relevant over the past two weeks. From Peter King's admission that his coverage was the biggest regret of his career to Apple TV+'s docuseries "The Dynasty" covering the scandal in the most recently released episodes, it has been a traumatic time for Patriots fans to relive.

Re-watching the coverage of the situation in the docuseries was difficult, with fans essentially having to relive some of the most frustrating times during the two-decade-long dynasty.

But hearing King's admission just brought the anger out in everyone, even if it was supposed to be almost like a parting gift as he headed into retirement.

Peter King talks out of both sides of his mouth regarding Deflategate regret

On the one hand, maybe fans should appreciate that the longtime writer/reporter admitted to his faults and stated that his mistake of confirming that ESPN's report about "11 out of 12 footballs" were underinflated still haunts him today.

“When I think about it, my heart sinks. I confirmed the ESPN story about the deflated footballs after Deflategate first hit the scene. It turns out I was wrong.

That brought me a lot of shame. It doesn’t matter who I talked to. It doesn’t matter who told me anything. It’s my rear end on the line when I say something, when I confirm a story, and I was wrong ... that is something that will haunt me ... It bothers me, literally bothers me to this day.”

Perhaps it's the long-awaited admission that many were hoping for, even though he has apologized in the past, especially since others involved in the bogus reporting are yet to publicly apologize for their false additions to the coverage of the scandal.

However, once the allegation was made public and essentially confirmed by him, the public's perception already decided it was the truth. Some still believe the original reporting and King's doubling down due to the respect all involved had earned from the fans.

It's similar to the handling of Spygate when publications had to retract their fake story about the Patriots taping the Rams' practices ahead of their Super Bowl XXXVI matchup.

And then there's King's passionate defense of Tom Brady in the deflategate situation. He reveals he always felt that Roger Goodell treated the whole thing like "killing an ant with a sledgehammer" and still does not like how the league handled their investigation.

He repeats one of the infamous lines from the Wells Report, stating that Brady "more likely than not" knew about the purposeful deflation and felt it proved they had no actual evidence against the quarterback or the team to punish them the way they did.

It's just the latest example of an NFL writer talking out of both sides of their mouth, and unfortunately, the damage has been done. So, nothing they say now can clean up the mess they created and profited from.

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