Brady Would Have Avoided Deflategate Ban If He Blamed Others

FOXBOROUGH, MA — Tom Brady could have played the first four games of the 2016 NFL season if he simply did what the NFL wanted him to do - publicly blame others for the Deflategate controversy.

In a new book called "12: The Inside Story of Tom Brady’s Fight For Redemption," authors Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge wrote that Brady offered to pay a $1 million fine, but NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wanted the quarterback to publicly state that equipment staffers John Jastremski and Jim McNally intentionally tampered with game balls without Brady's knowledge.

Brady declined the offer.

“There’s no way I’m gonna ruin these guys for something I believe they didn’t do,” Brady said, according to an excerpt obtained by ABC News.

The 544-day controversy started just after the 2014 AFC Championship game when the Patriots were accused of using under-inflated footballs against the Indianapolis Colts. That later led to a report that didn't outright state that Brady was aware of an alleged effort to deflate footballs, but it was "more probable than not" that he did.

Brady was later given a four-game suspension, which he fought to reverse in court. He would eventually serve the ban in 2016.

Image Credit: Dan Libon