Tuesday NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said that the taking of football PSI measurements during the 2015 was a practice in deterrence, and therefore there was not a collection of the data from the full year.
One day later, NFL V.P. of officiating Dean Blandino, the guy who oversees the officials and therefore the program to measure the PSI of game balls, said that such data does exist and the league is currently reviewing the information.
While no one knows why the league is sending mixed messages and failing to get its top executives on the same page, the* Boston Globe* notes that it's a clear – beep, beep, beep – backtracking by the league that has made curious decisions throughout the Deflategate saga.
It's still not clear whether Tom Brady will attend the Super Bowl 50 festivities honoring past MVPs of the big game, but his father, who lives in the Bay Area, talked to the *Globe* about the tough year his son has had. Adam Vinatieri has plenty of praise for Stephen Gostkowski, who's AFC title game missed PAT drew the ire of some, telling the Globe that the man who replaced him in New England "is as good of a guy as you're ever going to get to kick for your team."
Cam Newton is the star of Carolina, so the Globe points out that the Panthers impressive defense isn’t getting much attention. While Brady was at Michigan’s signing day, his All-Pro tight end was making his own Super Bowl prediction.
Boston Herald columnist Ron Borges looks at Panthers star linebacker Luke Kuechly, who dominated at Boston College in his pre-NFL days. The Herald notes that former Patriots cornerback Aqib Talib seems to be enjoying the spotlight at the Super Bowl.
The Providence Journal writes about a Rhode Island artist whose paintings of the Patriots are part of the Super Bowl 50 celebration this week in San Francisco.
ESPNBoston.com passes along Gronkowski arriving at the Super Bowl and explaining why he didn’t take part in the Pro Bowl. Words cannot describe a photo of Brady and “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair at Michigan's signing day on Wednesday.
ESPN has another Michigan QB alum – current Jaguars running back Dennard Robinson – still hoping to someday meet Brady and maybe even swap jerseys with him. Brady was apparently rubbing elbows with an enemy on Wednesday, Ravens coach John Harbaugh, who was at Michigan's signing day to support his brother.
WEEI.com breaks down how the Patriots can close the gap with the Broncos and return to the Super Bowl. WEEI.com also has New England Hall of Fame cornerback Mike Haynes praising current Pro Bowl Patriots cover man Malcolm Butler.
After his playing career, Haynes worked as an executive at the NFL. He has a pretty good idea of how the league office works, yet the former Patriots defender still can't understand the way Deflategate played out, especially the punishment. “The penalty didn’t match the crime. I mean, wait a minute, draft choices? Million dollar fine? Four game suspension? I didn’t really get it,” Haynes told CSNNE.com.
CSNNE.com has a list of the top five biggest leaps made by Patriots players this season. Clearly Butler is part of the group, although you'll have to click through a slide show to get the whole deal. CSNNE.com also says that Goodell is “Shield-ed from accountability” at this point.
MassLive.com notes Super Bowl 50 will feature three former Patriots cornerbacks, including Robert McClain, who was cut this season.
Colts kicker Vinatieri, and former teammate of both Brady and Peyton Manning, admitted to NESN.com that he was rooting for the Patriots in the AFC title game.
