“I think people sometimes get a skewed view of Tom Brady,” Sherman said Wednesday at a news conference in Seattle. “That he’s just a clean-cut [guy], does everything right, never says a bad word to anyone and we know him to be otherwise.”
Richard Sherman, Seattle Seahawks cornerback
"I did not believe what Tom had to say," former Packers, New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars player Brunell said on ESPN. "Those balls were deflated. Somebody had to do it. I don't believe there's an equipment manager in the NFL that would, on his own initiative, deflate a ball without the starting QB's approval ... That football is our livelihood. If you don't feel good about throwing that ball? Your success on the football field can suffer from that."
Mark Brunell, former Green Bay Packers quarterback
"I'm so disappointed because I thought this was a perfect opportunity for Tom Brady to go and say 'You know what? I made a mistake. I blew it. It's on me. I'll take the blame here, and this will go away.' He didn't do that," Bettis, nicknamed "The Bus," told ESPN. "I'm disappointed in you, Tom Brady."
Jerome Bettis, former Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams and Pittsburgh Steelers halfback
"This is unbelievable," Dawkins, nicknamed "Weapon X," said on ESPN. "For you not to know what you touch every play? ... The equipment manager is being thrown under the bus now. Now he's the guy. Now he's the one responsible. He took it upon himself to doctor up the balls when nobody else knew about it? That hard [to believe]."
Brian Dawkins, former Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos safety
"That would have to be driven by the quarterback," Madden told The Sports Xchange on Wednesday. "That's something that wouldn't be driven by a coach or just the equipment guy. Nobody, not even the head coach, would do anything to a football unilaterally, such as adjust the amount of pressure in a ball, without the quarterback not knowing. It would have to be the quarterback's idea."
John Madden, former Oakland Raiders coach
"It's obvious that Tom Brady had something to do with this," Aikman told Dallas sports radio station KTCK-AM on Thursday. "For the balls to be deflated, that doesn't happen unless the quarterback wants that to happen, I can assure you of that."
Troy Aikman, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback
"It's cheating," Hines Ward said on Wednesday. "Regardless of how you may want to spin it. It helps Tom Brady, provides a better grip on the football, especially in bad weather conditions like rain."
Hines Ward, former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver
““I mean, it’s easy to figure out who did it,” Montana said. “Did Tom do it? No, but Tom likes the balls that way, obviously, or you wouldn’t have 11 of them that way without him complaining, because as a quarterback, you know how you like the ball. If it doesn’t feel like that, something is wrong.” I ever want a ball a certain way, I don’t do it myself. So, somebody did it for him,” said Montana. “But I don’t know why everybody is making a big deal out of trying to figure out who did it. It’s pretty simple. If it was done, it was done for a reason. There is only one guy that does it. Nobody else cares what the ball feels like.”
Joe Montana, former San Francisco and Kansas City Quarterback
“I’m going to be point blank, I feel like it’s cheating,” Rice told The Jim Rome Show. “Because you have an edge up on your opponent and its unfortunate that it happened. I’m not saying the outcome of the game would have been different or anything like that because they got beat 45-7, but they still had an edge. I’ve played in cold weather, I know how hard the football is and you can grip the leather [if deflated] just a little bit better,”
Jerry Rice, former San Francisco Receiver
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