The greg hill show: Director of "The Dynasty", Matt Hamachek joins in-studio for an in depth discussion about the series
Episodes seven and eight of The Dynasty: New England Patriots dropped on Apple TV+ on Friday morning, continuing the 10-episode docuseries recapping the greatest run in sports history that took place in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Here are some rapid reactions, nuggets, and takeaways from Episode Seven: Under Pressure:
– The opening scene with Rupert Murdoch is weird.
I’ve stayed away from calling this a complete Kraft-umentary so far, but the opening scene to Episode 7 changed my mind a bit.
While I (sort of) understand putting the story of Kraft’s ring being stolen by Vladimir Putin in the documentary, and I understand he was with Murdock on the trip to Russia, having the media oligarch not only in the documentary, but sit there and profess to us how great of a businessman Kraft is, was a bit much for my liking.
– Another cheating scandal hits Foxborough.
“Jealousy and envy are incurable diseases. When you become No. 1, people are gonna come after you every way they can,” says Robert Kraft as the documentary dives into Deflategate - one of the biggest crocks of you-know-what in NFL history.
The Colts were supposedly tipped off by the Ravens ahead of the 2014 AFC Championship game about the Patriots using underinflated footballs. They told the league, handed over a ball, and it all broke loose.
Following the game, a 45-3 thumping by New England, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen (RIP to a legend) reported that 11 of the 12 footballs used in the game were 2 PSI below NFL regulation. While the report ended up being false, it opened up an insane can of worms that to this day hasn’t really been closed.
– Belichick deflects to Brady for the underinflated footballs.
One of the Patriots’ mantras – something that was plastered on the walls of One Patriot Place during the dynasty era, is “speak for yourself.” So, rather than stick up and defend his quarterback in the midst of Deflategate, Bill Belichick decided to allow Tom Brady to do just that.
“I think we all know that quarterbacks, kickers, specialists, have certain preferences on footballs,” said Belichick. “–and Tom’s personal preferences on his footballs are something that he can talk about in much better detail than I could possibly provide.”
– Another distraction ahead of another Super Bowl.
Deflategate marked the third major news cycle distraction ahead of a Patriots Super Bowl appearance, joining Bill Parcells’ departure in 1997 and Spygate in 2007. The media coverage was completely angled towards Deflategate.
From ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith: “Boy the New England Patriots better win this Super Bowl. If they lose this Super Bowl, EVERYBODY’S gonna be talking, ‘That’s what happens when you’re forced to play fair.’ The New England Patriots’ legacy is officially on the line.”
From longtime NFL reporter Peter King: “I think that Tom Brady has some questions to answer. America is looking at him with a jaundiced eye, that ‘Tommy Perfect’ is not perfect.”
– Tom Brady took it hard, and even cried in front of is teammates explaining that he had nothing to do with it.
“The two weeks were very difficult on Tommy,” said owner Robert Kraft. “He was taking it very hard.”
“Tom can be a very fiery person but he can also be a very soft person, said his former wide receiver Danny Amendola. “He can be very emotional. It took a massive toll on him because of his kids. Just having to listen to his kids come home from school and talk about the things that they heard from their friends or their teachers or whoever. I felt for him.”
What former Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis said about that time was the most revealing:
“When the Deflategate happened, Tom was the headliner of the whole situation,” the defender explained. “He addressed us as a team. You can tell he was distraught. He said, ‘This is something I wouldn’t do. I would not ruin this season for us. The allegations are false.’ He was actually balling his eyes out in front of us.”
– Malcolm Butler’s recollection of his Super Bowl-winning interception is awesome.
We all know how Super Bowl XLIX ends, with former Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler intercepting Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson at the goalline. But to hear him talk about the chain of events was super cool:
“Last year I worked at Popeyes in Vicksburg, Mississippi,” Butler recalled of his feeling to Jermaine Kearse’s insane catch leading up to New England’s goalline stand. “As a rookie, my first year in the NFL I go to the Super Bowl. I know I did the best I could do but like, god damn Imma feel like if we lose it’s my fault.”
“I’m thinking I’m not gonna get another opportunity to go back in the game,” he continued. “But all of a sudden the say, ‘Goalline three corners,’ and it’s like, Malcolm! Malcolm go!’”
“I was looking at Russ. I was like, ‘He lookin’ over here too much. He’s lookin’ too much.’”
The rest is, of course, history.
– Brady suspended for his “more probable than not” knowledge in Deflategate.
The lust of the Patriots’ Super Bowl XLIX win quickly goes away after the Wells Report is released and concludes that it was “more probably that not” that Tom Brady had knowledge of Patriots staffers taking air out of footballs.
He was subsequently suspended for four games.
“Any time there’s a violation of the rules,” commissioner Roger Goodell says in the docuseries of his decision to suspend Brady. “My job is to approach these things without emotion and without a view of anything other than what truly transpired here – and deal with it.”
– Robert Kraft felt that the league came down hard on Brady due to his own relationship with Roger Goodell.
“Once the NFL came out with their very harsh ruling,” Kraft explained. “I realized the league was not our ally here. Because of the solid relationship I had with Commissioner Goodell, he probably had to go overboard to make sure no one could ever accuse him of being equivocating or being soft.”
After obliging when asked by Kraft to go easy on the Patriots for Spygate, Goodell then goes harder on them for Deflategate.
Not a great look, Roger.
– Brady speaks on giving into the league, “dropping the rope.”
“I mean look I saw like venom people that was so far beyond comprehension,” Brady explained on he and the team’s decision to stop fighting his four-game suspension. “But it was more than about under-inflated footballs in the end. Now it’s probably football lore. But at that time, it was exhausting. And at some point you just drop the rope and you go, ‘Okay, enough’s enough,’ you know?”
But he was ready to, again, prove people wrong.
Make sure to follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick, and follow @WEEI for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
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