Don’t Deflate Your Defense

In crisis media coaching as on the football field, the best defense is a good offense.

Defending their team’s actions, however, the New England Patriots chose an unusual offense.  This most recent case, dubbed ‘deflate-gate’ involves star quarterback Tom Brady whom the NFL has accused, along with two locker-room personnel, of intentionally deflating the game ball to gain a competitive advantage in the AFC Finals.

The evidence for this case varies from concrete to circumstantial, depending on whom you talk to and his/her particular football allegiance. In a response issued by the Patriots refuting many points, one argument stood out among the rest, and discredited the remaining 18,000 words.

Quarterback Tom Brady. Photo courtesy of panicbutton.sportsblog.com

Quarterback Tom Brady. Photo courtesy of panicbutton.sportsblog.com

Text messages between the two locker-room employees are used as primary evidence in the case against Brady. In these messages, one employee refers to himself as, “the deflator.”

To lessen the blow, the Patriots responded claiming “the deflator” was a term referring to his weight loss, not his act of cheating! Although many valid, well-argued points are raised regarding actual evidence,  this obvious and ludicrous lie makes all credibility and the rest of the defense, well, deflated.

When  good defenses are established, don’t lower their validity with extra, non-essential and ridiculous claims as the Patriots did.  A strong, truthful offense is the best defense, and the best way to inflate the confidence of your audience.