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TEAM TALK
- Bryan Morry takes a capsule look back at the previous 7 Patriots appearances in the Super Bowl.
- Erik Scalavino shares his notes and locker room chatter from Thursday at Gillette: Bryan Stork returns to practice.
- Mayor Walsh to host Patriots Super bowl send-off rally at City Hall Plaza.
- Press Conferences: Bill Belichick (11.28 min. video) and Tom Brady (30.31 min. video)
- Thursday Quotes: Patriots and Seahawks.
- Patriots Today - The return of Bryan Stork. (1.11 min. video)
LOCAL LINKS
- Tom E. Curran calls for the NFL to stop the madness and slap the evidence down on the table to show everybody what they have. /Good read.
- Tom E. Curran sees the focus move to Brady and the NFL's 'sting'. /Interesting.
- Jeff Howe reports Bill Belichick and Tom Brady tried to power through Deflategate yesterday, while the NFL has left them hanging with an oddly slow investigation.
- Steve Buckley says that after Belichick's press conference, the media expectation was for Brady to admit he did something wrong and apologize.
- Jerry Thornton knee-jerk reactions from Brady's deflategate press conference: "I think if they kept at Brady another couple of minutes, he would’ve finally revealed the location of those kidnapped kids."
- Ron Borges isn't buying Brady's story that he picked out the balls "by feel" but then couldn't tell the difference during the game.
- Christopher Price doesn't get why anyone from the NFL hasn't spoken to Tom Brady yet, and comes up with a couple of plausible theories.
- Mike Reiss details Tom Brady's news conference: No contact yet with NFL.
- The Herald comes up with 12 questions Tom Brady still needs to answer.
- Tim Benz lists five things we haven't learned yet about deflategate: What does the NFL have to gain by playing things this way.
- Lee Schechter shares some quotes from the Patriots' locker room Thursday on the deflated football situation.
- Mark Daniels hears from ex-Patriots QB Damon Huard who has Brady's back. "It's utterly ridiculous."
- Karen Guregian observes the Patriots are tough enough to deal with on regular weeks, but the Seahawks will get them in crisis mode.
- Eric Wilbur sees the Patriots' ultimate goal as killing the karma in Glendale.
- Mike Reiss and Lee Schechter report Bryan Stork is back at practice.
- Phil Perry says even Bill Belichick had a hard time thinking of a comparison for LeGarrette Blount's running style.
- Jeff Howe mentions how Jerod Mayo has remained around the team on a daily basis, rehabbing, watching film and attending meetings to help the LBs.
- Mike Reiss notes injured Jerod Mayo still feels part of the team.
- Kyle Brasseur says former Seahawk Alan Branch doesn't need extra motivation to play in the Super Bowl.
- Mark Daniels reports observes no team gets to the Super Bowl completely healthy, and injury concerns shadow the vaunted Seattle secondary.
- Glen Farley reports the Seattle Seahawks' and Patriots' defenses have been shutting down opponents in the second half of games of late.
- Adam Kurkjian warns the Patriots defense had better be well-prepared for the zone-read, that Russell Wilson and the Seahawks execute better than anyone in the NFL.
- Tim Britton thinks Russell Wilson's legs will challenge New England's defensive creativity. /Yeah, but what does it have to do with deflategate?
- Ryan Hannable notes Seahawks LB Bobby Wagner calls the Patriots' 'weird' formations are 'something sneaky that they try to do'.
- Jeff Howe Patriots Notebook: Bryan Stork returned to practice yesterday for the first time since he injured his right knee against the Ravens; Alan Branch played 2 years for Pete Carroll but doesn't need any extra motivation for the Super Bowl; Marshawn Lynch and Chris Matthews were both fined for their obscene gestures during the NFC Championship Game;
NATIONAL NEWS
- Andrew Garda (Sports on Earth) Why we need the Hatriots.
- Terry Blount (ESPN) Lane: Must be physical with Gronk.
- John Clayton (ESPN) Inside the huddle: LeGarrette Blount's advantage. (1 min. video)
- Gallery (NFL.com) Mind-blowing stats for Super Bowl XLIX.
- Russell S. Baxter (Bleacher Report) Super Bowl XLIX: Legacy watch for title game's key players.
- Brian Burke (Sports on Earth) NFL teams that were misjudged by the Machine. Patriots stood out as underrated: Patriots continue to win more than their on-field stats would suggest.
- Russell S. Baxter (Bleacher Report) The biggest salary-cap question for every NFL team.
- Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) NFL investigators have visited Browns over in-game texting.
- Bill Barnwell (Grantland) 2014 NFL preseason predictions revisited.
- Bryan Curtis (Grantland) The worst question in sports: What we talk about when we say ‘talk about’.
DEFLATEGATE DUMPSTER
- Will Leitch (Sports on Earth) Ranking 2015's idiotic controversies: Deflategate No. 1, "Officially idiotic in every possible way."
- Patrick Imig (Cold Hard Football Facts) Deflategate: NFL grandstanding & posturing at its finest.
- Christine Brennan (USA Today) Deflategate talk mostly hot air.
- Jerome Solomon (Houston Chronicle) Tampering with footballs is hardly a recent trend.
- Jim Corbett (USA Today) Former NFL quarterbacks talk deflategate.
- Greg A. Bedard (The MMQB) Reaction around the league: From anger to shrugs.
- Michael Rosenberg (SI) As Deflategate rages on, Tom Brady's story simply doesn't add up.