Photo Credit: AP Photo/Stephan Savoia
After their win over the Steelers last night, the Patriots looked like they were starting to get back into regular season form after many dramatic months. Deflategate was pretty much over and all the chatter about it was finally starting to die down. Then it was time for the coaches press conferences after the game and then suddenly, a whole new controversy started. It is now being deemed as “Headset Gate” by most of the world.
After the game, Steelers HC Mike Tomlin was answering questions and one of the members of the media asked if his radio went out and Tomlin responded, “That’s always the case” which is not sitting well with the Steelers or the Patriots. When asked to give more context on what happened, Tomlin said “We were listening to the Patriots radio broadcast for the majority of the first half on our headsets…” which Tomlin shared has happened more than once when they played the Patriots.
During his press conference, HC Bill Belichick was asked if he had headset issues and confirmed that he was having them as well. Their issues occurred at the end of the game, though, “They told us they were on the verge of shutting it off, but then I guess they got it working. I don’t know, but it was a problem the whole game. We almost had to switch helmets with Brady there at the end. Couldn’t get the plays in to him. It was a problem all night.” Belichick did not respond to Tomlin’s comments about it happening during their games against the Patriots though and when asked about it, he tried to turn the conversation back to the game.
With any sort of headset malfunctions, though, the NFL will be conducting an investigation into the matter which could help clear the air. In a statement released to ABC News, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy addressed the issue: “Technological and stadium infrastructure issues of this type happen at many stadiums around the league and whenever there are issues of this nature, we do a thorough review.” After the mess that was Deflategate, hopefully, the investigation will be quick.
This is also apparently not the first time that there have been “headset issues” when teams played in Foxborough and it probably won’t be the last. However, these issues could not have been discovered at a worse time and it only fuels what is already being said about the Patriots.
