More than nine years after the Deflategate scandal, the memories of Tom Brady under fire are still afresh in Patriots fans’ minds. When the controversy dominated the headlines, it was two prominent news platforms that fuelled the fire further, ESPN and Sports Illustrated. At the brink of retirement, Peter King of SI, who covered the incident, has addressed his role, calling it the “biggest mistake” of his career.

King was responsible for backing ESPN’s report that first came out, which ultimately led to the Patriots losing two draft picks and Brady being suspended for four games. The Deflategate report suggested that in the AFC Championship of 2014, the Patriots used a comparatively deflated football than is the allowed limit in the NFL protocol. It was further claimed that Brady was “aware of it.” What followed was a series of investigations and bad publicity for the NFL legend, even though several initial claims were debunked later. Almost a decade later, King has spoken up about his role in the scandal and how he regrets reporting on false facts.

Peter King “regrets” the Deflategate scandal “to this day”

The Sports Illustrated columnist is a distinguished figure in his arena, having won the National Sportswriter of the Year thrice. King will be soon retiring after a legendary writing career in sports. However, the 66 year old expressed the one regret of his career. In a recent appearance on CBS Sports Radio, King talked about how he feels remorse about reporting on incorrect facts.

King revealed that after the ESPN story about Deflategate broke out, the writer “called two people,” to check the stated facts about the deflated footballs at the AFC game. King got the confirmation and he went ahead with his article, but later found out that the facts were incorrect. The writer expressed that he hasn’t been able to move past this mistake “to this day.”

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“It was a Monday night, and I called two people who I was sure would know exactly what happened, and they both confirmed the ESPN story. So I wrote it; talked about it, and it turns out I was wrong, and that brought me a lot of shame. And that really bothers me to this day that I was wrong.”

When the numerous trials of the Deflategate scandal were finished, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell‘s role in the investigation was highly questioned. The judge even called out Goodell’s punishment for the Patriots and Brady as “his own brand of industrial justice.” King echoes these sentiments and wasn’t shy of calling the NFL’s big man out.

King believes that Roger Goodell had an unproportionate reaction

The respected writer soon understood that he had acted in haste without verifying all the facts. King said that he realized that his piece came out when Brady had built a reputation for himself in the world of football over a period of 10 years. So, the gravity of the situation was immense. He further related that when he checked Brady’s passer ratings, they were hardly any different from those of home games where there could be a possibility of tampering with the air pressure.

“I figured out his passer rating in away games and in home games over the ten-year period, and it was something like 99.8 to 99.5. It was the same! And what really ticked me off about that is that Roger Goodell commissions this study..”

This is not the first time King has spoken about this issue. In 2017, after realizing his error, the writer owned up and wrote a column questioning the NFL’s punishment of taking away Patriots’ draft picks. He also accused the NFL Commissioner of acting without gathering ample scientific proofs about the incident. He further said that Goodell took a harsher stand on the matter than it was necessary.

“The NFL has some significant circumstantial evidence in the case, the kind that should have prompted a strongly worded letter and $250,000 fine. Instead, Goodell killed an ant with a sledgehammer.”

Read This: Tom Brady Deflategate Scandal and How it Impacted the NFL

Peter King took responsibility for his mistake in reporting when the Deflategate scandal had resolved and took it again as he prepared to retire. The writer feels remorse for committing his error and says that it is something that still “haunts” him today. King will be writing his possibly final column on Monday, ending his otherwise spotless career on a high note.