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June 18, 2018
In this astute history of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s 2016 Super Bowl–winning season, Sherman and Wedge (Boston Strong) begin with the “Deflategate” scandal. That incident involved allegations that New England deliberately under-inflated footballs for the 2015 AFC championship game, in which the Patriots beat the Indianapolis Colts, 45-7. Brady, at the center of the controversy, denied involvement but was suspended for the first four games of the 2016 season. The authors portray Brady, often vilified by non-fans, as someone who possessed a rabid work ethic and herculean football talent. With unprecedented access to the Patriots’ organization—thanks to cooperation from Brady, team owners Robert and Jonathan Kraft, and DeMaurice Smith of the NFL Players Association—the authors focus much of their attention on the behind-the-scenes proceedings surrounding “Deflategate,” including new revelations regarding NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s antagonistic treatment of Brady. Brady returned from his suspension and brought his team to the playoffs, and Sherman and Wedge detail the season that ended with the Patriots’ Super Bowl LI victory over the Atlanta Falcons. The authors’ balanced treatment of the quarterback is refreshing, making this a welcome addition to many a football fan’s library.

June 15, 2018
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's battle against the NFL in the shadow of scandal.If you're a fan of the Patriots, you likely believe there's nothing to Deflategate, the investigation that resulted when opposing teams charged that Brady had an unfair edge with an underinflated ball during the 2015 AFC championship game. If you don't like the Pats, you'll likely endorse the charge. Sherman and Wedge, who teamed up on Boston Strong: A City's Triumph over Tragedy (2015), write that they "were committed to write this book fairly and accurately," but their account isn't likely to settle the matter in the minds of fans, even if it was adjudicated and analyzed meticulously. Though the charges came mostly from the hated Indianapolis Colts, they were taken seriously enough that the league suspended Brady for four games--even though, Sherman and Wedge write, "the proper inflation of a football had never been an issue in the long history of the NFL, as teams and quarterbacks often deflated or overinflated balls for personal preference," and with no statistically significant effect on outcome. Given Brady's championship record and the blotch the affair put on it, it's small wonder that Deflategate became an important matter for top management and a phalanx of lawyers. The authors give Brady plenty of room for vindication with their extended, almost play-by-play account of Super Bowl LI, with all its sportswriterly conventions: "Dwight Freeney, a veteran defensive end who won a title with the Colts ten years earlier, had haunted Brady for years....Now [he] was lined up on the opposite side of the ball wearing a Falcons helmet." Brady proved himself worthy that day, but a bitter denouement came the following year when, after losing to the Philadelphia Eagles, he conceded, "I mean losing sucks...you show up and you try to win and sometimes you lose and that's the way it goes."Not definitive, but a readable companion to the more insightful Collision Low-Crossers (2013), by Nicholas Dawidoff, as a behind-the-scenes look at the NFL.

COPYRIGHT(2018) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

August 1, 2018

On the way to Super Bowl XLIX, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots were embroiled in a sting operation conducted by the NFL that ultimately led to the star quarterback being suspended for four games owing to his possible involvement of a minor infraction of league rules regarding ball inflation. Journalists Sherman (The Finest Hours) and Wedge (Boston Strong) provide an in-depth look at the saga that unfolded over a two-year period, concluding that the investigation was corrupt and instigated by the desire of duplicitous NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to make up for leniently treating the earlier Patriot scandal, Spygate. Brady's determination to continue to excel on the field while dealing with the drama off the gridiron is the focus of this book. VERDICT Brady and the Patriots seem to have as many haters as followers, so this easily read work is likely to be greeted with a partisan divide.

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2018
The New England Patriots' Tom Brady is arguably the greatest quarterback in NFL history. His image and off-the-field behavior had been impeccable until he became embroiled in the bizarre Deflategate scandal in which it was alleged that Brady had masterminded a scheme to partially deflate the game balls before the January 2015 championship game with the Indianapolis Colts. The authors of this account of Brady's redemption after the scandal have a definite agenda: to show how Brady and the Patriots recovered from their tempest in a teapot by staging a remarkable comeback in the 2016 season, leading to a come-from-behind victory in that season's Super Bowl. In the course of describing this heroic comeback for the ages, they also portray NFL commissioner Roger Goodell as a monomaniacal figure obsessed with punishing and discrediting Brady and the Patriots. Fans' reaction to this book, of course, will depend on how they feel about Brady, who like the star players behind other sports dynasties, are either much loved or easy to hate. Expect sports-talk radio to be buzzing over this one.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)