John Feitelberg Recalls Going to Jail for Tom Brady Over Deflategate Protests

Even the greatest of legends have some stains on their careers. You just need to look closely enough. In the case of Tom Brady, there’s certainly a list, something he would not like to admit, surely. From the infamous tuck rule to the Spygate debacle, there’s no shortage of ammunition for Brady haters. But none of them are likely as popular as Deflategate.

The scandal had everything that a conspiracy theorist could ask for. Secret conversations, smashed cell phones, and an internal investigation that, at times, contradicted itself. Things were so out of hand that some were even willing to go to jail on Brady’s behalf.

A group of Barstool Sports employees, which was led by Dave Portnoy himself, staged a sit-in protest at the NFL’s headquarters in New York City. They had hoped to speak to the league’s commissioner, Roger Goodell, to vouch for the innocence of their beloved Brady. The only thing they managed, however, was to get arrested.

One of the participants in the protest, John Feitelberg, sat down with former New England Patriot Julian Edelman recently to share his side of the story. And Feitelberg has no regrets.

“Me and Hank [Lockwood] shared a cell, and I was just snoring like a son of a b***h,” Feitelberg recalled. “I probably slept the best I’ve slept in 10 years. It was a long day of protests.”

Hearing this, Edelman couldn’t help but ask the golden question. “Did anyone take a sh*t?” Feitelberg answered promptly: “First thing that Hank did.”

This certainly made for a fun podcast story. But Edelman also felt the need to inform Barstool’s finest that Brady was not at all impressed by their stunt at the time. “I can specifically remember sitting next to Tom, like, ‘Did you see these guys get arrested for you?’ He goes, ‘Yeah. What a bunch of idiots.’”

Their poorly planned protest was far from a success. Brady received a four-game suspension, while the Patriots were handed a fine of one million dollars and were forced to forfeit their 2016 first-round and 2017 fourth-round draft picks.

Would Edelman have done the same… Willingly go to jail for his former quarterback. “If someone was trying to get after my guy, I’d put some hands on some dudes. And if that gets me arrested, that gets me arrested. Early in my career? I’m going down. 2019? I don’t know. I’ve got a trust planned and sh*t, dude,” he answered to that question.

Thankfully, Edelman never had to worry about that. And unlike the Barstool employees, he was able to get the recognition of Brady without having to risk a stay in the slammer.

If anything, let this simply serve as a reminder not to let your friends, nor your boss, talk you into doing anything reckless. After all, Portnoy did manage to conveniently leave his employees behind just before the police arrived that day.