--- title: Tom Brady: Woman's Obituary Says Patriots Star Innocent in DeflateGate description: A 72-year-old woman used her obituary to declare Patriots quarterback Tom Brady innocent in Deflategate. canonical: https://time.com/3895274/tom-brady-deflategate/ author: Jack Linshi article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-05-24T15:26:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:59:09.724Z article:section: Sports og:title: This Woman Declared From Beyond the Grave That Tom Brady Is Innocent og:description: Check out this Patriots fan's obituary og:url: https://time.com/3895274/tom-brady-deflategate/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c4342893d6dda19/69885181e20a878a61a8b806/tom-brady7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4764 og:image:height: 2680 og:image:alt: New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady gestures during an event at Salem State University in Salem, Mass. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Woman Declared From Beyond the Grave That Tom Brady Is Innocent twitter:description: Check out this Patriots fan's obituary twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c4342893d6dda19/69885181e20a878a61a8b806/tom-brady7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Woman Declared From Beyond the Grave That Tom Brady Is Innocent > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: This Is What Physics Says About Deflategate [Watch (HLS stream): This Is What Physics Says About Deflategate](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TECrbcbF.m3u8) (1:57)  _Published 2015-01-22. Ainissa Ramirez, physicist and author of Newton's Football, talks through why weather can't explain deflate-gate_  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi May 24, 2015 3:26 PM UTC  New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady gestures during an event at Salem State University in Salem, Mass., on May 7, 2015. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady gestures during an event at Salem State University in Salem, Mass., on May 7, 2015. Charles Krupa—AP  by [Jack Linshi](https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/)  ## Jack Linshi May 24, 2015 3:26 PM UTC A die-hard New England Patriots fan used her obituary to speak out in support of Tom Brady, the suspended NFL quarterback tangled up in the [Deflategate](http://time.com/3854906/tom-brady-nfl-suspension-deflategate-patriots/) controversy. “She would also like us to set the record straight for her: Brady is innocent!!” the family of Patricia M. Shong, 72, wrote in the Massachusetts woman’s obituary, published Thursday in the [Worcester _Telegram & Gazette_.](http://www.telegram.com/article/20150523/NEWS/150529531) “That’s who my mother was,” said Shong’s daughter, Tracy Plante. “She was a big Patriots fan and it was something that defined her. She was very much a homebody and she always watched the Patriots on television.” “It’s sad when someone dies, but we wanted everyone to remember our mother with a smile on their face,” Plante added. “We knew everyone would get a kick out of it. My mother certainly went out with a bang, I guess, because a lot of people are going to remember her for this.” **Read next:** [_Why the Tom Brady Suspension Is Ridiculous_](http://time.com/3854906/tom-brady-nfl-suspension-deflategate-patriots/) \[[Worcester _Telegram & Gazette_](http://www.telegram.com/article/20150523/NEWS/150529531)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3895274/tom-brady-deflategate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3895274/tom-brady-deflategate/"},"headline":"This Woman Declared From Beyond the Grave That Tom Brady Is Innocent","datePublished":"2015-05-24T15:26:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:59:09.724Z","description":"Check out this Patriots fan's obituary","url":"https://time.com/3895274/tom-brady-deflategate/","keywords":["Football"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c4342893d6dda19/69885181e20a878a61a8b806/tom-brady7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jack Linshi","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jack-linshi/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5c4342893d6dda19/69885181e20a878a61a8b806/tom-brady7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady gestures during an event at Salem State University in Salem, Mass.","caption":"New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady gestures during an event at Salem State University in Salem, Mass.","creditText":"Charles Krupa—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/football/","name":"Football"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3895274/tom-brady-deflategate/","name":"This Woman Declared From Beyond the Grave That Tom Brady Is Innocent"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Is What Physics Says About Deflategate","description":"Ainissa Ramirez, physicist and author of Newton's Football, talks through why weather can't explain deflate-gate","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/TECrbcbF/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-01-22T23:26:06.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TECrbcbF.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3895274/tom-brady-deflategate/","duration":"PT1M57S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3895274/tom-brady-deflategate/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```