A television station in Pittsburgh fired an employee after a graphic describing New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as a “known cheater” went on live TV.
At the end of CBS affiliate KDKA’s 4 p.m. show Monday, a video played showing Tom Brady during his now-infamous “We’re still here” chant ahead of the Patriots’ appearance in Super Bowl LIII. Superimposed on the screen was a banner — known as a chyron in the journalism business — displaying Tom Brady’s name and, beneath that, the words “known cheater.”
[Opinion: How Super Bowl LIII will be protected]
@KDKA throwing the shade at Brady ? pic.twitter.com/ZPs7gLU8Lf
— Noah M. Vereb (@nvereb) January 28, 2019
“While fans are entitled to have personal opinions, we have a journalistic responsibility to provide unbiased reporting,” KDKA told Sports Illustrated in explaining why the employee was let go. “The graphic that appeared Monday violated our news standards. The individual who created the graphic no longer works for KDKA-TV.”
According to 247Sports, a man named Michael Telek has claimed responsibility for the graphic, saying graphic was meant to be a joke. In a tweet, Telek posted a link to a GoFundMe page that he claims his friends made and said he would have a “GOAT Giveaway” where the money raised would be donated to a charity in Tom Brady’s name after Telek is hired somewhere else.
“Hi there, I got fired for this joke. I just bought a house so that is putting a pinch on things. Once I land a job there will be a GOAT Giveaway where I will donate the money to charity in Tom Brady’s name,” Telek tweeted. “I never thought this would happen. I have money for a few months and my friends were kind enough to make this for me. So now I’m gonna turn this joke into something good for charity.”
Hi there, I got fired for this joke. I just bought a house so that is putting a pinch on things. Once I land a job there will be a GOAT Giveaway where I will donate the money to charity in Tom Brady’s name.https://t.co/KzXhpbuOpF
— Michael Telek (@mktelek) January 30, 2019
Accusations of cheating are nothing new to the Patriots’ franchise.
Brady was suspended four games in the 2016 season as part of a National Football League investigation into footballs being deflated by Patriots staffers during the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts in January 2015. The Patriots beat the Colts and went on to defeat the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX.
The Patriots were punished for their role in a coach-recording scandal during the 2007 season where they were caught videotaping coach signals from unauthorized locations. The team was fined heavily and lost a first-round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft following the scandal, which had been dubbed “Spygate.” NFL Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk also accused the Patriots of recording a practice walkthrough in 2002 ahead of Super Bowl XXXVI, but the NFL did not find evidence of that specific recording. The Patriots defeated the St. Louis Rams 20-17.
A Philadelphia Eagles player, whose team defeated the Patriots 41-33 in Super Bowl LII in 2018, admitted to running a fake practice ahead of the Super Bowl in case the Patriots had spies watching the team.
The Patriots will face the now-Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII on Sunday, Feb. 3 at 6:30 p.m.
