Ben Affleck goes on profane anti-NFL deflate-gate rant

“Any Given Wednesday,” Bill Simmons’ new HBO show, debuted on Wednesday night with searing hot fire courtesy of Simmons’ fellow Bostonian Ben Affleck. The grizzled Batman unleashed a deflate-gate rant for the ages, scorching the NFL, Roger Goodell, and pretty much anyone outside of a two-mile bubble around Gillette Stadium. Here, check it out, but put on your headphones if you’re at work, because the curse words start right up:

Yeah, that’s an opinion, all right. Look, Affleck’s not wrong here; deflate-gate was and is a farce, an absurd overreaction to an event that may or may not have even happened. (We don’t need to rehash deflate-gate here for you, do we?) But, as always, it’s wrapped in that characteristic Boston brew of arrogance and victimhood, the they-hate-us-cause-they-ain’t-us mindset that makes everyone else in the country thrilled that all this madness is happening to the poor, downtrodden, four-time Super Bowl champion Patriots.

Simmons was fired from ESPN after taking some shots at NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on a radio show; the NFL and ESPN being broadcast partners surely had nothing to do with that. Regardless, as fellow graying sportswriters we wish Simmons and his new show all the best. It’ll be tough to top this performance, though.

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports and the author of EARNHARDT NATION, on sale now at Amazon or wherever books are sold. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.