Tom Brady's courtroom sketch from inside the U.S. District Court in New York Wednesday has created nearly as much controversy as the Deflategate issue itself, which the New England Patriots quarterback and the NFL are trying to resolve.
Call it "Sketch-gate."
Courtroom sketch artist Jane Rosenberg is receiving mounting criticism on social media for her depiction of Brady in her wide-shot cartoon drawing. In the drawing, Rosenberg sketched Brady surrounded by others during the court proceeding.
Brady and the NFL appeared in front of federal judge Richard Berman in the quarterback's civil case
contesting his four-game suspension, Deadspin.com reported.
"Berman did his best to move the process along as both sides' legal teams took shots at each other, but the best part of the whole event was the courtroom sketch of Brady, in which he looks like a sullen Uruk-hai," wrote Samer Kalaf, of Deadspin.com.
That started the Internet meme-ball rolling, criticizing the Brady courthouse depiction.
Matt Walks of ESPN.com came to Rosenberg's defense though, pointing out the real role of the courthouse sketch artist.
"To be fair, Brady's face is one of the most recognizable in sports," Walks wrote. "Anything but pure photorealism would have provoked comments. And a courtroom artist's job is to capture the scene quickly. They aren't intending to emulate the Dutch masters."
Rosenberg offered an apology, sort of, in comments to The New York Times' Daniel Victor.
The
sketch artist later told the Boston Globe, according to ESPN: "I don't tend to flatter people and make them look beautiful. He hardly looked up at all."
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