CBS Pittsburgh television affiliate KDKA confirmed Wednesday that they have fired an employee who created a graphic describing Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as a “known cheater.”

The graphic aired during one of KDKA’s Monday newscasts, and was quickly shared on Twitter and picked up by outlets including Sports Illustrated.

On Wednesday, KDKA informed SI.com that the employee who created the graphic no longer works at the station. A KDKA spokesperson confirmed that statement with Boston.com.

“While fans are entitled to have personal opinions, we have a journalistic responsibility to provide unbiased reporting,” KDKA said in a statement. “The graphic that appeared Monday violated our news standards. The individual who created the graphic no longer works for KDKA-TV.”


“Known cheater” is likely a reference to Brady’s role in the deflated football scandal that earned him a four-game suspension from the NFL during the 2016 season. Deflategate has polarized fans and even inspired a young Kentucky student to make a science project asking, “Is Tom Brady a cheater?” Brady is currently preparing to play in his 9th career Super Bowl this Sunday in Atlanta.

On Wednesday, a Pittsburgh man named Michael Telek took to Twitter to confirm he was the KDKA employee fired for running the graphic.

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