ben Affleck
Ben Affleck, pictured April 9, 2013, went on an expletive-filled rant when the topic of Deflategate and Tom Brady came up during an interview. Getty Images

It’s no secret that Boston-bred Ben Affleck is a huge fan of the New England Patriots, but most people were shocked when they heard his interview on Bill Simmons’ HBO talk show, “Any Given Wednesday.” Affleck got hyped, to say the least, when the topic of Deflategate came up. He dropped at least 16 f-bombs during his rant, which led some to think the “Argo” actor was drunk during the interview.

Affleck, 43, wasn’t bothered by the accusations of being intoxicated. He even took to Twitter Thursday to make light of it. “For those of you keeping score at home, I gave exactly 18 f---- about my Pats. Upon reflection, 12 probably would have been sufficient,” he wrote to his 2.41 million followers. “We Boston fans have always been known for our subtlety. One of my favorite interviews; hope you get to see the entire episode. #GoPats.”

Simmons defended Affleck, saying the actor was only passionate about his sports team — not drunk. “BTW - we taped AGW in the late-AM, Ben got fired up about DeflateGate during the convo, that's it,” he wrote.

Affleck became red in the face when Simmons mentioned Deflategate on "AGW," calling it the “ultimate bulls--- f---ing outrage of sports ever.”

“It’s so f---ing stupid,” the actor continued. “They gave [Patriots quarterback Tom Brady] a suspension for a quarter of the regular season, which would be equivalent to suspending a baseball player for 40 f---ing days ... which is what they do when you get busted for taking steroids.”

Affleck said he wouldn’t have wanted to hand his phone over either. “What they did was suspend Tom Brady for four days for not giving them his f---ing cell phone,” he said. “I would never give an organization as leak-prone as the NFL my f---ing cell phone.”

Brady was suspended by the NFL for four games over allegations that he and the Patriots used underinflated footballs in the 2015 AFC Championship Game. He appealed the suspension in May.

Follow me on Twitter @mariamzzarella

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