The New England Patriots just won the Super Bowl, but off the field there has been some controversy about what they might have done to get there. Some of you might be wondering why you have been seeing so much coverage about balls in the news lately, so here is the run down.
The NFL is investigating whether or not the Patriots were playing with balls that met inflation standards during the NFL Playoffs. I am no football expert, but apparently a deflated football would be easier to catch in heavy rain -- which happened to be the conditions for Sunday’s game against Indianapolis. ESPN then reported on January 21, that the NFL had found 11 of the 12 game balls the Patriots used were under inflated. Since each team uses its own balls while on offense, the deflated balls would not have benefited the Colts. Uh-oh, Brady, you’ve got some splainin’ to do.
Along with news reporters and late show hosts, Tom Brady did not let the opportunity to make a ball joke pass him by. When asked about DeflateGate, quarterback Tom Brady replied by saying, “my balls are perfect,” which landed a headline in the Daily News.
In all seriousness, the Patriots denied any wrongdoing immediately following the game and continuously throughout the week. If found guilty, the Patriots could face a fine and could lose a draft pick, but are not likely to be stripped of their Super Bowl spot.
We also have to keep in mind this is not the first time the Patriots have dealt with accusations of cheating. In 2007, the team and head coach, Bill Belichick, were found responsible for secretly videotaping an opposing team’s defensive coach’s signals. The team was slapped with a $250,000 fine and a $500,000 fine for Belichick. However, this time, after a hasty news conference on January 24, Belichick is strongly denying they have broken any rules.
Aside from the impressive 45-7 win over the Colts, we also have them to thank for the pure social media gold this controversy has provided. In the last week, the hashtag #deflategate has been used almost 350,000 times. What may be an even more impressive record is how many times I just said ‘balls’ in one story.
