DeflateGate: Absurdity That’s Been Blown Out of Proportion

Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

The “deflategate” saga has grown more laughable by the hour as hundreds of media personalties and fans jump at the chance to accuse the NFL’s most successful franchise of cheating without any substantial evidence aside from random, unconfirmed reports. Jealousy is powerful thing.

Whether the footballs were over-inflated, under-inflated or not inflated at all, the New England Patriots were going to defeat the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship no matter what. The Patriots are simply a superior team. They could have tossed a Nerf football or beach ball around on the field and still have posted 45 points.

Colts tight end Dwayne Allen is a realist. He tweeted the following regarding the heavily scrutinized situation.

There’s no legitimate way of proving that anything was done. It’s the referee’s job to pay attention to any altering or doctoring of the game ball.

Per NFL rules, the 12 game balls belonging to a team have to be handed over for inspection well before kickoff. Those same balls are then given back to that team 10 minutes before the game is set to get underway.

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With that said, wouldn’t an official have noticed an under-inflated football, especially when they are handling it after every single play. They most certainly would have had ample opportunity to raise a grievance against the Patriots during the game. The balls are even inspected again during halftime.

According to reports, the officiating crew didn’t deem the 11 of the 12 under-inflated footballs that were allegedly used in the first-half to be an issue worth raising concern about during the game. Instead, they let the Patriots play with them before swapping them out for 12 fresh balls at the half.

If that report holds truth, then that means the Patriots played the entire second half with referee-approved balls. New England scored 28 second-half points compared to 17 first-half points. That’s 11 more points with league-approved balls than the under-inflated balls. What’s the issue here? The so-called under-inflated balls provided absolutely no advantage.

Let’s not over look then slew of quarterbacks that have admitted to doctoring the football in one way or another. Aaron Rodgers and Eli Manning do it. Brad Johnson and Boomer Esiason have admitted to doing it in the past.

Several questions remain unanswered in regards to this story. Several details are still very hazy. Let’s face facts, this story is only relevant because it’s the Patriots. Not a soul would care if the Cleveland Browns or Jacksonville Jaguars were deflating balls. It’s nothing more than a minor blip that’s been blow out proportion.