It has been about a week since the New England Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. The Seahawks made it into the Super Bowl by defeating the Green Bay Packers in the NFC championship in overtime. New England beat the Colts in the AFC Championship in what has become a rather controversial way.
In the AFC Championship, the New England quarterback, Tom Brady, threw an interception to Colts linebacker D’Quell Jackson. Jackson then gave the ball to the equipment manager for safe-keeping. At that time, he noticed that the ball was underinflated. The NFL rulebook states that the footballs are required to be inflated to a pressure between 12 1/2 and 13 1/2 pounds PSI. However, the balls were later found to be less than that; a couple of the balls even being two pounds less than the minimum amount. Both Chuck Pagano, the head coach of the Colts, and John Harbaugh, the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, the team that the Patriots defeated the week prior, accused the Patriots of using the under-inflated balls. Later on, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, in a press conference with NFL.com and other sports media outlets stated: “When I came in Monday morning, I was shocked to hear about the news reports about the footballs. I had no knowledge of the situation until Monday morning. […] I think we all know that quarterbacks, kickers, specialists have certain preferences on the footballs. They know a lot more than I do. They’re a lot more sensitive to it than I am. I hear them comment on it from time to time, but I can tell you, and they will tell you, that there’s never any sympathy whatsoever from me on that subject. Zero. […] Tom’s personal preferences on his footballs are something that he can talk about in much better detail and information than I could possibly provide.”
My personal opinion on the matter is kind of biased. I am not a big fan of the Patriots. Another scandal about whether or not the Patriots cheated has come up. I have a hard time believing Belichick because earlier on in 2007 the Patriots came under fire for taping other teams’ walkthrough practices in order to steal their signs. Belichick, of course, denied all wrongdoing. He was later fined $500,000, the largest fine ever on a head coach. So personally, I do not believe he is telling the truth. I think the Patriots cheated. I think there should be repercussions, but probably it won’t happen for a couple of years.