The Deflate-Gate scandal, concerning allegations the New England Patriots illegally deflated balls used in their AFC Championship victory, has officially reached a tipping point.
Over the course of the past week, momentum has swung back and for between both sides of the argument, but the latest piece of evidence might finally put this “embarrassing” — as Patriots coach Bill Belichick described the situation — to rest and clear New England’s name.
But first, a recap.
Friday — Two physicists come out and state that the weather, not New England, was responsible for deflating 11 of the Patriots’ 12 game balls. (RELATED: MIT, Boston College Scientists Use Science To Refute Deflate-Gate Allegations)
Saturday — ESPN pulled a video off its website that appears to corroborate the two physicists claims, and Bill Belichick hosted a press conference stating that, “at no time was there any attempt whatsoever [by members of the Patriots organization] to try to compromise the integrity of the game or gain an unfair advantage.” (RELATED: ESPN Pulls “Sports Science: Deflate-Gate” Video Exonerating Patriots)
Sunday — Bill Nye The Science Guy told ABC News that the PSI levels measured by NFL officials were too low to have been naturally deflated, implying that Belichick is a liar, and that the Patriots deflated them by hand.
Even the staunchest Pats fanboy must admit that Bill Nye is slightly more credible on science than Bill Belichick, and if The Science Guy says there’s no way the weather could deflate balls by 2 PSI, then that’s that. Pats are guilty. End of story, right?
ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio reports that while the NFL report stated that 11 of the balls supplied by the Patriots were 2 pounds below the league’s minimum PSI threshold, the balls were ACTUALLY ONLY 1 POUND BELOW THE LIMIT.
As one league source has explained it to PFT, the football intercepted by Colts linebacker D’Qwell Jacksonwas roughly two pounds under the 12.5 PSI minimum. The other 10 balls that reportedly were two pounds under may have been, as the source explained it, closer to one pound below 12.5 PSI.
Wait a second. If the, “goals of the [NFL’s] investigation will be to determine the explanation for why footballs used in the game were not in compliance with the playing rules and specifically whether any noncompliance was the result of deliberate action,” then why would they fudge the numbers?
Well… maybe it has something to do with the NFL executive heading up this witch-hunt basically being the biggest Pats-hater in the history of football?
Enter Mike Kensil, the real man behind the Deflate-Gate curtain. Kensil, who is currently the NFL’s VP of game operations, was with the New York Jets’ front office until 2006. His tenure with the team included Belichick abandoning the Jets in 2000 to build a dynasty in Foxborough, and Kensil has been butthurt ever since.
So… the man who is the driving force behind the supposedly impartial investigation against the Patriots has had a personal, public vendetta against the team for the past 15 years. AND he lied and said that the recorded PSI levels of the Patriots’ balls were so low that like the weather couldn’t possibly have been the cause of deflation. Seems kosher.
This latest revelation perfectly illustrates how this whole investigation isn’t about discovering the truth, but instead smearing the most successful franchise of the 21st century. The Patriots might not be the nicest bunch, but, at the end of the day, they’re definitely big-time winners, and people hate them for the tremendous success they’ve achieved. Deflate-Gate, as Dave Skylark would put it, is nothing more than an ugly manifestation of all that peanut butter and jealousy against New England, and hopefully, the NFL gets wise and lays off the slander before this whole thing totally explodes in their face.
WATCH (NSFW):
“They hate us cuz they ain’t us.”