Deflate-gate

        The 2014-15 NFL season did not end without controversy for the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. The issue, however, did not sprout up in the actual Super Bowl, it was in the AFC Championship against the Indianapolis Colts. This game was a complete blow-out with a score of  45-7 Patriots. 11 of the 12 footballs that the Patriots used were two pounds per square inch under the league's regulations. This problem quickly became known as Deflate-Gate. The Patriots, mainly Tom Brady, were accused of inflating the balls with a low PSI that greatly exceed the league's minimum. The punishment enforced on New England was a $1M dollar fine, termination of a 2016 first-round draft pick and a fourth-round pick in 2017, and a four game suspension on Tom Brady in the 2015-16 NFL season. There is a huge amount of argument brewing from both sides. 

        I, as a Patriots fan, am a great believer that Tom Brady is not guilty. However there are a lot of reasons and evidence on how he was guilty. Based on my knowledge of the Patriots, I am absolutely aware of the things New England does to get an advantage by bending the rules and pushing them to the limit. To contrast that, I know that Belichik is very educated on the game and always knows the regulations and make sure his team does not exceed them. I also think that these footballs had no implications on the outcome of this game. Sure it was a cold January day and softer footballs are easier to throw, catch, and hold on to, but a lower air pressure is not going to create a 38 point deficit. I think that somebody deflated the footballs, but I do not deem that Brady had a thing to do with it. 

        For being found guilty, Tom was granted a four game suspension for the next season. Even if he did do it, this punishment is outrageous! My question is if this was an average quarterback on an average team, would this punishment be consistent? My guess is most likely it wouldn't be. It is rumored that the league commissioner Roger Goodell dislikes the Patriots. Could this have anything to do with it? It's not a very far fetched theory. Taking draft picks is fair, taking a million is fine, but suspending our star player just baffles me. I would even accept one or two games as fair, but one fourth of the season is a little bit excessive. I do not think the punishment fits the crime and I am glad Brady appealed because I think the league needs to take a second look at this. 

        Nobody wants to see a team cheat the game whether New England did it or not. I expect to see a quick rule change really fast. I think a good idea would be for the refs to inspect the balls after every quarter rather than before the game and then saying let's go. These footballs could be partly the referees' faults. If they become a little more strict then we most likely will not see a dilemma like this again. No matter what happened with these footballs, I think "Deflate-Gate" got blown way out of proportion.