This past February, the New England Patriots defeated the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 49. This was the 5th victory for the franchise with Bill Belichick as the coach and Tom Brady playing quarterback. However, the win did not come without controversy. In their first playoff game, the Patriots won on what appeared to be a deceptive formation. This play call was highly scrutinized and considered unfair. On the play, a usually ineligible receiver lined up as eligible, allowing him to catch the ball past the line of scrimmage. The Baltimore Ravens, thrown off by the formation, failed to cover the receiver. This led to a crucial first down and touchdown to seal the game for Brady and the Patriots. When the Ravens complained about the play, quarterback Tom Brady replied, “Maybe those guys got to study the rulebook.” The same quarterback one week later would be fielding questions about cheating one week later during blowout win over the Indianapolis Colts. Many Indianapolis defensive players were complaining that the footballs used by the Patriot’s offense were underinflated. This promptly led to an investigation into the alleged cheating scandal and what is now being known as “Deflategate” ensued.

It was found that 11 out of the 12 footballs used by the Patriots were underinflated about 1-2 psi (pounds per square inch). Following the accusations, Belichick and Brady insisted that the deflated footballs were due to the cold weather and the wear and tear from a full NFL game. However, in 2011 Brady told reporters in an interview, “he likes the deflated ball”. This was not nearly enough evidence for the league to base its discipline off of, and a more detailed report, The Wells report, was released weeks after the incident. This report was over 200 pages long and included all of the findings made by the investigator Ted Wells. The report claimed that Tom Brady was aware that the footballs were being deflated and supported it. This prompted the NFL to take action against the New England Patriots and Tom Brady. The organization was fined one million dollars, and lost a first and fourth round draft pick in future drafts. Also, it was decided that Tom Brady will be suspended for the first 4 games of the 2015-16 season.

After a long a drawn out investigation, only one question remains. Why did Tom Brady deflate the footballs? In the game where the balls were under the threshold, the Patriots won by a score of 45-7. Clearly they were the better team and it showed on the field. The ball being underinflated played no part in the Patriots advancing to the Super Bowl. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are both going to be enshrined in the hall of fame one day. However, from now on they will be looked at with an asterisk next to their names. After all, this was not the first time that Belichick and Brady had jeopardized the integrity of the game. In 2007, the Patriots were caught filming practices of other teams and essentially spying on them. This came to a surprise to many people, but was ultimately forgotten due to continued success.

Tom Brady had nothing to gain from deliberately underinflating the footballs. He has one 5 Super Bowls, is married to a supermodel, and has made millions of dollars as an NFL quarterback. However, his actions in the AFC Championship game have placed a dark cloud over his name. At one time an underdog story, Brady has turned the table son his legacy. He will no longer be remembered for his illustrious and award filled career, but rather for the “cheater” that many have come to see him as.