Patriots Shouldn’t Get a Pass

Nick RedfieldTHE SANTA CLARAJanuary 29, 2014 

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]om Brady and Bill Belichick’s success has not come without its fair share of controversies over the years, and with the recent “Deflate-gate” findings this week, the league must take a stand and say enough is enough.

After 11 of the 12 footballs used by the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game were found to be under-inflated, the NFL has launched a very slow investigation.

Bill Belichick addressed the media again this weekend, but was neither apologetic nor vague about the issue at hand. Instead of talking like a football coach, he sounded more like a scientist.

“The atmospheric conditions as well as the true equilibrium of the ball is critical to the measurement,” Belichick explained.

His approach was aggressive, but the truth behind his words is a subject of debate — one that several experts in multiple fields have chimed in on.

Bill Nye, a famous and well-regarded scientist, responded by saying, “To really change the pressure you need … the inflation needle,” and further said that Belichick’s explanation simply “didn’t make any sense.” So it really boils down to Belichick’s word versus Nye’s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWFoRKPaTVU

If I needed to call a play on fourth and goal, I would take Belichick’s, but when it comes to scientific reasoning about air pressure, I would trust the Science Guy over the New England Patriots’ head coach.

While most former quarterbacks have come out saying recently that a change in PSI wouldn’t drastically affect much, former 49er quarterback Steve Young said that the level of inflation in the football is a rule that, as far as we know, all other 31 NFL teams follow.

For Belichick to come out and say that the change does not make a difference is him essentially saying that the NFL’s rule doesn’t have standing. He has walked a thin line with league rules for years now and this should be the final straw -— he can no longer regard himself as above the law.

Brady is just as guilty, if not guiltier, than his head coach. Game balls are handled and inspected extensively by the quarterback before every game. The texture of the ball matters to every gunslinger, so it’s apparent that Brady would be the one responsible for directing a change in the way the Patriots prepared their footballs for the AFC Championship game.

While it is highly unlikely that either Belichick or Brady did the deflating themselves, no ball boy would do such an act on his own. It’s common sense: the Patriots must be given a hefty punishment for their actions.

Their arrogance has to be put to an end and the only person with that power is Commissioner Roger Goodell. Goodell is set to give out punishments after Super Bowl XLIX this Sunday.

Nick Redfield is a freshman undeclared arts and sciences major.