The New England Patriots will face Seattle in the Super Bowl on Feb. 1, but they’ve already lost the battle of public opinion in Connecticut over whether they got to the pinnacle game honestly.
Coach Bill Belichick has denied knowledge of any rule-breaking — of deflating the air pressure in game balls to make them easier for players to handle when it’s cold. Instead, he hung Tom Brady out to dry: “Tom’s personal preference on his footballs are something he can talk about in much better detail and information than I could possibly provide.”
The iconic quarterback also denied any wrongdoing.
If there was cheating, as charged, the Patriots’ penalty should have enough starch to be remembered.
In an ESPN poll, Connecticut, alone among New England states, believed the Pats broke league rules by deflating 11 of the 12 footballs they used in Sunday’s AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts — a game won handily by the Patriots, 45-7.
Does Deflategate really matter? Only if you’re going to let your kid watch or play the game.
Under NFL rules, each team provides footballs to use when its offense is on the field. Officials inspect the balls before the game. But there’s plenty of time after that inspection to tamper with them.
If the NFL investigation finds fault with New England, it would be a huge disappointment, casting a shadow over a great season.
It would further muddy pro football’s image, which is already damaged by a high rate of domestic violence arrests. It would make the Patriots a repeat offender, considering Mr. Belichick’s $500,000 fine in 2007 for having his assistants videotape signals used by the New York Jets coaching staff.
What’s aggravating is that the Patriots are so good that they don’t need to bend the rules.
