(electronic buzzing)
(whistle blow)
- Hello and welcome to Unsolved Sports Conspiracies,
a show where we examine sports' greatest myths
and debate their validity.
This week, we explore Deflategate.
A dramatic plot, shrouded in lies and mysteries,
centered around NFL golden boy, Mr. Thomas Edward Brady Jr.
and his diabolical New England Patriots.
- Brady's innocent, free Brady.
- Well it's too late, he already served the time
and he definitely did the crime.
- Oh my god (laughs)
- Let's get into it.
The story begins January 18th, 2015
at the ACF championship game between
the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts.
The Patriots would prevail, beating the Colts 45 to seven,
and eventually win the Super Bowl two weeks later.
All seemed fair during the AFC championship,
until a play during the second quarter of the game
would uncover a possible plot that would shake the league.
I present to you Deflategate, let's get into the conspiracy.
During the second quarter, Colts linebacker D'Qwell Jackson
intercepted a pass from Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady
and it is here that the issue of deflated balls
was brought to attention as Jackson brought the ball
to the Colts equipment staff.
Eventually, officials on the field were informed
of raised suspicions.
At halftime, it was discovered that 11 of the 12 Patriots
balls were under-inflated by roughly two pounds
per square inch.
Allegedly, deflating the football allows for an easier grip
for the quarterback and receivers.
This would be an advantage in rain weather,
which the AFC game was played in.
After this discovery, the original 12 balls were replaced
after the 2nd half kickoff with 12 backup balls,
and the game went as scheduled, with the Patriots
trouncing the Colts, 45 to seven.
It should be noted that the Patriots scored 28
of their 45 points in the second half,
so this Deflategate likely didn't have much effect
on the outcome of the game.
- Then what are we doing here?!
- But, but, that's besides the point.
- No.
- You know why it's besides the point?
- Why?
- I'll tell you why.
I'm glad you asked why 'cause now I'm gonna tell you why,
that's how it works.
- (laughs)
- Here's, now lemme tell you, you listening?
- I'm listening, ears are wide open.
- Whether or not cheating gained you an advantage
in the game is besides the point,
the fact that you cheated at all is still punishable.
- What you failed to mention is
the Colts' defense was garbage.
- If you're so great, if you're so much better, why cheat?
The next day on January 19th, 2005,
Bob Kravitz, a WTHR Colts reporter,
tweeted that the Patriots were going to be investigated
for the deflated balls they provided for the game.
- They're salty.
A Colts reporter, after getting blown out,
is like, "Hold on, I think the Patriots cheated,
"that's the only way they'd beat us."
- He's not the one making the investigation happen,
he's just reporting that there is
an investigation happening.
This is the NFL doing this, not the Colts.
- Salty.
- That same day, Patriots coach
Bill Belichick stated, quote,
"I really don't know what to say,
"or know anything about what we're talking about here.
"Whatever it is, we'll cooperate with the investigation
"the best we can."
End quote.
On January 22nd, 2015, legendary Hall of Fame coach
John Madden told the sports exchange that he believes
it's plausible that Tom Brady made a deal
with someone on the equipment staff.
He did not think Patriots coach Bill Belichick
had anything to do with it.
Quote, "I can see,
"and you hate to make examples of what you can see
"because that sounds like you are accusing someone,
"but I can see that being between the quarterback
"and the equipment guy."
End quote.
He continued, quote,
"That's something that wouldn't be driven
"by a coach, or just the equipment guy.
"Nobody, not even the head coach,
"would do anything to the football unilaterally
"such as adjust the amount of pressure in a ball,
"without the quarterback not knowing.
"It would have to be the quarterback's idea."
End quote.
I think that's a fair, logical assumption to make.
There's no world where he's getting the ball hiked to him
the first play of the game and he's like
what the (beep) is going on with the ball?
He knows.
- (sigh) Okay.
Okay.
- (laughs)
On January 23rd, 2015,
the same day the NFL released a statement,
Tom Brady claimed, quote,
"I didn't alter the ball in any way."
End quote.
At a press room at Gillette Stadium.
So, he's doing his part denying it.
- Yeah.
- Do you buy that Tom Brady, hall of fame quarterback,
arguably the greatest quarterback of all time,
doesn't recognize when a ball is different
than it should be?
- Counter: do you think Tom Brady,
five time Super Bowl champ, is playing the Colts and goes
"Hey ball boy, here's $10,000,
"how 'bout you deflate them a little bit
"so I can actually get some throws in?
"So they can catch the ball and we can beat the Colts
"and go on to the Super Bowl!"
- Plausible.
The following day on January 24th,
Belichick tries to talk about the science
of the deflated balls, suggesting perhaps
a, quote, "rubbing process", end quote,
used to break in the leather of the footballs
can affect the air pressure of the ball
once a game has started.
He continued, quote, "I think that explains
"why when we gave them to the officials,
"and the officials put it at, let's say 12.5,
"if that's in fact what they did,
"that once the football reached its equilibrium state,
"it probably was closer to 11.5."
End quote.
Interestingly enough, Bill Nye the Science Guy
weighed in on Belichick's theory,
stating, quote, "What Belichick said didn't make any sense."
End quote.
- (laughs)
- I'm glad we're getting Disney host
Bill Nye the Science Guy--
- Hey man, he wears colorful bow ties.
- You know what?
Put Brady in jail, 'cause Bill Nye the Science Guy said so.
He was known for being on a children's TV show
that you would watch when your science teacher
was sick and you had a substitute teacher.
- On January 26th, 2015, the same day the Patriots
arrive in Arizona for the Super Bowl,
it is reported that the league had interviewed a Patriots
locker room attendant who was allegedly caught
on surveillance during the AFC game
taking two bags of footballs from the officials' locker room
into a bathroom, and leaving the bathroom 90 seconds later.
Reportedly, the Patriots gave the surveillance footage
to the NFL early on when the investigation began.
- So he deflated all these balls in 90 seconds?
- Possibly.
Either that or we had a team of guys in there
just waiting at the ready with needles--
- In the bathroom?
- Yeah and they were just like, alright, pit stop.
They change tires in 90 seconds with (beep) Nascar,
- That's Nascar!
You don't think a ball boy could deflate
11 balls in 90 seconds?
I could do that in my sleep.
On February 19th, 2015, it is revealed
that when the Patriots and Colts previously played
on November 16th, 2014, the Colts had been suspicious
of possible tampering.
This caused them to reach out to the NFL
within the week before the AFC game was even played.
- The Colts are the franchise that reminds the teacher
that they forgot to assign homework.
They're the one that's tattle-tailing,
"Hey, Tom Brady is deflating the balls,
"that's why they beat us 45 to seven."
- (laughs)
- No man, you guys suck!
- Let's dig into the investigation,
starting with the plausibility of Deflategate occurring
despite being under the watch of NFL regulations.
The number of footballs provided,
and the testing of these footballs before each game
is pretty thorough.
It's hard to imagine that the deflation
of 11 out of 12 of the Patriots' balls
was a mere coincidence.
According to NFL regulations, each team must provide
12 balls for referees to test, approximately two hours
and 15 minutes before each game.
- That's weird, why not like,
- Five minutes.
- 10 minutes, yeah.
- Exactly, right?
- Two hours?
- That's a lot of time for some shady business to go down.
- Okay, that's true.
- The home team must provide the pump,
and in the case of outdoor games,
they must also bring 12 more backup balls.
The visiting team may also provide 12 backup balls.
The NFL rulebook states that the balls must be inflated
between 12.5 and 13.5 pounds per square inch.
As a reminder, the average measurement
of the Patriots' balls, was 11.49 PSI,
with the lowest being 10.9 PSI.
Almost two pounds under-inflated.
- You know something I never understood?
Why does each team have different balls?
Why don't they just play with the same ball?
- Sports is a very superstitious realm.
- Yeah.
- Maybe it's just, I don't wanna use your--
- I'm just saying, maybe if they made a rule
where everybody has the same ball,
this wouldn't have happened.
- They didn't and guess what?
Mr. Brady found a loophole, and he jumped right through it.
Right through.
If the home team balls do not meet requirements,
then the referee must use a ball from the visitors
and report the incident to the commissioners.
The referee is the sole judge
of whether the balls meet requirements.
Obviously the balls were noticeably deflated,
but is it possible that could've occurred naturally?
Some argue that the Patriots were not guilty
because of the ideal gas law, which essentially states
that colder temperatures will cause
pressure inside the ball to decrease,
and to increase in warmer conditions.
To test that theory, aerospace engineers at Exponent
spend three months in a lab trying to test
for a scientific explanation for Deflategate.
For testing, they recreated a locker room
from the Gillette Stadium, as well as
part of the football field, both with similar temperature.
They would watch a filming of the game
and imitate exactly what they saw happening to the balls.
Wiping with towels, throwing them, et cetera,
and even spraying them with water to imitate rain.
- Who paid for this?
Is this what our tax dollars are going to?
- After extensive testing, Exponent, quote,
"Identified no set of credible environmental
"or physical factors that completely account
"for the additional loss in air pressure."
End quote.
- Now, it's there a range of air pressure
that you can have the ball at?
Is it possible that Tom Brady likes it as soft as possible
and it was at, legally, the lowest air pressure it could be
and then it changed during the game?
- This was just the test that said
that couldn't have happened.
They recreated the (beep) field and a locker room,
what more do you want, sir?
- What kind of witch hunt is this?
- It's not a witch hunt.
- It's a witch hunt!
- Critics of Exponent point out
that they are usually hired by companies in duress
that are typically facing payouts, lawsuits, and recalls.
For example, they were hired by Swiss Re,
a world trade center insurer after 9/11,
by NASA after a shuttle explosion,
and by BP after the Deepwater Horizon explosion.
Some accuse the company of selling out
scientific affirmation.
- The NFL is going, "Hey, we wanna punish Tom Brady,
"can you find us just anything, anything?"
- Why would they do that?
- I'll tell you why Roger Goodell did this,
the Commissioner of the NFL who is also corrupt.
- He is corrupt.
- This exact time, something that you have failed to mention
was all of the Ray Rice stuff that happened.
What happened with Roger Goodell was he suspended Ray Rice
for two games, beginning of the season,
and then the footage got leaked.
At that time, Roger Goodell was on the hot seat.
What's the perfect distraction?
NFL golden boy Tom Brady is a cheater.
And that's exactly what he did.
- That was an Olympic level stretch.
- That's what happened, it was a witch hunt.
They were trying to find anything to distract from the fact
that Roger Goodell sucks.
- Parts of the Exponent lab results
were utilized in the investigation by Ted Wells,
a criminal attorney hired by the NFL
to serve as an independent investigator.
On May 6th, 2015, almost four months
after the start of the investigation,
Wells would share his investigation results
in a statement referred to as The Wells Report.
In it, Wells states it is, quote,
"more likely than not" end quote,
that the Patriots did knowingly tamper with the footballs
and that Tom Brady was likely aware of the situation.
- I don't care who you are, if you are a quarterback,
I doubt Tom Brady knows just from the feeling,
"Oh, this is 10 PSI."
- If I'd spent my entire life holding a football,
if someone gave me an under-inflated football, I'd be like,
throw that thing in the oven, it's not done yet.
- I get that, I get that.
Now, is it possible if an equipment guy goes,
"Hey Tom Brady, I got the ball just the way you like it."
And he touches it and he goes,
"This is a little softer than normal."
and you ask the ball boy, "Hey is this up to standard?"
and he goes "Yes, Tom Brady."
You'll go, "alright".
Your first thought's not gonna go
"Oh he's cheating, we have an advantage."
- Evidence to back up his statement included text messages
between John Jastremski, and equipment assistant,
and Jim McNally, a locker room manager,
which suggested Tom Brady's involvement.
During the investigation,
Brady suspiciously denied lead investigator Wells
access to emails, phone records, and text messages.
However, through access to Jastremski's records,
Wells was able to deduce that contact
between him and Brady increased
after suspicions of tampering went public.
They had not spoken for six months,
and then over a period of three days,
spoke six times over the phone.
In the report, it is stated that Patriots personnel
were unaware of the arrangement.
(knock, knock, knock)
Guilty.
- No.
- Guilty!
- 'Cause Tom Brady talked to him?
- Six times over a period of three days
without talking to him for the six months prior,
what about that?
- They're playing phone tag.
I've called you six times in a day.
- Yeah what the (beep) is the equipment manager
and Tom Brady talking about on the phone?
Oh we got the new duffle bags in,
they're pretty sweet, they're purple,
you wanna (beep) see them?
Nah, bro, they're duffle bags!
- Do we ever think that they're actually friends,
that Tom Brady has a friend?
- And then why are they not talking for six months?
What happened in the magical period of accusation?
- You're right, they call each other six times
being like, "Hey did you deflate the balls yet?"
"No Tom, I'm about to do it."
"Alright, let me know when you do."
- How 'bout this--
"Hey, it's me Tom again, did you deflate the balls yet?"
"Tom I told you, I'm gonna call you when I do it."
- You hang up your fake phones, let me pick mine up.
"Hey, hey, they're onto us, man, they're onto us."
"I know, I know, I don't know what we're gonna do."
- Tom's going, "Hey ball boy, did you deflate the balls?"
"Nah Tom, I didn't, people are crazy!"
"Alright."
"Hey ball boy, it's me Tom again,
"are you sure you didn't deflate the balls?"
- (laughs)
On May 11th, 2015, it is revealed that as punishment,
Brady is suspended for four games without pay.
The Patriots are fined $1 million
and they lose a first-round draft pick in 2016,
and a fourth-round pick in 2017.
It is reported that Brady will appeal this decision.
The next day, the Patriots release their own rebuttal
to The Wells Report.
In it, they claim that The Wells Report lacks context,
they also claim that the word, quote, "deflator", end quote
used in text messages between McNally and Jastremski,
were referring to a weight loss joke.
- What?!
(both laugh)
That's pretty funny
- That is weak.
- that they used that as their argument.
- The Patriots stated, quote,
"There is no evidence that Tom Brady preferred footballs
"that were lower than 12.5 PSI,
"and no evidence anyone even thought that he did.
"All the extensive evidence which contradicts
"how the texts are interpreted by the investigators
"is simply dismissed as 'not plausible.'
"Inconsistencies in logic and evidence are ignored."
End quote.
On May 19th, 2015, the owner of the Patriots, Robert Kraft,
announces that he will accept the terms of punishment
for the team.
The NFL refused to reduce Brady's punishment.
But on September 3rd, 2015, U.S. District Judge
Richard M. Berman ruled that the penalty was too harsh
and lifted the four-game suspension.
The NFL then appealed Berman's decision,
and Brady's punishment was reinstated.
On July 15th, 2016, Brady announced his decision
to not take his appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Imagine that scene, we're in the Supreme Court,
the victims of a family that just got murdered
are walking down
- Oh my gosh.
- out of the courtroom, passing by Tom Brady,
like, "What are you in here for?"
"My whole family got slaughtered.
"Oh, what are you in here for?"
"They think I deflated some footballs."
So we have here a pressure gauge,
we measured out the pressure of two different balls,
regulation inflation is 12.5 PSI,
and the lowest Patriots ball was measured at 10.9 PSI,
the average was about 11.5 PSI.
We're gonna measure 12.5, versus 10.9.
We're gonna see if we could blind identify
which one is actually the under-inflated ball,
and prove once and for all that Tom Brady and the Patriots
are a bunch of cheaters.
- Oh my gosh.
- Okay, here comes ball number one.
- Dude, this feels so inflated.
This is, feel that.
That's rock hard.
- That's inflated, this is definitely regulated.
That would be hard to catch in the rain, for sure.
- This would be hard to catch in real life.
- I mean not me 'cause I have great hands, so.
- Okay let's prove it.
Lucky.
- Oh no,
oh no.
- (laughs)
- I can't tell!
I'm gonna go, ball number two was the under-inflated one.
- But here's the thing, if you're Tom Brady
and you don't know that the ball boy maybe under-inflated it
you just feel this.
- Yeah you're right, maybe, like...
- This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do.
I think this is the under-inflated one.
- Ball one or ball two?
- [Girl Offscreen] That was ball one.
- Ball one was under-inflated?
- Yeah.
- What?!
- That's crazy.
But that's exactly what we were saying is
if you're ready to go out to the game,
you're thinking about a playoff game in your head,
and ball boy hands this, you're not gonna go
"Hold on one second."
- In the end, many believe that
Deflategate did indeed happen, but it seems
only Tom Brady and the equipment staff involved
will ever know the full truth.
For now, and perhaps forever,
the truth behind Deflategate remains unsolved.
(serious music)
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