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In the year of Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson and Greg Hardy, they've somehow managed to trump serious cases of domestic abuse by blowing a silly, inane, moronic controversy over the inflation of game balls into a national story that gets more sublime and ridiculous by the day. The league didn't take their time and do due diligence on what really mattered in the Ray Rice case, and delivered a hasty judgment that Commissioner Roger Goodell admitted was ill-conceived. Now, they're taking their sweet time to decide who may have taken too much air out of the balls, a violation that...

The NFL is upping the stakes in its probe of the New England Patriots and unleashing one of the country’s top lawyers and a high-powered investigative firm to uncover the truth behind a scandal that has cast a dark cloud over the team as they prepare for the Super Bowl. League officials broke their silence on the Deflategate scandal yesterday, announcing that high-powered white-collar crime lawyer Ted Wells will join NFL Executive Vice President Jeff Pash on the investigation into whether the Pats knowingly used under-inflated footballs in the American Football Conference championship game. “He is one of the premier...

Yesterday, I visited my mom and we watched a popular talk show. In the middle of the show, a breaking news update flashed on the screen. Suddenly the show was interrupted. My mind began to race. Did something happen to our President? Was there another terrorist attack? Did a school shooting occur? Soon my fears were erased. Patriots QB Tom Brady was in a press conference, denying claims he knew about deflated footballs in the AFC Championship Game. This was the breaking news that interrupted a scheduled program. I’ll admit I’m not a football fan. I also barely watch TV....

Under his oversized ski cap, Tom Brady could not hide from the fact he was convicting himself in the court of public opinion. The quarterback of the New England Patriots admitted that footballs pumped up to 12.5 pounds per square inch are "a perfect fit for me," yet swore he did not notice a difference in the AFC Championship Game when most of the balls had significantly less pressure. Brady's story Thursday was harder to believe than the story of the 199th pick in the NFL draft becoming one of the greatest players of all time... "I would never do...

Sarah Palin has called out Beltway Republicans for “deflated balls.” Pointing to the New England Patriots as a cautionary tale, the conservative starlet warned her party to stand up to President Obama’s agenda. “That GOP leadership, that establishment, they’ve got to get their stuff together. I love what they believe in, I believe in it too. But they’ve got to get tough, man. You know what? It’s not just the New England Patriots who are dealing with deflated balls right now,” the former Alaska Governor told The Blaze on Thursday. Palin was referring to the controversy over whether the NFL...

<p>“I did not believe what Tom had to say,” former quarterback and ESPN analyst Mark Brunell said. “Those balls were deflated. Someone had to do it and I don’t believe there’s an equipment manager in the NFL that would on his own initiative deflate a ball without the starting quarterback’s approval. I just didn’t believe what Tom Brady had to say.”</p>

Is Tom Brady telling the truth? Is he lying? Can both scenarios be possible? Is it remotely plausible that some unnamed, unknown, mystery equipment manager altered the footballs without Brady's knowledge and approval … or did 11 of the Patriots' footballs, but not one of the Colts, nor apparently 12 more backup footballs from the Patriots, lose pressure naturally?

Patriots defenders constantly make the point that deflated balls were not a big deal last Sunday, because the Pats won so convincingly over Indy. Maybe. But what about the Ravens game a week earlier? That one WAS close - 35-31. Does anyone really think the Pats weren't pulling their under-inflation tricks then, that it just started last week? Other teams raised the issue back in November, so it's reasonable to assume it's been going on since at least then.

Full title: TV News Priorities: 68 Minutes for Under-Inflated Footballs, Mere Seconds for Obama's Release of Terrorists The three major networks have, so far, devoted a staggering 67 minutes and 49 seconds to obsessing over every aspect of whether the New England Patriots cheated in their AFC championship win on Sunday. Yet, only ABC allowed a scant 34 seconds to the Obama administration's release of five terrorists out of Guantanamo Bay and back to areas connected with extremist violence. The contrast is 120-to-1. NBC was, by far, the most lopsided in terms of journalistic priorities. From Monday through early Thursday,...

What is missing in the 'DeflateGate' NFL analysis? Simple. How the Colts, once succumbing to a 14-0 deficit, had to THEN shift from running the ball 40% of the time to running it only less than 17% the rest of the first half upon falling behind by those scores. It was, after all, "Deflady Brady's" deep pass down the left side of the field to S. Vereen (30 yards) to the Indy 17-yard line that set up the second Patriot score. One wonders what might have happened on that pass in the driving rain had the "underinflation" not been at...

Indianapolis Colts linebacker D’Qwell Jackson, who says he didn’t snitch on the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, told NFL Media’s Jeff Darlington that Brady was using a Colts football at the end of the first half Sunday night. Jackson spoke to an official, who said they couldn’t locate a usable football, during a TV timeout when the Patriots had the ball. Later in the first half, Jackson noticed that the Patriots were using Colts footballs.

Bill Belichick said he did not know how the Patriots’ footballs became underinflated in Sunday’s game. By Matt PepinGlobe Staff January 22, 2015 Coach Bill Belichick said he did not know of any issue with the Patriots’ game balls in Sunday’s AFC Championship, and did not learn the league was investigating his team until Monday morning. He also said he did not know how the Patriots’ footballs became underinflated during the game. “I have no explanation for what happened,” he said. It was Belichick’s first appearance since news emerged that 11 of 12 footballs the Patriots used against the Colts...

Coach Bill Belichick said he did not know of any issue with the Patriots’ game balls in Sunday’s AFC Championship, and did not learn the league was investigating his team until Monday morning. He also said he did not know how the Patriots’ footballs became underinflated during the game.

Vice President Joe Biden was asked about the Patriots scandal Wednesday morning.

Video.. only. Little rough on the language but spot on for Pats fans! https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-cl=84359240&v=_FAT_pRqo3w&x-yt-ts=1421782837#t=123

The Patriots’ run to the Super Bowl has turned into an episode of “Law & Order.” And three days into Deflategate, it is becoming increasingly clear that the “law” was broken. Now the tricky part: Figuring out the appropriate punishment. The NFL’s investigation into the Patriots using under-inflated footballs in Sunday night’s AFC Championship is still ongoing. The league has said very little about the investigation or the timetable for its conclusion. The NFL sent a letter to the Patriots on Monday informing them that the league concluded that under-inflated footballs were used on Sunday. The investigation is now centered...

In the wake of the news that the Patriots used underinflated footballs in the AFC Championship, several stories have emerged of other instances of footballs being modified or suspected of being altered during NFL games. According to CBS Sports, some members of the Baltimore Ravens believe kicking balls used in their playoff game against the Patriots in the divisional round may have been underinflated. No players or Ravens personnel are identified in the CBS report, which also says the NFL did not receive a complaint from the Ravens regarding the footballs in that game. ...

The Patriots used underinflated footballs on Sunday night. The next question is how did it happen? According to a National Football League letter about the investigation into the controversy that was shared with the Globe, the Patriots were informed that the league’s initial findings indicated that the game balls did not meet specifications. The league inspected each of the Patriots’ 12 game balls twice at halftime, using different pressure gauges, and found footballs that were not properly inflated. According to ESPN, 11 of the 12 game balls were found to be underinflated by about 2 pounds each. The NFL specifications...

The Patriots used underinflated footballs on Sunday night. The next question is how did it happen? According to a National Football League letter about the investigation into the controversy that was shared with the Globe, the Patriots were informed that the league’s initial findings indicated that the game balls did not meet specifications. The league inspected each of the Patriots’ 12 game balls twice at halftime, using different pressure gauges, and found footballs that were not properly inflated. According to ESPN, 11 of the 12 game balls were found to be underinflated by about 2 pounds each. The NFL specifications...

The NFL is investigating whether the Patriots deflated footballs that were used in their AFC championship game victory over the Colts.