People say it’s a small issue. If it’s no big deal then why did they do it?
Who? What happens when leather gets wet?...it stretches, that alone would allow the pressure to measure lower by having the same amount of air in a larger area. Amazing how most feel that lesser inflated balls drove the outcome of the pathetic Colt performance. How is it that the PATRIOTS scored 28 points in the second half with supposedly properly inflated balls and the colts still sucked? Answer that.
Can you tell me who 'they' is in your question? Then maybe I can help answer it. My money on the 'they' is that the ref's never check the game balls. The teams provide balls, and the refs never checked them.
When Brady loses this superbowl, people will talk about 'got what was coming to him' or whatever. Pete Carroll will hold up the trophy on the other side. He has done that before, then had to give the trophy back because of 'cheating'. He cost a college wins, scholarships, and probation. He left for the NFL because if he went to a different college, sanctions would have followed him. That is cheating.
When some official comes out and tells us that they didn't check the balls, then people will come out of the woodwork to say he is taking the fall for the Pats organization...because 'they' seem to be the owner, the coach, the quarterback, the whole team. A ridiculous assertion, but that is the prevailing wisdom.
“If it’s no big deal then why did they do it?”
The obvious conclusion is that they were probably doing it habitually, if they bothered to cheat against a team they could have easily beaten in a straight game.