New England Patriots beat the Indianapolis Colts, 45-7, on Sunday Jan, 18.  However, following the unquestionable win came scandal: “Deflategate.” 

The Patriots are being accused of altering the footballs used by the team to give them an unfair advantage.  11 out of 12 footballs used during the game were inflated 2 pounds per square inch below what is required, according to ESPN.

“I think it is obvious that the Patriots did cheat. I think it is unfair that they are going the Super Bowl,” said senior Sarah French. “But life isn’t fair, so oh well!”

DeQuan Burch, a senior, also said, “It is sad that they felt that they needed to cheat because they are already a very good team.”

Patriot’s head coach Bill Belichick “blamed the deflation on naturally occurring factors like weather conditions or the process of rubbing balls to wear them in before games,” according to an article on the Huffington Post.

Although Bill Nye the Science Guy stated that “what he said didn’t make any sense.”

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has publicly stated that he did not know anything about the deflated balls.  However, in 2011,  Brady told news source WWEI, “When Gronk scores- it was like his eighth touchdown of the year- he spikes the ball and he deflates the ball. I love that, because I like the deflated ball.”

A deflated ball is said to be easier to throw, catch and hold onto.

The fingers keep pointing at different people, and right now they are toward the ball boy/locker room attendant.

“No matter what happens, the Patriots will be accused of cheating; any little thing they do differently than the Seahawks will be seen as having an unfair advantage,” said Patriots fan Nick Cochran.  “I don’t think they [cheated].  If anything, a deflated ball is harder to throw than a fully inflated ball.”

Regardless of what happened in that game, the Patriots are still currently scheduled to play the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl on Sunday.