--- title: Deflategate: The Science Behind the New England Patriots Scandal description: The science behind the New England Patriots scandal canonical: https://time.com/3679191/deflategate-new-england-patriots-super-bowl/ author: Eliana Dockterman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-23T00:04:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T19:15:10.000Z article:section: Sports og:title: Watch a Scientist Put 'Deflategate' Under the Microscope og:description: The science behind the New England Patriots scandal og:url: https://time.com/3679191/deflategate-new-england-patriots-super-bowl/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3cdb8ffc42253ea0/69877b8c2dce01f5179dd23a/tom-brady-football-patriots-deflate.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Tom Brady of the New England Patriots throws a touchdown pass against the Indianapolis Colts during the 2015 AFC Championship Game on Jan. 18, 2015 in Foxboro, Mass. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch a Scientist Put 'Deflategate' Under the Microscope twitter:description: The science behind the New England Patriots scandal twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3cdb8ffc42253ea0/69877b8c2dce01f5179dd23a/tom-brady-football-patriots-deflate.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch a Scientist Put 'Deflategate' Under the Microscope ## Video: Tom Brady Responds to 'Deflategate' [Watch (HLS stream): Tom Brady Responds to 'Deflategate'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KDX7Ib7V.m3u8) (1:27)  _Published 2015-01-23. Tom Brady Responds to 'Deflategate'_ by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/) and [Francesca Trianni](https://time.com/author/francesca-trianni/) Updated: Dec 13, 2023 7:15 PM UTCPublished: Jan 23, 2015 12:04 AM UTC  Tom Brady of the New England Patriots throws a touchdown pass against the Indianapolis Colts during the 2015 AFC Championship Game on Jan. 18, 2015 in Foxboro, Mass. Tom Brady of the New England Patriots throws a touchdown pass against the Indianapolis Colts during the 2015 AFC Championship Game on Jan. 18, 2015 in Foxboro, Mass.Jim Rogash—Getty Images by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/) and [Francesca Trianni](https://time.com/author/francesca-trianni/) Updated: Dec 13, 2023 7:15 PM UTCPublished: Jan 23, 2015 12:04 AM UTC New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is appealing his suspension over the deflategate scandal. The NFL said Monday that Brady would have to sit out of four games without pay after the league determined of 11 of the 12 balls the New England Patriots used in their AFC Championship Game win were inflated significantly below the NFL’s requirements. Both coach [Bill Belichick](http://time.com/3678467/belichick-first-deflategate-response/) and quarterback [Tom Brady](http://time.com/3679298/brady-deflategate-footballs-patriots/) denied any wrongdoing prior to the Super Bowl game, and Brady has maintained his innocence throughout the investigation. Science suggests that someone purposely deflated the balls. Ainissa Ramirez, scientist and co-author of _Newton’s Football: The Science Behind America’s Game_, breaks down whether the cold weather could account for the footballs deflating about two pounds each, how players might take advantage of a deflated ball, and what players have done to manipulate balls in the past. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3679191/deflategate-new-england-patriots-super-bowl/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3679191/deflategate-new-england-patriots-super-bowl/"},"headline":"Watch a Scientist Put 'Deflategate' Under the Microscope","datePublished":"2015-01-23T00:04:09.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T19:15:10.000Z","description":"The science behind the New England Patriots scandal","url":"https://time.com/3679191/deflategate-new-england-patriots-super-bowl/","keywords":["Super Bowl","Football","NFL","Super Bowl topic","deflategate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3cdb8ffc42253ea0/69877b8c2dce01f5179dd23a/tom-brady-football-patriots-deflate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Francesca Trianni","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/francesca-trianni/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3cdb8ffc42253ea0/69877b8c2dce01f5179dd23a/tom-brady-football-patriots-deflate.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Tom Brady of the New England Patriots throws a touchdown pass against the Indianapolis Colts during the 2015 AFC Championship Game on Jan. 18, 2015 in Foxboro, Mass.","caption":"Tom Brady of the New England Patriots throws a touchdown pass against the Indianapolis Colts during the 2015 AFC Championship Game on Jan. 18, 2015 in Foxboro, Mass.","creditText":"Jim Rogash—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/super-bowl/","name":"Super Bowl"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3679191/deflategate-new-england-patriots-super-bowl/","name":"Watch a Scientist Put 'Deflategate' Under the Microscope"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Tom Brady Responds to 'Deflategate'","description":"Tom Brady Responds to 'Deflategate'","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/KDX7Ib7V/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-01-23T00:00:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KDX7Ib7V.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3679191/deflategate-new-england-patriots-super-bowl/","duration":"PT1M27S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3679191/deflategate-new-england-patriots-super-bowl/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```