--- description: "What he said didn't make any sense" title: Watch Bill Nye the Science Guy Debunk Bill Belichick's Deflategate Theory image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [NFL](/tag/nfl/) ## NFL Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Bill Nye the Science Guy Debunk Belichick's 'Deflategate' Theory by [Alex Heigl / People](/author/people/) ## Alex Heigl / People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 25, 2015 7:34 PM CUT by [Alex Heigl / People](/author/people/) ## Alex Heigl / People Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 25, 2015 7:34 PM CUT Wondering who would be the first prominent scientist to come out against New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick’s explanation for the under-inflated balls his team was accused using during the NFL playoffs last Sunday? No? Well, we were. And since Neil deGrasse Tyson didn’t step up to the plate, it had to be Bill Nye. Belichick’s “internal review” offered a variety of reasons why the team’s footballs wound up under-inflated – everything from “atmospheric conditions” to “air pressure.” He added that the team’s process of breaking in footballs by rubbing them altered the pressure in the ball. Nye was not impressed. “What he said didn’t make any sense,” Nye told ABC News on Sunday. “Rubbing the football – I don’t think you can change the pressure \[that way\].” Nye does close his segment by saying, “Go Seahawks,” so he’s an admittedly impartial judge. Tyson, do you want to weigh in? _This_ [_article_](http://www.people.com/article/bill-nye-bill-belichick-deflategate-response "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_People.com_](http://www.people.com "undefined")_._ _Read next:_ [_How to Get to the Bottom of ‘Deflategate’_](http://time.com/3681634/deflategate-bill-belichick-tom-brady/?xid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3681707/bill-nye-science-guy-deflategate/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3681707/bill-nye-science-guy-deflategate/"},"headline":"Watch Bill Nye the Science Guy Debunk Belichick's 'Deflategate' Theory","datePublished":"2015-01-25T19:34:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:16:14.087Z","description":"\"What he said didn't make any sense\"","url":"https://time.com/3681707/bill-nye-science-guy-deflategate/","keywords":["NFL","Newsfeed"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alex Heigl / People"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[],"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/nfl/","name":"NFL"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3681707/bill-nye-science-guy-deflategate/","name":"Watch Bill Nye the Science Guy Debunk Belichick's 'Deflategate' Theory"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Is What Physics Says About Deflategate","description":"Ainissa Ramirez, physicist and author of Newton's Football, talks through why weather can't explain deflate-gate","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/TECrbcbF/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-01-22T23:26:06.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/TECrbcbF.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3681707/bill-nye-science-guy-deflategate/","duration":"PT1M57S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3681707/bill-nye-science-guy-deflategate/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```