--- title: NFL Reportedly Fires Employee for Selling 'Deflategate' Footballs description: An NFL employee reportedly sold footballs used in the AFC Championship Game canonical: https://time.com/3714499/nfl-deflategate-footballs-employee-fired/ author: Sports Illustrated article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-19T01:45:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T04:32:08.284Z article:section: Sports og:title: NFL Reportedly Fires Employee for Selling 'Deflategate' Footballs og:description: They were supposed to be donated to charity, but instead sold for profit og:url: https://time.com/3714499/nfl-deflategate-footballs-employee-fired/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7790579e9cb1970e/69877d12a988ca4a056ac3a0/super-bowl-brady.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Deflated Footballs og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NFL Reportedly Fires Employee for Selling 'Deflategate' Footballs twitter:description: They were supposed to be donated to charity, but instead sold for profit twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7790579e9cb1970e/69877d12a988ca4a056ac3a0/super-bowl-brady.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # NFL Reportedly Fires Employee for Selling 'Deflategate' Footballs > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [Dan Gartland / Sports Illustrated](https://time.com/author/sports-illustrated/) ## Dan Gartland / Sports Illustrated Feb 19, 2015 1:45 AM UTC  Tom Brady throws a pass during the first half of the AFC championship NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts in Foxborough, Mass. on Jan. 18, 2015. Tom Brady throws a pass during the first half of the AFC championship NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts in Foxborough, Mass. on Jan. 18, 2015.Charles Krupa—AP by [Dan Gartland / Sports Illustrated](https://time.com/author/sports-illustrated/) ## Dan Gartland / Sports Illustrated Feb 19, 2015 1:45 AM UTC An NFL employee has been fired after selling footballs involved in the Deflategate controversy, [ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports](https://twitter.com/ESPNprDScott/status/568143825266475008). The balls were supposed to be donated to charity, [Schefter reports](https://twitter.com/espnprdscott/status/568143990681407488), but were instead sold for profit. “There are a few different league officials, according to people I spoke with today, at the game, who handled the footballs,” Schefter said on ESPN’s _Outside the Lines_, [according to ProFootballTalk](http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/02/18/report-nfl-fired-employee-who-sold-deflategate-footballs/). “League employees: League Employee 1, League Employee 2 and League Employee 3, we’ll call them, for lack of a better phrases, whose jobs are to handle the balls on game day. And League Official 1, he’s also supposed to take the balls out of play and then send them off to a charitable endeavor to raise money for a charitable endeavor that the league is embarking upon. “Only on this day, and since that day, the league has since fired that employee for allegedly selling off some of those footballs on the side. So that employee — League Official 1 — has been fired since the AFC Championship Game.” • [McCANN: Aaron Hernandez’s Blackberry is key to Day 9 of trial](http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/02/17/aaron-hernandez-trial-day-9) The NFL is [investigating](http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/01/23/deflategate-new-england-patriots-nfl-response) whether the [Patriots](http://www.si.com/nfl/team/new-england-patriots) intentionally deflated their footballs during the AFC Championship game. It was originally reported that 11 of the 12 balls were between one and two pounds per square inch under-inflated, but [subsequent reports](http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/02/01/deflategate-only-one-patriots-football-underinflated) have indicated that only one ball was two PSI under the limit. ESPN [reported Tuesday](http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/02/17/deflategate-new-england-patriots-kicking-ball) that a Patriots staffer tried to give an official an unapproved kicking ball during the game in question. • [Browns ‘proud’ of Johnny Manziel’s decision to enter rehab​](http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/02/18/johnny-manziel-rehab-mike-pettine-browns-proud) _Sports Illustrated_ legal expert Michael McCann notes that the Patriots could argue the NFL’s investigation should be dropped if Schefter’s report is accurate. > [](https://twitter.com/McCannSportsLaw/status/568145060317024256) At a press conference on Jan. 24, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick [attributed the low pressure levels](http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/01/24/deflategate-bill-belichik-press-conference-tom-brady) of the footballs to atmospheric conditions. Quarterback [Tom Brady](http://www.si.com/nfl/player/tom-brady) denied altering the balls “in any way” [on Jan. 22](http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/01/22/new-england-patriots-deflategate-tom-brady). Owner Robert Kraft [said at a press conference](http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/01/26/robert-kraft-deflategate-press-conference) before the Super Bowl that the league should apologize to his team if the investigation reveals no wrongdoing. [_This article originally appeared on SI.com_](http://www.si.com/nfl/2015/02/18/deflategate-employee-fired-selling-footballs) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3714499/nfl-deflategate-footballs-employee-fired/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3714499/nfl-deflategate-footballs-employee-fired/"},"headline":"NFL Reportedly Fires Employee for Selling 'Deflategate' Footballs","datePublished":"2015-02-19T01:45:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:32:08.284Z","description":"An NFL employee reportedly sold footballs used in the AFC Championship Game","url":"https://time.com/3714499/nfl-deflategate-footballs-employee-fired/","keywords":["Football"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7790579e9cb1970e/69877d12a988ca4a056ac3a0/super-bowl-brady.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Gartland / Sports Illustrated"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7790579e9cb1970e/69877d12a988ca4a056ac3a0/super-bowl-brady.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Deflated Footballs","caption":"Deflated Footballs","creditText":"Charles Krupa—AP","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/football/","name":"Football"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3714499/nfl-deflategate-footballs-employee-fired/","name":"NFL Reportedly Fires Employee for Selling 'Deflategate' Footballs"}}]}] ```