The New England Patriots have dominated the news cycle leading up to the Super Bowl because of the Deflategate scandal, which alleges that the team intentionally deflated the footballs they were using during the AFC Championship Game.
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Opinions on the matter have ranged from "it really does not matter all that much because they won the game by a billion points" to "the team needs to be punished as harshly as possible, and Bill Belichick needs to lose his job."
Most opinions are trending more toward the latter camp, although a few current and former players have indicated that the practice is common. According to ESPN, former NFL quarterback Jeff Blake says that every team does it.
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"I'm just going to let the cat of the bag, every team does it, every game, it has been since I played," Blake said. "'Cause when you take the balls out of the bag, they are rock hard. And you can't feel the ball as well. It's too hard. Everybody puts the pin in and lets just enough air out of the ball that you can feel it a little better. But it's not the point to where it's flat.
"So I don't know what the big deal is. It's not something that's not been done for 20 years."
The NFL has reportedly narrowed their search to a single team staffer that they believe is responsible for the act. There is no word on what the punishment for the organization might be if the allegations are proven true.
"As soon as they give them the balls," Blake said. "On the sideline before the game. The quarterbacks would come out to warm up in pregame ... I would just say, 'Take a little bit out, it's a little bit hard.' And then they'd take a little bit out and I'd squeeze them and say 'That's perfect.' That's it."
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