The New England Patriots are a dynasty with four Super Bowl wins in the eyes of some, and cheaters in the eyes of others. During the AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts, the Patriots were found to have deflated their footballs, in order to get a better grip on them, an instance that would come to be called Deflategate.

Though the Patriots still became the AFC Champions with a score of 45-7 and later beat the Seahawks in the Super Bowl with a score of 28-24, Patriot’s quarterback Tom Brady’s integrity is on the line.

The official rules of the NFL require balls to be inflated with a pressure of 12.5-13.5 PSI. Supposedly, 11/12 of the Patriot footballs were under-inflated by two PSI. Now to fully understand the situation, one must realize that the weather during the AFC Championship game was rather cold and rainy, not prime conditions for gripping balls. Deflating footballs would most likely make them easier to grip, throw, and catch.

According to a video put out by ESPN’s Sports Science, the amount that the footballs were deflated would have had little to no impact on any aspects of the game.

During a first half interception by Colts linebacker, D’Qwell Jackson, the ball that he caught was handed to an equipment manager by Jackson for safekeeping, so that he could have it as a souvenir for his interception. Despite initial reports, Jackson did not notice anything wrong with the ball immediately. It was not until league officials inspected the balls that a problem arose.

Following the game, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, a coach with a history of cheating, stated that,  “When I came in Monday morning, I was shocked to hear about the news reports about the footballs. I had no knowledge of the situation until Monday morning.” In 2007, Belichick was put under fire for illegally recording opposing team’s defensive signaling.

Tom Brady also claimed that he was not involved in any way with the scandal, and even referred to the accusations as “ridiculous.”“I didn’t alter the ball in any way,” Brady told reporters. “I would never do anything outside of the rules of play.” Brady said during a press conference.

 After Brady chooses his footballs from the equipment room, he said thatthe, “equipment guys break the balls in,” he doesn’t want anyone “touching the balls, I don’t want anybody rubbing them, taking any air out or putting any in.” Brady claims that the first he even heard about the situation was the next morning on a radio show.

Currently, the NFL is reviewing the situation and investigating all of the possible ways that the footballs could have became deflated. During this investigation, it has been discovered that “a game-day worker employed by the Patriots, a man described as elderly, took two bags of 12 footballs (one bag from each team) into the restroom near the referees’ room in Gillette Stadium. The man was in the room for 98 seconds. When he exited the room, he took the balls to the field.” Whether this man was deflating the balls at Tom Brady’s request, or whether he was just doing his business is unclear.

If the Patriots are found to have deliberately deflated their footballs, there should definitely be heavy repercussions against the organization.  As the investigation goes on, more information will be uncovered, but for now, the New England Patriots are Super Bowl XLIX Champions, and to some people, cheaters.