DeflateGate is bringing out the scientist in everyone.
After Bill Belichick dropped some air pressure knowledge during his press conference to explain the New England Patriots’ under-inflated footballs, real scientists Bill Nye The Science Guy and Neil deGrasse Tyson came out and debunked the coach’s theory. Now the New York Daily News is getting in on the fun.
In light of the report that emerged Monday, claiming a Patriots locker room attendant took the team’s footballs into a bathroom before the AFC Championship Game and came out 90 seconds later, Daily News reporter Gersh Kuntzman decided an experiment was in order.
With some believing 90 seconds isn’t nearly enough time to deflate 12 footballs by two PSI, Kuntzman wanted to see if it was possible. Spoiler alert: It can be done, and it’s actually more than enough time.
According to Kuntzman, it took him just 40 seconds to soften the footballs. Adding in a “few bobbles,” and some time to get in and out of the bathroom, the entire ordeal clocked in at 77 seconds.
As for how he conducted his own DeflateGate, Kuntzman purchased 12 “top-of-the-line” balls and inflated them to 13 PSI, meeting league specifications. After sticking a pin in a ball and learning 2.2 seconds was the magic number to deflate one ball to 11 PSI, he loaded up 12 footballs and headed to a bathroom.
“Bottom line?” Kuntzman writes. “Clearly, a Patriot assistant who is quite accustomed to handling Tom Brady’s precious balls could easily have turned the Jan. 18 conference championship game into a joke.
“All he needed was 40 seconds, a men’s room stall and deflated ethics.”
Time well spent, we’re sure.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@ABC7Chicago
