Deflategate has snowballed into an issue filled with legalese, yet some experts can’t help but remain focused on the NFL’s apparent disregard for science.
Tom Brady’s lawyers filed a petition Monday in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to rehear his Deflategate suspension case against the NFL en banc. Nearly two dozen engineering and physics professors added their two cents Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, with the gist of their argument being that the appeals judges should reconsider an April decision that reinstated the New England Patriots quarterback’s four-game ban.
Per The AP, according to papers filed with the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals, the aforementioned experts believe the decision to uphold Brady’s suspension lacks scientific proof. Deflation, such that occurred in the Patriots’ 2015 AFC Championship Game win over the Indianapolis Colts, tends to happen naturally when a football moves from a warm environment to a cold environment, according to the professors.
“This is not tampering. It is science. And it pervades the NFL,” the papers said. “Games routinely are played with footballs that fall below the league’s minimum pressure requirement. Courts should not be powerless to consider the absence of scientific proof when a proceeding is so interlaced with laws of science.”
According to The AP, the legal brief filed Tuesday was done so on behalf of 21 professors from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of California, Berkeley, University of Michigan, Stanford University, University of Southern California, University of Delaware, Purdue University, University of Pennsylvania, Boston College and the University of Minnesota.
It’s possible, if not likely, the science argument will continue to fall on deaf ears, especially considering the Patriots have been punished in the past for bending the rules. The fight doesn’t appear to be ending anytime soon, though. Both Brady and the NFL have dug in their heels to this point.
Thumbnail photo via Winslow Townson/USA TODAY Sports Images
