Cue the jokes: Deflategate heats up

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As the jokes are heating up, the pressure is rising on New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick in the football scandal known as the “Deflategate”. The news and the Internet are full of stories, cartoons, and memes with under-inflated ball jokes, but for some, the subject is serious.

Hall of Fame coach John Madden pointed the finger at Brady as the NFL searched for answers as to why the footballs supplied by the Patriots were mysteriously flat.

Brady simply laughed it off as he told Boston radio station WEEI that any suggestion of him tampering the ball was “ridiculous”.

“I have no knowledge of anything,” Brady, a three-time Super Bowl winner, said today during a news conference. “I was as surprised as anybody when I heard Monday morning that this happened.”

Indianapolis Colts linebacker D’Qwell Jackson, whose interception of Brady during Sunday’s AFC Championship game reportedly led to the inquiry, said he didn’t notice anything wrong with the football.

“If anybody recognized anything, it definitely wouldn’t come from me,” Jackson said. “I only wanted to keep the ball as a souvenir.”

During that game, Colts safety Mike Adams twice intercepted Brady and gave the balls to the Colts’ equipment manager to save. The NFL began looking into the issue because doctoring the footballs could provide a competitive advantage, compromising the integrity of the game.

This isn’t the first time Belichick has been suspected of breaking NFL rules. He was fined $500,000 in 2007 for having an assistant spy on the New York Jets’ defensive signals.

If Belichick is found guilty of this, which would make him a two-time convicted cheater, his team must be penalized next week.