"It was vicious" - Tom Brady and his sister recall just how difficult the Deflategate scandal was on their family

Six years ago, the current Tampa Bay Buccaneers and former New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was the face of one of the biggest scandals in the NFL known as Deflategate. The controversy alleged that Tom Brady deliberately had footballs deflated. The deflated footballs were discovered during the Patriots vs Colts 2014 AFC Championship game. As a result, in 2016 Brady was suspended for four games. The Patriots were fined $1 million and had to forfeit two draft selections.

In an episode of his documentary, Man in the Arena, the seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback spoke about the scandal.

From the former Patriots signal caller's point of view, the entire ordeal was mostly centered around individuals who had power and the upper hand on others. Brady said:

“What it started out as vs. what it became were two totally different things.”

The quarterback’s three sisters, Maureen, Julie, and Nancy, echoed their brother’s perspective. They noted that accusations, over time, shifted as the original accounts of differences regarding the pressure of footballs were apparently refuted by the ideal gas law.

Brady’s sister, Nancy, said:

“A lot of people were waiting for that moment to kind of dig in. It was vicious.”

According to ideal gas law, the pressure and temperature of the gas correspond in a direct way. This means that, when the temperature elevates, the pressure will do the same thing.

For example, the pressure within a grill’s propane tank rises on a scorching day in the summertime. Therefore, propane tanks must be gaged to deal with that boost in pressure.

Looking at the game in 2015, on a chilly January day in Foxborough, it was 51 degrees. There is a possibility that the pressure within a football could have lessened.

Tom Brady and Deflategate

New England Patriots QB Tom Brady

In the AFC championship game in 2015, the Patriots hosted the Indianapolis Colts in Foxborough. The Patriots defeated the Colts 45-7 to advance to the Super Bowl.

Colts linebacker D'Qwell Jackson picked off a pass from Brady before handing the ball to his equipment manager for safekeeping. The equipment manager observed that the ball was not inflated enough.

The day after, Brady fended off the claims of the under-inflated football, noting he had “no idea” what the controversy was about.

As time progressed, the NFL concluded that, of the 12 footballs given to New England, 11 were under-inflated. Moreover, it was in excess of two pounds of air (PSI) as was originally mentioned. PSI means pounds per inch. According to Rich Hill's article entitled "DeflateGate: NFL didn't follow guidelines with PSI data, hid it from the officials," "primary game balls for each team will be numbered one through 12, and any game ball within the allowable range of 12.5 PSI to 13.5 PSI will be approved, and the PSI level will not be altered. Any game ball that is determined to be over 13.5 PSI or under 12.5 PSI will either be deflated or inflated to 13.0 PSI."

Fast forward to May 2015, New England paid a fine of one million dollars and Brady was suspended for the first four games of the 2016 season for “committing conduct detrimental to the integrity of the league.”