NFL Accuses Patriots of Cheating
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, a major controversy brewing in the NFL as we head into the Super Bowl, the biggest sporting event of the year, of any year. New England Patriots, AFC champions, did they cheat on their way to the Super Bowl? The NFL, according to ESPN, found that 11 of the 12 footballs that the team used in Sunday's blowout win against the Colts, 11 out of 12, were underinflated. They did not have enough air. That's a violation of league rules. Why are two pounds per square inch of air missing from a football a big deal? Well, because a deflated ball is easier to throw. It's easier to catch. Easier to hold onto especially during rainy weather and it was pouring at times during Sunday's game in Boxborough. ESPN is reporting that the NFL is angry and distraught about this. Patriots coach, Bill Belichick, said he didn't know about balls being deflated and that the team is cooperating with the investigation. I want to talk about all this, all the issues involved. Cory Wire played nine years in the NFL. He played defense against Tom Brady and the Patriots for much of his career, never an easy thing to do. Now a FOX sport analyst. Coy, let's talk, first of all, what kind of advantage does a deflated ball give a team, a quarterback?</s>COY WIRE, FOX SPORTS ANALYST: Well, John, you hit it right on the head. The deflation allows the quarterback to grip it better and it allows the receivers to get a better grip on the ball. And the best way I can put it would be to liken it to catching a Nerf football opposed to a fully inflated leather football. I talked to a couple of former Pro bowl receivers and elite receivers in this league that caught a lot of passes said it would make a bit of a difference, probably not as much as people would think it would. Bottom line is that the Patriots and their head coach, Bill Belichick, once again involved in a scandal that involves cheating, bending the rules. This would be a blatant rule violation. It says right there, 12.5 to 13.5 pounds per square inch, like you said, John. To have them underinflated would be blatantly violating those rules.</s>BERMAN: Let's run down a couple of facts here. People have these questions. First of all, people say, well, if the balls didn't have enough air, the Colts would benefit from that too. Not so.</s>WIRE: That's right. Each team gets their own footballs, 12 of them that are submitted about two and a half hours before kickoff. The officials will then inspect them and weigh them and they'll remain under supervision until kickoff. At that point then, they do go into the equipment manager of that team's hands. So the thing here is did Belichick know about it? Was it a rogue equipment manager who knew that his team, his quarterbacks, his wide receivers, would have an advantage in the balls were slightly deflated. John, you'll remember, a couple of years ago, when Lane Kiffin was the head coach at USC, they were fine by the PAC 12 conference because they were found to deflate footballs to get a competitive advantage. Kiffin, in that situation, Lane Kiffin, the head coach, said he didn't know about it. The equipment manager did it under his own accord without Kiffin's consent. That could be the case here and the NFL is looking into exactly how this all came about. But, John, to your point, 11 of the 12, doesn't seem like it was an accident. We'll see how this thing all comes out. The NFL likely won't make a decision until after the Super Bowl as far as any sort of fines or penalties that may happen.</s>BERMAN: Oh, I cannot imagine they will wait until then, Coy. They can't wait 10 more days to come up with some kind of statement, some kind of sanction, especially if it's found that anyone involved with Patriots organization did this deliberately. Some people wonder whether weather could do it. If it's cold, for instance, will that take some of the pressure out of the balls? Neither you or I are scientists, but my sense is, yes, maybe a little bit, but 11 out of 12 and that much, unlikely.</s>WIRE: Yeah. It's a great point, John. We know it happens. In our car's tires, it can happen in cold weather. 11 of the 12 does seem like a stretch. Now, I will say that it is not uncommon for some footballs to be pulled during a game, whether from deflation or if it gets scuffed. It does happen. 11 of the 12 is a lot. It does seem like there was tampering here. Now, the league's football operations manual says that if any person, and if applicable, the head coach is found responsible for under inflating the footballs, there's a fine. It's not limited to $25,000. Now, in this case, I think Goodell, with what happened with Spygate several years ago in 2007, they will be much more harsh.</s>BERMAN: Sure.</s>WIRE: Maybe even the loss of a draft pick -- John?</s>BERMAN: Draft pick. Some people some kind of suspensions for somebody here. It's also interesting, Coy, people wondering if it would have made a difference in the game. Score was 45-7. They scored most of the points early, a lot on the ground. What do you think?</s>WIRE: That's right. I think Colts would have put stick 'em on their hands and had a great advantage and it wouldn't have made a difference. Patriots were dominant. We'll watch them go up against a tough team in the Seahawks in the Super Bowl in a couple weeks in Arizona.</s>BERMAN: Whether it would have helped or not, cheating is wrong period. If it turns out someone did, the NFL will have to say something and soon. Coy Wire, great to have you with us. Really appreciate it. Coming up next, the question about the State of the Union address. In the State of the Union address, is taunting allowed?</s>BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have no more campaigns to run. My only agenda --</s>OBAMA: I know, because I won both of them.</s>BERMAN: President clearly on offense, next.