The National Football League (NFL) has finally broken their silence on the deflate-gate scandal. They have confirmed on Friday that game balls used during the first half of the AFC Championship game were underinflated.

The scandal took place in the AFC Championship game between the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts. Playing at New England, 11 out of 12 balls were found to be underinflated in their blowout win against the Colts (45-7).

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The league said it was continuing its investigation into the matter. The direction will be to try to uncover why and how the balls became underinflated.

The league recently released a statement saying that their current goals for the investigation will be focused on determining the explanation for why the footballs were not in compliance with league inflating standards.

They looked to see if any noncompliance was the direct result of any deliberate action.

No judgements have been made by the league as of this point. They reserve the right to make judgements once the investigation has been concluded and when all relevant evidence has been collected and considered.

Nearly 40 people have been interviewed by the league throughout the investigation. This includes game officials, Patriots personnel, and even third parties who have relevant information on the matter.

Renaissance Associates is the name of the investigative firm that the NFL hired to look into the matter. The reason for hiring them was that they have the skills to help review electronic and video information available to them.

Last Thursday, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady said they both had no knowledge on the matter. Brady went on to say that he was as surprised as everyone else when they found out what had happened.

Since quarterbacks are responsible for picking how their footballs are inflated, the on-going investigation of the NFL will be centered on Brady. 

Tagsnew england patriots, Deflate-gate, Deflated balls, NFL