Mack Herron
Pro Bowl Player
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2006
- Messages
- 15,110
- Reaction score
- 21,141
He got the facts wrong in an important way. In 3 quick points, Hill demolishes the NFL. If one cares at all about due process, this charade cannot stand:
Here are the 3 key facts that Bill Simmons and Ben Affleck gloss over about DeflateGate1. The decline was way, way, waaaaaay less than 8%
Based on the two separate gauges, the footballs were found to be at an average of 11.11 PSI and 11.49 PSI. According to Exponent’s findings, the footballs were supposed to land within 11.32 PSI and 11.52 PSI. This means that the footballs were either: a) measured exactly how they were supposed to; b) came in 0.21 PSI below expectations. 0.21 PSI below expectations is less than 2% below expectation. That’s a far smaller drop than 8%. And when you factor in absolute pressure, the drop is less than 1%.
2. The drop is based on unrecorded data
All of the mathematical figures are based on the idea that every single football started at 12.5 PSI at the start of the game. Based on what we know about these refs, that was unlikely. The refs admit on page 3 of the Wells Report that they noticed the Colts wanted the footballs at 13.0 PSI, but approved the balls at a range of 12.8 PSI to 13.1 PSI. That’s a range of 0.3 PSI before the game even started.
Essentially, there’s an expected margin of error that comes with using any of the data since the starting points were not recorded.
3. The drop is on AVERAGE and the range is far wider than the perceived decline in pressure
So let’s say that there was a drop in pressure of 0.21 PSI. Are we meant to believe that Brady is so picky with his footballs that he asked the ballboys to intentionally deflate the footballs by 0.21 PSI?
And if so, remember that the 0.21 PSI drop is based on an average of the footballs. The actual footballs were found to be at a range from 10.5 PSI to 11.85 PSI- a range of 1.35 PSI, far greater than the 0.21 PSI Brady is apparently so picky about.
We’re meant to believe that Brady was so intentional with the football manipulation down to 0.21 PSI, but didn’t care enough that the end result was a range nearly seven times larger?
And at the end of all of it, looking at the averages buries the fact that the actual alleged decrease in pressure is far less than the final range- all but destroying any concept of intent on Brady’s part.