Dr. John J. Leonard is Samuel C. Collins Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
As Tom Brady moves on from Deflategate and returns to the field on Sunday, a lingering question remains: What amount of nefarious deflation actually occurred?
I believe it’s zero.
Surprisingly, Roger Goodell, in his rulings, never quantified the percentage of air alleged to have been illicitly removed from the footballs. If given a speeding ticket, a natural question to ask would be, “Officer, how fast was I going?”
Despite the recent statement from the scientific consulting firm Exponent defending its investigation, I am 100% convinced that there was no illegal deflation.