Coach Bill Belichick claims New England Patriots did ‘no wrong’ in ‘deflategate’ scandal

A NEW England Patriots internal investigation shows the NFL team did nothing wrong with the inflation level of footballs, coach Bill Belichick says.

New England Patriots football head coach Bill Belichick speaks during an NFL football news conference at Gillette Stadium, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015, in Foxborough, Mass., where he defended the way his team preps its game balls. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

A NEW England Patriots internal investigation shows the NFL club did nothing wrong in the controversy over football inflation levels in a playoff victory, coach Bill Belichick said on Saturday.

“Deflategate” has overshadowed New England’s 45-7 romp over visiting Indianapolis last week to book a Super Bowl berth against Seattle after a league probe showed the Patriots used under-inflated balls in the first half of the game, raising concerns of deliberate cheating.

New England Patriots football head coach Bill Belichick.

“I believe now, 100 per cent, I have personally and we as an organisation have followed every rule to the letter,” Belichick said.

The NFL is looking into how balls lost air between a pre-kick-off exam by officials and half-time of the playoff, while Belichick said the team’s look into the issue found balls could lose enough air to become outside NFL guidelines without tampering.

“We have performed an internal study of the process. We try to do everything right. We err on the side of caution. It has been that way for many years.

“We did everything as right as we could do it. We welcome the league’s investigation.” Each NFL team supplies the balls used by its offensive unit in a game and they are checked by referees before kick-off to see if they are inflated between 12.5-12.5 pounds per square inch. Softer balls would make them easier to grip, grab and throw.

Concerns the Patriots were trying to cheat came in the wake of the 2007 “Spygate” scandal when the team was fined and lost a draft pick for videotaping a rival’s defensive scheme signals, an NFL rules violation.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady throws a pass during the first half of the AFC championship NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts.

“We filmed him giving signals in front of 80,000 people like a lot of other teams were doing,” Belichick said in defending his character over an event that drew him a $US500,000 ($A620,000) fine.

Belichick said he gave quarterbacks, presumably including star Tom Brady, balls under-inflated by one pound per square inch and they were unable to tell the difference.

Only at twice that deflation level could they detect something was wrong, although they were able to detect changes in the outer texture of balls due to rubbing that could have impacted the inflation rate.

“We rub the ball to get it to the proper texture. We’re not polishing fine China here,” Belichick said. “That (pre-game) process elevates the PSI approximately one pound.”

Originally published as Coach Bill Belichick claims New England Patriots did ‘no wrong’ in ‘deflategate’ scandal