BOSTON (AP) – Make no mistake: New England fans are pumped, not deflated.
As the NFL investigates how footballs got deflated during the AFC Championship game, and detractors accuse the team of cheating, very little air seems to have gone out of Patriots Nation and its Super Bowl euphoria.
Die-hard fans have been poking fun at the latest controversy swirling around the franchise. There are “Deflatriots” bumper stickers, “Deflaters Gonna Deflate” T-shirts and even “Deflategate” cookies shaped like saggy little footballs with icing laces.
“Much ado about nothing,” said David Schultz, who works in IT in Boston.
“I think it’s ridiculous. It’s like they’re going after Brady and Belichick,” said David Ellis, a civil engineer from Falmouth.