DeflateGate Inquiry Goes Ivy League

The investigation into DeflateGate has gone Ivy League. Lawyers working for the NFL are seeking help from Columbia University physicists, hoping to learn whether the weather could have played a role in the deflation of footballs during the AFC championship game, the New York Times reports. A lawyer in the investigation "would like to consult with a physicist on matters relating to gas physics," according to an administrative manager's note.

One Columbia physicist, who said he was "amused" by the request, isn't working on the case—but he tells the Times: "I think it’s more likely than not that they were manipulated." Speaking to Yahoo, however, a sports physicist argues that the temperature during the game could, indeed, have led to the footballs' deflation. As for Bill Belichick's confusing take on the physics of deflation at a press conference: "I think Belichick is better at keeping pressure on the passer than passing a physics test," says a cosmologist. (More football stories.)