7th-grader named Goodell says science project disproves "Deflategate"
Science could help prove Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's innocence in the "Deflategate" scandal. The evidence comes from an unlikely source: a seventh-grader outside Boston. He says the NFL could have avoided controversy if it had just done an experiment, like he did.
The 7th-grader's name is Ben Goodell -- yes, Goodell -- and he's a Patriots fan with a favorite player.
"Would it be fair to say you're a Tom Brady fan?" CBS News correspondent Anna Werner asked him.
"Yes," Ben said.
He's decidedly not a fan of the man who happens to share his name.
"Because he called Tom Brady a cheater," Ben explained.
That would be Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner who tried to slap quarterback Brady with a four-game suspension for allegedly deflating footballs during the 2015 AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts.
Ben didn't believe it but needed proof, and thus was born his school science fair project.
"I just took an NFL-sized football and I put it in a few various conditions. I put it in humidity, snow, cold, wind chill, in the same temperature that occurred during 'Deflategate,'" Ben said.
What did he find?
"I found that every time I tested the football, the PSI dropped 2 PSI," Ben said.
"So what did that mean to you?" Werner asked.
"The lowest recorded PSI during 'Deflategate' was 2 PSI under proper inflation, so that meant that the weather conditions could have affected the footballs during 'Deflategate,'" Ben said.
But could a 12-year-old figure out something the NFL did not? We turned to MIT professor and admitted Eagles fan, John Leonard, who reviewed Ben's paper.
"I think he's right," Leonard said.
To prove it, Leonard took us to the chalkboard.
He said no one needed to deflate those footballs on game day, that basic scientific equations show when you put a football outside in cold temperatures, the ball will deflate a bit all by itself.
"It's just basic laws of physics, it doesn't matter if you root for the Patriots, or the Eagles, or the Redskins, this is what happens to footballs in cold weather," Leonard said.
"You're saying Ben Goodell was right, and Roger Goodell was wrong," Werner said.
"Yes," Leonard said.
As a result, Ben's science fair project is already getting him some attention at school and in local media, but no reaction from the Patriots yet.
"So if you could say anything to Tom Brady right now, what would you say?" Werner asked.
"I wanna meet him," Ben said.
We reached out to the NFL and Brady. The NFL had no comment, and there was no response from Brady's camp.
But Leonard said he'd like Ben to visit MIT. He thinks this Goodell could have a future as a scientist someday.