Case Study

No​ ​Pressure Introduction Professional​ ​football​ ​is​ ​one​ ​of​ ​the​ ​top​ ​rated​ ​programs​ ​on​ ​television.​ ​According​ ​to​ ​NBC Sports​ ​in​ ​2014,​ ​34​ ​of​ ​America’s​ ​35​ ​most-watched​ ​fall​ ​TV​ ​shows​ ​were​ ​NFL​ ​games.​ ​The​ ​NFL... More

No​ ​Pressure Introduction Professional​ ​football​ ​is​ ​one​ ​of​ ​the​ ​top​ ​rated​ ​programs​ ​on​ ​television.​ ​According​ ​to​ ​NBC Sports​ ​in​ ​2014,​ ​34​ ​of​ ​America’s​ ​35​ ​most-watched​ ​fall​ ​TV​ ​shows​ ​were​ ​NFL​ ​games.​ ​The​ ​NFL averages​ ​about​ ​17.3​ ​million​ ​viewers​ ​per​ ​game​ ​and​ ​205​ ​million​ ​Americans​ ​have​ ​watched​ ​at​ ​least one​ ​game​ ​(Smith,​ ​2014).​ ​Because​ ​of​ ​this​ ​depth,​ ​many​ ​Americans​ ​knew​ ​about​ ​and​ ​followed​ ​the New​ ​England​ ​Patriots​ ​and​ ​Tom​ ​Brady​ ​Deflategate​ ​case. On​ ​January​ ​18,​ ​2015,​ ​soon​ ​after​ ​the​ ​Patriots​ ​defeated​ ​the​ ​Colts,​ ​reports​ ​started​ ​to surface​ ​that​ ​the​ ​National​ ​Football​ ​League​ ​was​ ​looking​ ​into​ ​the​ ​Patriots’​ ​use​ ​of​ ​“deflated footballs”​ ​in​ ​the​ ​AFC​ ​Championship​ ​Game.​ ​The​ ​case​ ​lasted​ ​for​ ​over​ ​18​ ​months,​ ​finally​ ​ending on​ ​July​ ​15,​ ​2016,​ ​when​ ​Brady​ ​accepted​ ​his​ ​four-game​ ​suspension​ ​(McClam,​ Less