All about Deflategate Trivia Quiz

Answer: AFC Championship Game

The game in question was the AFC Championship Game, played on January 18, 2015, in Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, with the winner to go to the Super Bowl two weeks later.

Answer: Indianapolis

The story was broken by Bob Kravitz, a reporter for Indianapolis TV station WTHR. Kravitz received a late-night text from a source that the NFL was investigating the Patriots for deflating footballs; once he verified the information with a second source, he tweeted out the news.

Answer: the Wells Report

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell hired attorney Ted Wells to conduct an investigation and report back. The 138-page report, issued on May 6, 2015, concluded that two Patriots employees had been guilty of deflating balls to suit quarterback Tom Brady's wishes, and that Brady was at least "generally aware" of what they were doing on his behalf.

The Dowd Report concerned the issue of Pete Rose betting on baseball, while the other two reports were from the world of politics.

Answer: No

The Wells report found no wrongdoing on the part of the Patriots' ownership or any of the Patriots' coaches. Based on the findings in the report, quarterback Brady was suspended four games, and the Patriots organization was fined a million dollars and docked two draft picks. Patriots owner Bob Kraft accepted the punishment, hoping this would help Brady obtain leniency. Kraft later regretted this decision.

Answer: No

The collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the players association provided that Goodell could hear the appeal from his own decision in cases involving "conduct detrimental to the game", and Goodell insisted on hearing the appeal even though a neutral arbitrator made more sense.

Answer: Brady's destruction of his cellphone just before meeting with the investigators

Since the punishment for deflating footballs was looking more and more dubious as time went on, Goodell stressed Brady's lack of cooperation with the investigation as an important reason for the suspension. No "smoking gun" was ever discovered implicating Brady in the deflation events.

Answer: New York

In a blatant example of forum-shopping, the Players Association filed a 54-page petition in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, solely because it was that court which had struck down the NFL's punishment in the Adrian Peterson case.

However, the NFL had filed its own petition in New York the day before, and the Minnesota judge wisely ordered that the case be consolidated in the New York court.

Answer: The law of the shop

The "law of the shop" refers to the proposition that the "past principles and practice of the industry and the shop" should be adhered to, even if not specifically spelled out in the collective bargaining agreement between the employer and the union. The law of the shop regarding the NFL cases is that a player deserves to be advised in advance of what conduct is punishable by the league, and what the punishment could be for that conduct.

This principle was used by the courts to void the suspensions given to Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson under the league's new domestic violence policy, a policy which was not in effect at the time those cases arose, and which commissioner Goodell attempted to apply retroactively to both Rice and Peterson, violating all semblance of fair play.

Answer: filming an opponent's defensive signals during a game

The so-called "Spygate" controversy resulted in a $500,000 fine for coach Bill Bellichick, a $250,000 fine for the Patriots organization, and the loss of a first-round draft pick. The other choices are actions other teams have been guilty of: "bountygate" was the New Orleans Saints, piping in crowd noise was the Atlanta Falcons, and texting during a game was the Cleveland Browns.

Answer: Yes

The decision by Judge Berman was issued on September 3, 2015, in time for Brady to play in the first game of the season on September 10th against the Steelers. With Brady leading the way, the Patriots won that first game and went on to win their first ten games.