Baltimore Ravens defensive lineman Chris Canty. Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
Baltimore Ravens defensive lineman Chris Canty is not glossing over the deflation of game-used footballs as a minor offense by the New England Patriots.
Canty and the Ravens lost at New England in the divisional playoffs one week before the Patriots blasted the Indianapolis Colts 45-7 in the AFC Championship game. The NFL has found that 11 of the Patriots’ 12 game balls were underinflated, according to Chris Mortensen of ESPN.
“The Patriots are habitual line-steppers,” Canty said on NBC Sports. “If the allegations are true, then you are talking about attacking the integrity of our game and I have an issue with that.
“What I’m going to say about the deflating of the balls, to me there is no difference than performance-enhancing drugs. You are cheating at that point. You are getting a competitive advantage outside of the rulebook and there has to be some sort of consequences for that.”
Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Thursday he had no knowledge of any intentional deflation of game balls and was shocked to learn of the investigation on Monday. Belichick said quarterback Tom Brady’s personal preference for game-use footballs was a question for Brady, and one the NFL was looking into.
“To me, the integrity of the game is the most important thing,” Canty said. “You want to be successful as a player, but you want to think that you are doing things that are within the rules and that you are out there competing, and it’s not, whether it is performance-enhancing drugs or deflated footballs that is out there aiding in your performance.”
