Lynn Student Named Goodell Backs Patriots With DeflateGate Science Project
LYNN (CBS) – It's DeflateGate vindication for Tom Brady from the unlikeliest of sources - a seventh grader in Lynn with a last name that may sound familiar.
Ben Goodell – no relation to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell – says his science project takes the air out of the Wells Report.
Twelve-year-old Ben Goodell, a student at St. Pius V School in Lynn, makes sure to be clear he's not related to Roger. That's because Ben is no fan of the commissioner who suspended Patriots quarterback Tom Brady four games, fined the team $1 million and took away two of New England's draft picks.
"I was kind of upset because I didn't think it was fair for them to say that Tom Brady was going to be suspended for 4 games," Ben told WBZ-TV.
Related: Brady's Side Peppered With Questions From Judges At NFL DeflateGate Appeal Hearing
So Ben used his school science project to right that wrong.
He got an official NFL ball, inflated it to legal size and subjected it to various conditions for two hours.
"I put it in humidity, cold, snow, wind chill and the same temperature that occurred during DeflateGate," he explained.
Then he took pressure readings. And guess what?
"Every single time I did this test the PSI dropped at least 2 PSI. That means it was scientifically proven that Tom Brady didn't deflate the footballs, and it was just the weather conditions," he says.
The Wells Report on DeflateGate is 243 pages. Ben reported his findings in eight. He convinced the judges, too.
Goodell received a top award in the seventh grade science fair. Ben plays football himself and is a huge Brady fan, so his results mean more than any award.
"I don't think it was fair for them to just say he's a cheater," says Ben.
So far Ben Goodell hasn't heard from Roger Goodell, the NFL or the Patriots.
