New England Patriots’ deflated footballs. That is a fact. Had they lost the game we would not even be talking about this at all. This is a scandal because it happened during such an important game. The score reflects to some the outcome of cheating. With so many mishandled scandals last year, this is not the best way to start the year off for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. One would think that he would have handled this issue quickly before it became a crisis. Oops, too late. It is already looking like we are in for a fun ride if the internet memes are to be believed. Illegally tampering with footballs during the AFC Championship Game is a huge issue on its own but it gets worse. Below is what you didn’t know Patriots’ deflated footballs scandal.

• The NFL said it would take at most three days to complete its investigation of the deflated footballs from the AFC Championship game. It’s been a week and still no word as to what is going on or what they discovered.

• The Colts first told the NFL that the Patriots were using deflated footballs in a game in November. That is two months before the AFC Championship game. The NFL decided not to investigate the Patriots.

• The NFL did not test the Patriots’ footballs before the game started. The NFL tested the Patriots footballs at halftime.

• The NFL refs discovered the Patriots’ footballs were deflated at halftime of the AFC Championship game but decided to let the game continue without interjecting.  Basically turning a blind eye like nothing happened.

So to sum it up. The NFL knew what was going and they let it continue. They knew at halftime of the AFC Championship Game there was something fishy going on and they let it continue. Now it is just one more crisis that the NFL has to deal with. This scandal didn’t have to become one if the NFL had taking action early. They have time to fine people for headphones and harass Marshawn Lynch about the color of his cleats but not investigate real game changing issues.

Bonus: The Memes