How would you feel if you dedicated your life to a sport and lost one of the most important games of your career to a cheater who almost got away with it?

The Indianapolis Colts left the field on Jan. 18, 2015 with their heads hung low after the New England Patriots beat them in the AFC Championship game, 45-7.

Little did the Colts know, the championship game now known as “Deflategate” would become one of the biggest scandals in NFL history and would make national news.

The scandal had fans questioning the integrity of one of the NFL’s most celebrated quarterbacks, Tom Brady. Brady denied having any knowledge of tampering with and or deflating footballs.

On Jan. 27, 2015, a video was revealed which showed a Patriots staff member taking 24 footballs into a bathroom and coming out 90 seconds later.

Although the football’s pressures were checked, the NFL never logged it and therefore there was no way of being sure that pressure was released.

The investigation seemed to come to an end with a four-game suspension of Brady who was accused of being “fully aware” of the deflation of the footballs.

Brady appealed his suspension and was found not guilty. The NFL appealed for a second circuit following a ruling of a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals and the ruling was overturned in favor of the NFL.

On April 25, the court ruled that Goodell acted in the best interest of the league and was exercising his rights as commissioner to do so by suspending Brady.

“Mr. Untouchable” will now start the 2016 football season serving his four-game suspension watching from the sidelines.

Bu what message has this whole ordeal sent to our youth that look up these professional athletes?

Professional athletes in the spotlight should be held to a higher standard because they are always in the public eye.

Accusations of cheating should be taken seriously when dealing with matters of what is right and what is wrong.

“Deflategate” will be a scandal that will certainly never be forgotten, if not for the actions of one player but for the moral of the story: cheating will always come back to haunt you in the end.

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