Seriously this ongoing saga has three possible ways the balls got deflated. (1) The balls were deflated prior to the NFL referee receiving them, (2)They were deflated by or with the NFL referee or (3) the ball boy attendant somehow deflated them on the way to the sidelines. Theory number one balls deflated prior to NFL referee receiving them.
Tom Brady and the equipment manager or the person in charge of delivering the balls to the referee have an ongoing understanding about ball preparation probably for years. That being said Brady simply could have said we’ve got some bad weather.It’s going to be rainy and a windy. That would be enough for the person responsible for delivering the balls to understand that Brady likes the ball deflated. That person delivers the footballs to the NFL referee who does not actually use a needle or pressure gauge to determine the psi. He simply looks at the balls looks at the laces looks at the covering feels the balls with his hands and approves them. Thus if the balls were deflated prior to the NFL referee approving them it would be on the referee for not thoroughly inspecting the balls. This is the most practical explanation since it’s understood that many NFL referees do not actually measure the air pressure they simply just handle the balls with their hands.
Theory number 2, NFL referee deflated footballs. Not likely but there have been issues with referees in all sports. Finally the ball attendant that takes the footballs from the NFL referee to the sidelines. 90 second restroom break not likely he deflated 11 footballs in 90 seconds and washed his hands. Is there another location he could have gone into and took enough time to deflate the footballs video evidence would show that if possible.
Finally how much time did it take the attendant from leaving the stadium to the sidelines. Was that the normal time? Was there an additional 5 to 10 minute delay? Meanwhile NFL is spending millions of dollars investigating. Maybe they should spend a little bit more for ball security in the future.