Cheating Works: NFL tolerates Tom Brady's 'Deflategate'
Well, as far as sports scandals go... "Deflategate" might not have seemed like something to get pumped up about when it first surfaced in January. It doesn't centre on gambling, violence, or sex... but on a question of air pressure. And yet it's blown up into one of the NFL's biggest scandals in years.
The New England Patriots were accused of deflating the game balls that star quarterback Tom Brady hurled in a game leading up to the Super Bowl. A slightly deflated ball could be easier to pass and catch. But if it's true that those balls had been doctored, then what would that make football's golden boy, Tom Brady?
Yesterday, the NFL released its own internal 'Deflategate' report.
Matt Bonesteel has been covering the 'Deflategate' scandal for the Washington Post.
The so-called 'Deflategate' scandal and the idea that a sly attempt at cheating could be hiding in plain view had us wondering about just how widespread cheating really is in the world. Both when it comes to big, and small, transgressions of the rules.
Luckily, it's a subject that our panel have given some honest thought to.
- Dan Ariely is a professor of Behaviour Economics at Duke University, and author of "The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone... Especially ourselves."
- Tricia Bertram Gallant is an Integrity & Ethics author, teacher and consultant. She was in San Diego, California.
- Margaret Heffernan is the author of " A Bigger Prize: How We Can Do Better than the Competition". She was in London, England.
We want to hear from you. Any cheating confessions to share? Is it really making the world such a worse-off place?
Send us an email to [email protected]. You can also find us on Facebook, or on Twitter @TheCurrentCBC.
This segment was produced by The Current's Sarah Grant, Sujata Berry and Natalie Walters.
RELATED LINKS
Why We Lie - Dan Ariely, The Wall Street Journal
Wells Report gave us hilarious text messages about Deflategate - The Washington Post