Deflategate: NFL Reportedly Zeroes In On Surveilance Video Of Patriots Locker Room Attendant

It’s unclear, though, if the person of interest committed any wrongdoing, sources told FOX Sports.

David Butler Ii / Usa Today Sports

The league determined that 11 of the 12 footballs the Patriots used while playing the Indianapolis Colts were under-inflated by a significant amount.

The Patriots ended up winning the game 45-7.

Under-inflated footballs can provide a competitive advantage because they're easier to grip and throw.

The first under-inflated ball was noticed when Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw a pass that was intercepted by a Colts defender, who notified an official.

The NFL has since launched an investigation into who deflated the footballs. Teams provide 12 footballs bearing their logo that are tested two hours prior to kickoff.

Sources told FOX Sports on Monday that there is surveillance video showing the locker room attendant taking the footballs from the official's room into another room at Gillette Stadium before bringing them out to the field.

The league, though, is still trying to determine if any wrongdoing occurred.

The investigation into the deflation remains ongoing.

LINK: Patriots Cornerback Tells Deflategate Haters To “Inflate This”

LINK: NFL Says Patriots Used 11 Underinflated Footballs In AFC Championship Game

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Lance Armstrong: I Would Dope Again

“I want to be out of time out,” the disgraced cyclist told the BBC.

BBC News / Via bbc.com

Lance Armstrong would choose to dope again if he were faced with the same drug culture he says existed in cycling in the 1990s, the disgraced cyclist told the BBC.

In his first television interview since publicly admitting to Oprah Winfrey in Jan. 2013 that he used performance enhancing drugs extensively during his career, Armstrong told the BBC that he would change his combative behavior at the time, but not his decision to dope.

"If I was racing in 2015, no, I wouldn't do it again because I don't think you have to," Armstrong said. "If you take me back to 1995, when doping was completely pervasive, I would probably do it again."

"When I made that decision, when my teammates made that decision, when the whole peloton made that decision... It was a bad decision at an imperfect time, but it happened," he said.

BBC News / Via bbc.com

In 2012, the drug cheat was stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles and banned from competitive cycling by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

Armstrong, 43, told the broadcaster that his decision to return to competitive cycling was the "biggest mistake" of his life, saying it built a "bridge" for anti-doping agents to investigate his past doping.

However, he also said he it's time for people to forgive him for cheating.

"I'm not going to lie to you. Selfishly, I'd say yeah we're getting close to that time. But that's me," he said. "Listen, of course I want to be out of time out. What kid doesn't? "

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Major League Baseball's New Leader Wants To Make Baseball Exciting Again

New commissioner Rob Manfred has big ideas for how to make games quicker and more action-packed.

Meet Rob Manfred, baseball's tenth commissioner. Manfred takes the helm from Bud Selig, who retired after 22 years in charge of the game.

Patrick McDermott / Getty Images

• Make the pace of games quicker and make games shorter.

• Bolster youth involvement in baseball to grow a new generation of fans and increase diversity in the sport.

• Guide it back toward being a game focused on offense, which Manfred believes will be more exciting to casual fans.

Yesterday, on ESPN, Manfred shared some of his thoughts on how to make America's favorite pastime more appealing to younger audiences:

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38 Things Only Wrestling Fans Know To Be True

IT’S STILL REAL TO US DAMNIT!

People are going to tell you it's fake the second they find out you're a fan.

NBC

No seriously, you're going to hear it a lot.

"Oh you're a fan? You know it's fake right?"

SONY

Eventually you just act surprised when they tell you.

"Oh really? Go on! Tell me more oh wise one!"

WWE

So to counter this you show them how "fake" it actually is...

WWE

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"Mr. Cub," Chicago Baseball Legend Ernie Banks, Dies At 83

Banks was a legendary home run hitter and the first black baseball player on the Chicago Cubs.

Chicago Cubs infielder Ernie Banks is pictured in 1967. (AP Photo/Harold Filan)

AP

Banks joined the Cubs in 1953 and went on to earn the nickname "Mr. Cub." His career was marked by an array of successes over 19 seasons: he hit 512 home runs and 1,636 RBIs; he was an 11-time all star; and in 1977, he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Banks still holds Cubs records for the number games played and at-bats, among other things, ESPN reported. He also still holds the record for the second most home runs in Cubs history.

Ernie Banks connects with the ball for his 2,500th base hit of his major league career on Sept. 19, 1969, in Chicago.

AP

Prior to joining the MLB, he played in the Negro leagues, joining the Kansas City Monarchs in 1950. He later spent two years in the army before joining the Cubs.

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37 Stunning Photos That First Appeared In Sports Illustrated

Over the years, photographers for the magazine have captured the greatest moments in sports.

"There was a decision made through the company to restructure various departments, including at Sports Illustrated," Sports Illustrated director of photography Brad Smith told the National Press Photographers Association. "Unfortunately economic circumstances are such that it has cut the six staff photographers."

Robert Beck, Simon Bruty, Bill Frakes, David E. Klutho, John W. McDonough, and Al Tielemans were told of the decision on Thursday.

The magazine has been known for it's iconic sports photography. Following are a sampling of the work staff photographers have done through the years:

Babe Ruth in 1935.

Jerry Cooke/Sports Illustrated / Getty Images

John G. Zimmerman/ Sports Illustrated / Getty Images

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Seattle Seahawk Marshawn Lynch Is Being Fined $20,000 For Grabbing His Crotch...Again

The Seahawks running back is locked in an expensive battle with the NFL that is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. The NFL’s struggle with how to punish players for non-football behavior.

Christian Petersen / Getty Images

At least Marshawn Lynch is consistent.

Marshawn Lynch again is being fined for grabbing his crotch after scoring a monster touchdown during the NFC Championship game and will be fined once again for refusing to speak to the media after a game. This time, he'll pay $20,000 for the "obscene gesture" and the NFL is threatening to fine him "significantly more" than the $50,000 Lynch has already paid twice for ignoring media obligations.

His teammate, Chris Matthews, was fined $11,050 for what the league says was an "obscene gesture" that mimicked Lynch's signature crotch grab. However, Lynch and Williams say the latter was fined only for shaking Lynch's hand after a touchdown. Lynch then tweeted that he "feels embarrassed to work for a particular organization that fined a teammate of mine for shaking my hand after a touchdown."

The NFL has spent much of the 2014 season scrambling to update policies after they've been revealed as weak and inconsistent, and the revised policies will benefit the players, teams, and leagues. But as the 2015 Super Bowl comes to conclude the NFL's craziest season, the NFL's predilection for highly subjective discipline at the hands of its commissioner remains evident in non-football fines.

Marshawn Lynch's $100,000 fine for two combined incidents in which he refused to speak to the media stands as the highest fine during the 2014 season for a player who was not also suspended. Put simply, only players who used performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) or assaulted their loves ones and subsequently lost weeks of their salary paid the league more than Lynch.

Is a player's refusal to speak to reporters really worthy of a higher fine than a blindside block ($22,050) or a horse collar tackle ($16,537)?

At the beginning of the season, the NFL releases its list of standard fines for on-field football violations. The amounts hover around three increments: $8,268, $16,537, and $22,050. How the NFL decided on those is unclear. Reflecting on the league's wonky personal conduct policy and PED/illegal substance policy, it seems the on-field football fines were once the NFL's strongest showing of consistent punishment.

The Rice Saga

When Ray Rice was initially disciplined for his domestic assault incident last February, he was handed a two-game suspension and a $58,000 fine. Shortly after, when TMZ released a full surveillance video from the elevator, Rice was suspended from the league indefinitely and Commissioner Roger Goodell admitted that they had gotten Rice's suspension wrong. As a result, the personal conduct policy under which Rice was punished has been highly revised, and players are now sent to the paid-leave purgatory known as the Commissioner's Exempt List.

Ronald Martinez / Getty Images

Drug Fines

Other notable fines this season include Wes Welker's $50,000 fine for taking ecstasy, and Josh Gordon's $81,746 fine for testing positive for trace amounts of marijuana for the second time in his career. These fines, and the subsequent suspensions, prompted the league to finally make a distinction between recreational drugs and PEDs.

Ezra Shaw / Getty Images

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