The company charged with performing scientific tests on footballs as part of the NFL’s investigation into the Patriots last year has defended itself in a lengthy story published by the New York Times Wednesday.
In the controversy that came to be known as “Deflategate,’’ Exponent found itself at the heart of a scientific debate after the investigation concluded it was “more probable than not’’ that Patriots employees had something to do with footballs in the AFC Championship game in January 2015 being underinflated and that quarterback Tom Brady was “at least generally aware’’ of their actions.
“When we released the report, I stood behind it 100 percent,’’ Exponent executive Gabriel Ganot told the Times. “Having heard whatever everybody has said, and having reviewed the thoughts of the critics, I still stand behind it 100 percent.’’
Until Wednesday, Exponent had remained silent while countless others, from professors and scientists to schoolchildren, attempted to debunk its findings. In the Wells Report — the summary findings of the NFL investigation — Exponent “identified no set of credible environmental or physical factors that completely accounts for the additional loss in air pressure’’ of the footballs used by the Patriots in that game, a 45-7 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
Shortly after the Wells Report came out, critics questioned Exponent’s integrity, pointing to a Los Angeles Times story that called the company a “hired gun.’’
Exponent disputed that notion.
“Clients hire Exponent because of our reputation for our independent, high quality, thorough, and objective technical and scientific evaluations,’’ Exponent’s chief executive, Paul Johnston, said in an e-mail to the Times. “We frequently give results to clients that are not what they would have wished, which can often be seen through the resulting product recalls.’’
Aerospace engineer John Pye was one of the four primary scientists and engineers leading the testing.
“A rule we enforced on ourselves is that we had to control for football-fan bias,’’ Pye said. “So we specifically did not involve our Boston office.’’
The story details how Exponent tried to recreate the conditions of Gillette Stadium on the night of the game at its headquarters in Phoenix, even going so far as to put artifical turf on the floor.
Exponent personnel watched the game in real time while employees reenacted what they saw. They threw the footballs, dropped them, jumped on them, wiped them with towels, and sprayed water on them.
“I would feel bad if I thought I made a mistake or I thought I overlooked something,’’ Pye said. “But we made measurements and put the facts out, and it went from there.’’
