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The football seen here, as New England running back LeGarrette Blount scores a touchdown in the AFC Championship game, is for sale.
AP Photo/Matt SlocumINDIANAPOLIS – A “Deflategate” football from last year’s AFC Championship game is going on the auction block this summer. Opening bid: $25,000.
Lelands is auctioning the ball for a New England Patriots fan who was given the souvenir following a touchdown late in the third quarter of the Patriots' win over the Indianapolis Colts.
After the game, accusations of under-inflated footballs led to an NFL investigation that determined "it is more probable than not that New England Patriots personnel ... were involved in a deliberate effort to circumvent the rules."
The Patriots were fined $1 million by the NFL, and quarterback Tom Brady was handed a four-game suspension.
Infamous sport memorabilia going on the auction block is nothing new – Cubs fans might remember a certain baseball from the 2003 National League Championship Series – but Leland’s insists the timing of this sale is unusual.
“The historical importance of this piece cannot be understated,” the sports auction house says on its website. “It is the most ‘topical’ piece of sports memorabilia that we can recall ever being sold so close to the event itself.”
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