Letting the air out of Belichick's legacy

Add under-inflated footballs to the list of incidents giving Bill Belichick a reputation for guile and playing above the rules.

Softer footballs wouldn't explain all of a rout that earned the New England Patriots a spot in the Super Bowl. But it's another example of Belichick's reputation of searching for edges and bending any rules until he gets caught.

Vague injury reports. Spygate. Signing players with intel on opponents. And now an open NFL investigation into whether the team cheated during last Sunday's AFC championship victory over the Indianapolis Colts.