The NFL is investigating whether the New England Patriots deflated footballs that were used in their AFC championship game victory over the Indianapolis Colts.We are looking into it, league spokesman Brian McCarthy wrote in an email to The Associated Press on Monday. We do not have anything further to add at this point.The inquiry was first reported by the website for WTHR-TV in Indiana, citing an unnamed source.Well co-operate fully with whatever the league wants us to, whatever questions they ask, Belichick said Monday during his regular conference call with reporters.He said he was unaware there was an issue until Monday morning.The Patriots have come under scrutiny with regards to NFL rules in the past, most infamously when they were punished for videotaping sideline signals used by the New York Jets during a 2007 game. Belichick was fined $500,000, and the team was docked $250,000 and stripped of its 2008 first-round draft pick.According to the NFL rule book, home teams are responsible for furnishing playable balls at all times. Each team brings 12 primary balls, while home teams are required to also bring 12 backup balls.Once the referee makes sure the footballs are properly inflated, theyre delivered to ball attendants provided by the home team.The leagues game operations manual notes: If any individual alters the footballs, or if a non-approved ball is used in the game, the person responsible and, if appropriate, the head coach or other club personnel will be subject to discipline, including but not limited to, a fine of $25,000.Deflating a football could change the way it would be gripped by a player or the way it travels through the air.The Patriots beat the Colts 45-7 to reach the Super Bowl. New England will play the defending champion Seattle Seahawks for the NFL title at Glendale, Arizona, on Feb. 1.Colts coach Chuck Pagano said he did not notice issues with the football. He did not specify when asked whether the Colts had reported the issue to officials.We talk just like they talk to officials (before the game), we have an opportunity to talk to the officials about a lot of things, things that youve seen on tape like the formations we talked about last week, Pagano said. Every coach in the league gets an opportunity to visit with the officials about that kind of stuff before the game.In Sunday nights lopsided AFC finale, quarterback Tom Brady threw for three touchdowns and running back LeGarrette Blount gained 148 yards while scoring three touchdowns to send New England to its sixth Super Bowl in the past 14 years.Colts quarterback Andrew Luck had his worst game as a pro, completing only 12 of 33 passes for 126 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.On his regular weekly morning-after-game appearance Monday on WEEI radio, Brady said he wasnt aware of the report about the leagues investigation into whether footballs were properly inflated against Indianapolis.I think Ive heard it all at this point, Brady said with a laugh.Thats the last of my worries, he said. I dont even respond to stuff like this.___AP Sports Writers Howard Ulman in Boston and Mike Marot in Indianapolis contributed to this report.___Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://twitter.com/AP_NFL Wholesale Nike MLB Jerseys . -- Adrian Peterson takes a look around the league and sees big money flying everywhere. Cheap MLB Jerseys From China . LOUIS -- When Braves second baseman Tyler Pastornicky backpedaled into shallow right field to catch the popup and Jason Heyward didnt arrive fast enough to take charge, Kolten Wong got the green light. https://www.mlbjerseyschina.us/. Thats what he did over the past 2 1/2 years with the Washington Wizards. Wittmans approach helped turn the Wizards from pushover to playoff winners. MLB Jerseys Outlet . Among the teams moves was trading one of the teams two third round picks, no. 83 overall, to the Chicago Blackhawks for Brandon Bollig, a six-foot-two, 223-pound left-winger who had seven goals, seven assists, and 92 penalty minutes in 82 games last season. Fake Nike MLB Jerseys . - Benched Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh Freeman said he has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and voluntarily entered the NFL substance abuse program more than a year ago after mistakenly taking a medication to treat the condition.The Boston Red Sox are without question the team of the last decade. Theyre won three World Series titles in the last 10 seasons. However the Bosox havent matched the dynastic run of their their most ferocious rivals, the Yankees, who won five Fall Classics between 1996 and 2009 in seven tries over a run of 14 seasons. The most amazing part of that run occurred between 1996 and 2000 when they won four times in five years. The genesis of this run began in 1994, when the Yanks had the best record in the American League going when the season was shut down in August due to a labour dispute that wasnt settled until the following April. In the slightly shortened 05 season, they made the post-season. After going 95-67 under Joe Torre, the Yanks were knocked out by the Angels in the division series. But that was only the beginning. Though their record fell off a bit in 1996 to 90-72, New York was the top team in the American League and ultimately beat Atlanta 4 games to 2 to win their first World Series title since 1978. Four constants in their everyday line-up would emerge in Tino Martinez at first, Derek Jeter at short, Bernie Williams in centre field and Paul ONeill in right. The Yankees starting rotation in 96 was largely made up of star pitchers culled from other teams, such as Kenny Rogers, Jimmy Key, Dwight Gooden and David Cone. The two homegrowns were Andy Pettitte and Ramiro Mendoza. That would change over the next few years as the Yankees developed some of their own and made some big international signings. In their glory years, the Yanks bench was always populated with veteran stars. In 1996, it was the likes of Tim Raines, Darryl Strawberry and Cecil Fielder. Their depth was extraordinary. Though they stumbled in 1997, the Yankees bounced back with their greatest season of this five-year run going 108-54 and sweeping San Diego in the 1998 World Series. By this time Jorge Posada had replaced Joe Girardi as the starter behind the plate, and Chuck Knoblauch had taken over as the second baseman. But Martinez, Jeter, Williams and ONeill were still driving the engine and Mariano Rivera had emerged as a star closer with 36 saves this particular season. The bench was populated with the likes of Chili Davis, Raines and Strawberry and the rotation featured three men who pitched over 200 innings in Andy Pettitte, David Wells and David Cone. They were augmented by Hideki Irabu of Japan and Cuban Orlando Hernandez. In 98, the Yanks had two players who drove in over 100 runs, another with 98 and yet another with 97. This team was loaded in every sense of the word. In 1999, the Yanks win total fell off from 108 to 98. But they were no less of a force. There was only a little bit of tweaking to the every day line-up, with Ricky Ledee supplanting Chad Curtis in left and Chili Davis taking over the bulk of the DH duties. Roger Clemens, who was searrching for that first World Series victory, was the new face in the rotation.dddddddddddd The Rocket had been picked up in a package deal with the Blue Jays that sent David Wells, Homer Bush and Graeme Lloyd to the Jays. Rivera chalked up 45 saves, and the big four of Martinez, Jeter, Williams and ONeill each drove in over 100 runs. The Yankees swept to a second straight World Series victory, taking out Atlanta for the second time in four years. In 2000, the Yankees were bidding to become the first team since the Oakland As from 1972-74 to win three straight World Series. Outside of Shane Spencer taking over the bulk of the DH duties, the Yankees starting line-up was basically unchanged. The starting pitching was starting to fade a bit though. Three of the starters finished .500 or below. David Cone was nearing the end of a fantastic career and finished 4-14. Lefty Denny Neagle strugged in the Big Apple, going 7-7 and Orlando Hernandez was only 12-13. Twenty starts had to be made by plug in pieces including nine by swingman Mendoza and five by Dwight Gooden. The Yankees as always had that power-laden bench. David Justice and Glenallen Hill combined for 36 homers and 89 runs batted in, with Jose Canseco nearing the end of his career and adding six homers and 16 RBI. The Yankees still had enough left in the tanks to get back to the World Series for a third straight year, where they defeated their cross-town rivals the Mets 4 games to 1. No team has even won back-to-back World Series since the Yankees scored their trifecta, though the Giants did win in 2010 and 2012. Ive just got a feeling with the ever-increasing local TV deals and the parity in the game, it will be a very long time if ever, before we see another three-peat. Wishful Thinking This is purely speculation and wishful thinking by the New York media, but Andrew Marchand of ESPN New York wondered aloud over the weekend if there was some way the Yankees could acquire Jose Reyes from the Blue Jays after the coming season to replace the retiring Derek Jeter. The theory being, if the Jays have another rocky season, they just might swing into rebuild mode and be willing to deal Reyes for a package of younger players. Reyes greatly admires Jeter and still makes his off-season home on Long Island, but trading him to the Yankees doesnt make much sense. If Reyes has a great season, you keep him. If he gets hurt again, or simply has a lousy season, his market value would be low and the Yankees wouldnt want or need him anyway. But as I said, stranger things have happened. Tanaka Watch Yankees skipper Joe Girardi has left the door open for Masahiro Tanaka to start either the third our fourth game of the regular season. If it is the third, its against the Houston Astros. However, if it is the fourth game Tanaka would make his Major League debut in the Blue Jays home opener at Rogers Centre. Heres hoping! ' ' '