Deflategate, in which the New England Patriots are accused of deflating footballs because OH MY GOD WHO CARES. It’s the stupidest sports controversy in recent memory and I’m pretty sure it’s only a thing because there is no other interesting narrative around this Super Bowl. But it is rife with comedic potential, and there have been some top-notch jokes made about Tom Brady’s balls. The latest comes from Jimmy Kimmel, who rounded up a bunch of Boston celebrities including Matt Damon, John Krasinski, Chris Evans, and Ben Affleck to make a confession video, taking responsibility for deflating Tom Brady’s balls, totally without Tom Brady’s knowledge or participation. The video is funny, with each guy coming up with increasingly-insane reasons for tampering with Tom Brady’s balls.
As much as I appreciate Matt Damon in general and Chris Evans’s Mario Brothers mustache specifically, the winner here is Ben Affleck. He’s so likeable when he’s like this—loose and having fun and rolling with the joke. The way he says, “If you don’t believe me, go f*ck yourself,” kills me. I sort of wish the video was just clips of him intercut with regular people. He’s doing the best Regular Joe schtick out of all of them. Also, I have to ask—why no Amy Poehler?
