Pete Carroll: 'Deflategate had no effect on Super Bowl'

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll has insisted that the deflategate scandal had no effect on his side's Super Bowl loss to the New England Patriots.

A report into the incident in the AFC championship game by Ted Wells asserted that it was more probable than not that the Patriots' deflated footballs in their win over the Indianapolis Colts, while quarterback Tom Brady was found to be generally aware of the process.

However, Carroll is adamant that the scandal had no effect on the game, and feels that the NFL were right to fully investigate the scandal.

"No. No it didn't affect anything," Carroll told reporters. "I think this was an opportunity for the league to step up and do the right thing. "Nobody wants to play this game thinking that somebody has some kind of an advantage, players and fans alike, and so they did the right thing in following up on it, but you know, it was game time, it was it didn't have anything to do with that."

The Patriots won the game 28-24 against Carroll's men as Malcolm Butler made a last-gasp goalline interception to secure the Vince Lombardi trophy.