Former Minnesota Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton said Patriots coach Bill Belichick was the Richard Nixon of the NFL on Thursday morning, adding his voice to the criticism the coach has received due to the deflated balls the team used during its AFC Championship victory over the Indianapolis Colts.

The incident has come to be known as Deflategate, a reference to Nixon's Watergate scandal, which eventually forced him to resign from office in 1974.

The Patriots defeated the Indianapolis Colts 45-7 on Sunday, earning a Super Bowl match-up against the Seattle Seahawks.

• SI's complete coverage of Deflategate

However, it was reported Tuesday night that the 12 balls the Patriots were using were under-inflated. The NFL is investigating the incident, but at this time it is not known what, if any, punishment Belichick and the Patriots will face.

In a press conference Thursday morning, Belichick addressed the issue, saying that he did not know anything about the deflated footballs until Monday morning.

Belichick then said quarterback Tom Brady's "...personal preferences on his footballs are something that he can talk about in much better detail and information than I could possibly provide."

• Andrew Luck on AFC Championship Game loss: 'You feel deflated'

- Jack Jorgensen