ESPN columnist and TV personality Michael Wilbon said Monday that the Patriots’ berth in Super Bowl XLIX should be vacated by the NFL if “Deflategate’’ is found to be true.

“The Patriots franchise is on probation as far as I’m concerned, from Spygate,’’ Wilbon said on Pardon The Interruption. “If you’re a cheater, and you’re a multiple time cheater, I would say to the New England Patriots, “You know what we’re going to do? If this is found to be true, like today, tomorrow, the next 72 hours, the next 3 days, you know what? You’re forfeiting your spot in the Super Bowl. We’re vacating it. Get out! You’re a cheater, you’re a lying franchise.’’


The NFL is investigating whether the Patriots used overly deflated footballs in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game throttling of the Colts.

The audio of Monday’s PTI can be found here. Skip to the 7-minute mark for the beginning of Wilbon and Tony Kornheiser’s discussion on the Patriots.