ATLANTIC CITY: A 21-year-old contestant, Betty Cantrell, from Warner Robins, Georgia, has won the title of Miss America 2015.
Betty Cantrell won the New Jersey beauty pageant Sunday night in Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall, but her crowning moment was nearly overshadowed by a three-decade old pageant scandal.
During a question and answer session, Betty Cantrell was asked whether New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady cheated en route to his team’s run to a Super Bowl title last season by using footballs that were improperly deflated. A league-imposed four-game suspension of Brady was recently overturned by a federal judge.
She replied: I’m not sure. “I’d have to see the ball and feel it” she said, before adding, “If there’s any question, then yes, he cheated.”
Cantrell said, “It was kind of a funky question to ask me if Tom Brady cheated. I’m not a football player and I really wasn’t there to feel that ball. If there was any question as to whether or not he cheated and somebody else felt the ball and decided that it was deflated, then yes, I guess he did cheat.”
Betty Cantrell defeated Miss Colorado, and Windsor native, Kelley Johnson, who took second, and Miss Louisiana April Nelson, 23, who finished third.
Betty Cantrell wins a $50,000 college scholarship and gets the Miss America 2016 crown for one year.
