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Two hours and 15 minutes before each game, officials inspect 12 footballs from each team and put a mark on them to indicate they meet the proper requirements and are good for usage. Then those footballs are given to the ball attendant.
There also is a second set of six footballs, used specifically for the kicking game, which are marked appropriately and remain in the possession of officials at all times.
"Officials check balls as they go into the game, and if the ball doesn't feel perfect, they can throw it out," Daopolous said. "There is always the possibility that balls can lose air due to the conditions."
A team can be fined if it is found to be knowingly altering the weight of the football.
The NFL's game operations manual states: "Once the balls have left the locker room, no one, including players, equipment managers, ball boys, and coaches, is allowed to alter the footballs in any way. If any individual alters the footballs, or if a non-approved ball is used in the game, the person responsible and, if appropriate, the head coach or other club personnel will be subject to discipline, including but not limited to, a fine of $25,000."
1) By these the rules, the referee is not obligated to check if a ball is suitable at any particular time before, during, or after game. What the rules state is that balls that do not fit the specification must be replaced for ones that are, and if that fails, the best possible ball available is used. Instances where a ball is chosen for another must be reported to the NFL as part of a normal process.
2) However, the referees most definitely have a list of best practices they must follow before every game where they do in fact check a few, if not all, the balls prior to the game, and then throughout the game if a player appears to have a sincere complaint.
3) Interestingly enough, the kicking balls are sealed in the box and shipped directly to the referee and must be opened at exactly 2:15 before the game start. Since the game was delayed by 10 minutes due to an unexpected overtime NFC game, the referees already "screwed up" by opening the balls at 2:25 before the game started. Presumably, they are inflated at this point since balls are shipped slightly (if not completely) deflated.
4) There is an allowance for +/- 0.5 oz in weight if the game balls were weighted to be 14.5 oz indoors. The problem is, any value from 14 to 15oz can be fine at one point in the day, but leather absorbs water and a 15oz ball will become invalid as soon as rain touches it, never mind soaking in the rain and rolling in wet turf. Even a 14oz ball may weigh more than 15oz by the time it has soaked up water.
5) Replacing balls, reporting such discrepancies to the NFL, and investigating the report are all normal parts of every game unless the league finds otherwise in the coming days or weeks.
6) The game balls must be official NFL balls with specific size, weight, shape, color, and inflation. However, here are some creative ways to push this rule:
- Use official balls from 10-30 years ago, which may be different from the current game ball. Even if they're physically practically the same, the NFL logo might be the old one and this would give the visiting team less confidence. Even better, make each of your game balls different in some way.
- Polish up the leather in a unique way such that the gloves your team wears stick to them easily, and/or make it harder for your opponents to catch or throw with regular gloves.
- Write messages to the opposing team on the ball. Why should Goodell's signature be the only writing there?
If this is true then I want Belichick gone. As a fan I'm beyond done with having to deal with this constant spectre of 'cheating' looming over our team. I don't care what players do off the field - I let that one go ages ago - but I do care about what happens on the field and don't want to root for a team that cheats.
But none of this makes sense to me. First off - why do you cheat? To gain an advantage but there's a risk/reward aspect. Why would you risk this blowing up in your face to beat a team you have manhandled constantly? If we were going to deflate balls we'd do it against Baltimore a team that has humiliated us at home during the playoffs.
Furthermore:
So in order to deflate these balls someone would have to do some Oceans 11 **** with the NFL ball attendant and switch them out with deflated ones or deflate them while he's distracted like Elmer Fudd when Bugs Bunny dresses in drag.
None of this makes sense and honestly, I'm really ****ing tired of this **** hanging over our team. Even if it isn't true I think the Patriots need to go on the PR offensive and hire some auditing firm to look over their shoulder for the next few years and provide transparency.
I want the stink of 'cheating' off of my team. I was so happy last night and now I'm just....(get your groans ready) deflated.
Hasn't Thomase returned to the Pats beat? Coincidence? Maybe...I am sure someone has mentioned this.
The Pats filed the tampering charge against Woody and all of a sudden there is an "NFL investigation" because the footballs used in the AFCCG were "deflated." Coincidence or cause? Who called for the investigation?
Like someone said in this thread - Kraft has to come down on this like a ton of bricks.
Sometimes I wonder if Robert Kraft and BB pissed in Goodell's corn flakes. Every win has some type of "Gate" attached to it.
Since the balls are held by the attendant, any deflation should have video evidence, as it would have to be done on the field by a player handling the ball.
Is the attendant an employee of the NFL?
Please let the answer be yes.
This thread is getting so big that I think many reading are missing some critical information. I posted this Blandino interview earlier. It pretty much exonerates the Pats noting that it is both routine and common for balls to be found defective and put aside for further testing by the league:Is the attendant an employee of the NFL?
Please let the answer be yes.
None of this makes sense and honestly, I'm really ****ing tired of this **** hanging over our team. Even if it isn't true I think the Patriots need to go on the PR offensive and hire some auditing firm to look over their shoulder for the next few years and provide transparency.
This thread is getting so big that I think mean reading are missing some critical information. I posted this Blandino interview earlier. It pretty much exonerates the Pats noting that it is both routine and common for balls to be found defected and put aside for further testing by the league:
http://www.nfl.com/videos/new-engla...andino-on-possible-use-of-deflated-footballs#
Fortunately we have video evidence of each and every game in it's entirety.If you win more than you should in a card game, then you might be accused of cheating. The Pats run has been improbable, with human elements no team can understand, not impossible. Anything that happens will be used to explain how those odds were defied, other than the human factors that actually explain it.
Not a rational debate. It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to answer this question, but we will hear about if for the week from the rest of the NFL fans because their teams do not go to the title game as much if at all. I love the Pats, but many fans despise them for their success. PR pointing out how stupid this is will not work. Tell the real story of Spygate, and what the real benefit of the practice was, and nobody outside this site listens. Why? It is like telling someone who wants to believe they are thin that 30% body fat means in reality they are fat. It's called denial. Your teams are inferior when they lose. Get over it and work to coach and build better teams that can compete for a title.
This thread is getting so big that I think many reading are missing some critical information. I posted this Blandino interview earlier. It pretty much exonerates the Pats noting that it is both routine and common for balls to be found defective and put aside for further testing by the league:
http://www.nfl.com/videos/new-engla...andino-on-possible-use-of-deflated-footballs#