ESPN: 11 of 12 footballs under inflated by 2 pounds of air.

RobertWeathers · Jan 21, 2015

I want to know what the PSI was for the Colts balls before/during and after the game.

I also want the measurements for every single ball that was used during an NFL game this year.

I'll expect inconsistencies will prove an imperfect system and a lack of a standardized set of controls.

I know the media is running with this crap but for the sake of being fair and balanced, the masses should know this.

Hell is freezing over in 3..2...1..

LightSkinSmurf · Jan 21, 2015

CMH said:
Ill say it again - the game wa 45-7.

It's embarrassing that everyone is so up-in-arms about this. It was the first thing on 'The Lead' this morning on Sportscenter and the first thing Mike & Mike addressed, as well.

Pats are the most hated team in the modern NFL - no surprise everyone and their mother is using this as an excuse to attempt to tarnish their legacy. Stop comparing this to 'spygate', it's absolutely absurd.

What the score was is completely irrelevant. Nobody is trying to claim the patriots won because of this. That's not the point tho.

Jackson 2 · Jan 21, 2015

DefenseRules said:
This is the main point here. Everyone wants to blame BB for this and BB only. What if he didn't order it? What if none of this was done on purpose? There are more people responsible for this failure than just the HEADCOACH. And if this was not done intentionally, then what do they do? Is it possible that the balls were just not inflated and inspected PROPERLY. These are the questions the NFL needs to answer. Why were the balls deflated, who deflated them, and why did the referees not notice it?

Great questions that deserve honest answers. I guess my point is that the truth won't matter with the public or media outside of this little corner of the world. I believe that every accomplishment of this team, QB, coach, owner and entire franchise will be viewed with disdain everywhere else. We can all say screw the world, but the fact is that as a franchise and fan base, we'll never recover from this, and I HATE acknowledging this. But, to quote a (in)famous coach I love, "it is what it is."

PatsFanInVa · Jan 21, 2015

DarrylS said:
Must admit that I am somewhat deflated by this news...

With all the camera's on the sideline, there has to be way of following the "ball attendant" around and see if any malfeasance took place.. and if it did, the culprit will be obvious..+

Did they check the balls of the Colts??

Wait, how can there be any cameras on the sidelines if they all have to be enclosed on at least 3 sides or something...

Bobsyouruncle · Jan 21, 2015

Who's the source?

PatsFanInVa · Jan 21, 2015

So, I'll watch and wait on this one. Either way we have a game to win in 2 weeks, and insofar as I'm thinking "football," that's what I'm thinking about.

FreeTedWilliams · Jan 21, 2015

This is awful, not because of any actual advantage gained, especially when you consider once they inflated the balls, the Pats went on a 28-0 run, but because of the perception.

Everything wil be tarnished. Proving that the Pats did this intentionally is almost impossible, once you consider the "chain of custody" of the balls. BUT, the fact that almost all of them were the same deflation, shows intent. The ball boy is going to be questioned like the video assistant.

Once again, at a time when the Pats should be celebrated for making the Super Bowl, they ( the players) have to answer questions about something, they had nothing to do with and no knowledge of!

Irregardless of what the truth is, the Pats look bad, and this is going to be an awful two weeks.

PatsFanInVa · Jan 21, 2015

Oh yeah other than to say... its 2 PSI, you don't WEIGH the football, you check the pressure... damn I don't know how many times I've seen people talking about weighing the ball. When your tire is low you don't weigh it to see how much to pump it back up do you? Dang.

nowayback · Jan 21, 2015

If found guilty, how will the league punish the Patriots?

Again, from the game manual: "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."

So that's how serious this is...25000 $ fine. and perhaps other measures(if its the Pats) because up till now no penalties have been handed out to other teams for such violations >> heaters. Geez I wonder why Rodgers is so good at home and especially 1st half(before psi falls).

What they are saying is that if you are caught(needle in hand) deflating then its 25.000 at least. 1st offence...for any team but Pats. And suspending the person who was responsible> ball boy, equip manager or BB . Like Sal Alosi.>> which was much worse then deflating balls imo.

DarrylS · Jan 21, 2015

shmessy said:
At least you got sleep last night.

I saw this at 11:45pm and couldn't sleep 'til 3:30AM.

One of the obvious questions is why did they release it sto Mort, this late at night?? So the mediots can make the early edition and spin it their way??

I do not understand why they release information through second party sources... guess after the Ray Rice debacle, this is all part of damage control.

stcjones · Jan 21, 2015

Interesting points ....agree with you that entire thing is total horseshit because every QB prefers a football a certain way....and every team keeps the balls inflated at a certain PSI. I think the pats did just that....but prob inflated at the LOWER end of the scale....then weather changes etc and ALL Balls lose same amount of air.....but getting to one of your other points......

....the league and God-dell HAD the opportunity to maintain the integrity of the game and PROTECT the brand and this team against a ridiculous allegation. All he had to do was come out and say...the balls were tested and found to be on the lower scale of the acceptable range......and everything would have gone away....and we could move on to enjoying the SB and buildup weeks......but as we all know God-dell DESPISES the Patriots and Belichick and any time he gets ANY shred of accusation against US ......he magnifies and exploits it.....do you think that if this was Peyton Manning and the Donkos he would still be riding this sore assed crazy train?

Patters said:
The Pats bring some interesting elements to the game of football. As I see it there are three possibilities:
(1) The Pats outright cheated and found a way for the ball attendant or someone else to deflate the balls after they were inspected.
(2) The Pats stretched the rules by inflating the balls with hot air so that they would initially comply but lose significant PSI in those weather conditions. (At least one meteorologist said that for every 10 degree temp drop, a ball could lose 1 psi.)
(3) The referee failed to do his job or in his judgment the balls were compliant. The rules state, "The Referee shall be the sole judge as to whether all balls offered for play comply with these specifications. A pump is to be furnished by the home club, and the balls shall remain under the supervision of the Referee until they are delivered to the ball attendant just prior to the start of the game."

Number (1) is the worst case obviously. If the Pats outright cheated, this will put not only BB under a cloud of suspicion, but Brady as well. Brady said in 2011 he likes deflated footballs, so one would assume he has a lot of say in how the balls are handled. In that case, the NFL would have to do something pretty drastic to restore the integrity of the game, and accept that the Superbowl would be tainted.

Number (2) and (3) aren't so bad. If the Pats complied with the letter of the rules but not the spirit of the rules, then the matter falls on the NFL for not having precise enough rules and on the refs for not doing a better check on the balls.

It's worth keeping in mind that the Vikings earlier in the year used heaters to warm their footballs (and were later simply told not to do it again) and Aaron Rodgers said he uses overinflated balls, so this has not been an issue that the NFL took with great seriousness until now.

My guess is that the NFL has no choice but to defend the Pats. The only way to protect the integrity of the game and ensure the profitability of the Superbowl is to say that the Pats followed the rules and the rules will need to be tightened for next season. Remember, the NFL is a business. It is not a system of justice. It will act in the interest of the game first, not right or wrong.

At any rate, I'll take a slightly tainted title over none at all. I think most fans would.

Oswlek · Jan 21, 2015

robertweathers said:
I want to know what the PSI was for the Colts balls before/during and after the game.

I also want the measurements for every single ball that was used during and NFL game this year.

Yup. We have our sample, now where's our control?

stcjones · Jan 21, 2015

DarrylS said:
Out of curiosity did they examine the Colts balls as well??

Of course not.....they are only concerned with destroying the Patriots....everyone else gets a free pass.....Kraft should be calling for this RIGHT NOW.....

Sfpat · Jan 21, 2015

LightSkinSmurf said:
What the score was is completely irrelevant. Nobody is trying to claim the patriots won because of this. That's not the point tho.

Not sure I agree. Unfortunately, everyone is calling it a "cheating" scandal. It was the lead on the local news here in Houston this morning

stcjones · Jan 21, 2015

The BIGGEST thing on this SHOULD be....DID a slightly under inflated ball REALLY effect the OUTCOME of this game? Was the ball THE reason that Blount rumbled all over the Dolts team for incredible numbers and 3 TDS? Didn't a ball that was inflated on the lower end of the scale make the interception easier for the Indy CB to make??? This game was a BLOWOUT.......all this talk and witch hunt created by the mediots and Goddell is completely unnecessary.....and going to make the next two weeks for our team and fans.....unbearable

PatsBoy12 · Jan 21, 2015

Skree said:
It's on the Refs to check then...screw them

Respect, Skree. But we know it's not that simple in the court of public opinion. This team, by most accounts, had a HUGE red mark already. This does absolutely nothing but add to it now. This does not look good, no matter what. At least that's what my layman's eyes see.

stcjones · Jan 21, 2015

Sfpat said:
Not sure I agree. Unfortunately, everyone is calling it a "cheating" scandal. It was the lead on the local news here in Houston this morning

oh yeah......ANYTHING the Patriots do (despite every other team doing it) that is even remotely questionable to the rules....gets BLOWN way out of proportion and all of a sudden....something as innocuous and non game changing as this.....is Deflategate.....and a "cheating" scandal

Completely sucks for the team AND US....we should all be enjoying these next two weeks instead of going through he//.....and have to avoid all sports media.....here we fcking go again....

PatsFanSince74 · Jan 21, 2015

I thought about writing a long post, but all the arguments have been hashed and re-hashed in over 100 messages. Faulty meter? How did the refs miss it? If they were doing it on the sidelines there were a million cameras covering the game, one of them would have caught it. They still blew them away in the second half after the balls were re-inflated.

The bottom line is that there is no benefit of the doubt for the Patriots after Spygate. All they can do is win the game in Arizona.

Show416 · Jan 21, 2015

http://t.co/oYQdw0k7si

Here's an article of Eli doctoring his footballs for months. Clear NFL violation as your only allowed to rub it for 45 minutes. Where's the outrage here?? Oh wait, that's right it's a non story made into a story because it's the Patriots.

PatsBoy12 · Jan 21, 2015

Jackson 2 said:
Great questions that deserve honest answers. I guess my point is that the truth won't matter with the public or media outside of this little corner of the world. I believe that every accomplishment of this team, QB, coach, owner and entire franchise will be viewed with disdain everywhere else. We can all say screw the world, but the fact is that as a franchise and fan base, we'll never recover from this, and I HATE acknowledging this. But, to quote a (in)famous coach I love, "it is what it is."

As pessimistic a view as this is, I think my line of thinking falls somewhere close. It's unfortunate really. This team and it's coach deserve nothing but credit, but perception, true or false, sometimes is more harsh than reality and, consequently, weighed heavier by most. At the very least I feel like the people who say NE hasn't won anything without cheating feel validated this morning.

ESPN: 11 of 12 footballs under inflated by 2 pounds of air.

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