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

heavyde050 said:

Honest question, Would you feel they should look at all Rodgers games because he likes them over inflated?

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May explain why he hardly got INT at home. The defense could not catch the ball, they were too hard.
I am just playing along. I heard the story and it was not a big deal to me then or now. What I care about is how the NFL will rule in this case.

rlcarr said:

No. They are accused of deflating the balls after they were given to the refs for testing. And IMHO that's a big difference from submitting under-inflated balls and hoping the refs missed them.

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That's fair, I typed too fast. I just don't believe they measured them before the game. I believe they measured them at halftime and then fixed it.

Gronk said:

What's the difference? Teams are responsible for providing their own game balls, and knowingly inflating the ball outside the designated range is the supposed crime the Pats are accused of, correct? Rodgers is on record to admitting as much. GUILTY. Or is it only a crime if the officials fail to notice? To be fair Rodgers also has said he does think there should be a minimum psi, just no maximum. But that's not the rule.

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The difference is, the balls NE provided were given to the refs before the game. They were tested. They were fine. They were then not fine before half time while IND's were. So something happened between the time the balls were given from the ref to the ball attendant and halftime. Rodgers only said that before a game, they put more pressure in, in hopes it gets by the refs. He never said they do it on the sideline during the game, which is what this looks to be trending towards for NE.

NBC Sports reports:

Source: Footballs were properly checked before Colts-Patriots game

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http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...-properly-checked-before-colts-patriots-game/

heavyde050 said:

Honest question, Would you feel they should look at all Rodgers games because he likes them over inflated?

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To be clear, i am not one who thinks this has one iota to do with Brady and how great he is. I hate the dude, he has been beating the Bills brains in for 15 years...and i do not for one second believe it due to any kind of cheating.

That being said, if this is found to be something planned by the Pats and it is outside the rules, it will cat aspersions on his performances from others.

It sucks, but coupled with Spygate that is the inevitable conversation that is going to be had .

BTW, as a Pats fan yall should want Belicheck suspended for SuperBowl. Think you will win either way, they all this crap goes away.

dales804 said:

I thought he just said that they over-inflated them before the game and hoped it would slip by the refs. This is what Phil Simms said during that broadcast when he's quoting Rodgers:

Source

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Phil Simms actually said that according to Rodgers the refs not only turn a blind eye, they sometimes inflate the ball for him

"You know, the officials do check those footballs and sometimes maybe even get lucky and put an extra half pound of air in there to help Aaron Rodgers out."

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-...ssion-adds-context-to-deflated-football-talk?

I just watched a segment on ESPN and they had two footballs, one at 13.5psi, and the other 2 lbs less, supposedly. The announcers were exclaiming what a huge difference for the quarterback and receiver it was, what a tremendous advantage it would be for the team using that ball.
I swear, it sounded like the Big 12 got caught cheating against the SEC. They are SEC homers and Belichick/Brady haters.

I want to know, if New England gets penalized will they hang a like penalty on the Colts? Why the heck not? They were using that ball too.

I'm telling you, it comes down to the league is going to have to lay this on the officials. Those balls are inspected before the game and the officials handle them twice per play. We know good and damn well the ball boy isn't over there between plays sticking a needle in ELEVEN balls without someone seeing him.

I also want to know what pressure the Colts balls had. What? You mean you didn't check them too? Why not? Oh, that's right, it's a "I hate those winning Pats" kind of deal.

The fact that 11 were that far down does bother me, but I'm beginning to think it is a common thing and the colts decided to rat it out because they got embarrassed. That sure as heck isn't hard to believe. What is hard to believe is that Belichick would be aware of it knowing that every move they make is looked at under a magnifying glass.

baxter1 said:

BTW, as a Pats fan yall should want Belicheck suspended for SuperBowl. Think you will win either way, they all this crap goes away.

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Sadly it will likely never go away, no matter what the outcome of this investigation or the Superbowl.

dales804 said:

The difference is, the balls NE provided were given to the refs before the game. They were tested. They were fine. They were then not fine before half time while IND's were. So something happened between the time the balls were given from the ref to the ball attendant and halftime. Rodgers only said that before a game, they put more pressure in, in hopes it gets by the refs. He never said they do it on the sideline during the game, which is what this looks to be trending towards for NE.

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"Trending toward" is not evidence. If they're going to do something absolutely insane like suspend a head coach for the Super Bowl or disqualify a damn team, then they better have some pretty hard evidence linking the Patriots organization to a willfull act of letting air out of balls in the middle of the game. Otherwise, they've got nothing.

KamikazeKnight said:

I did it

Sure, but when the refs let air out because Rodger's balls are overinflated, there isn't a whole media ****storm and accusations of cheating. Yet the Patriots underinflate their balls and suddenly it's a huge news story. That's not acceptable.

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Because what Rodgers is admitting to is not cheating. NE could give flat balls to the refs and they'd just pump them up to the standard PSI. The issue is, the refs checked the balls pre-game and when they handed them to ball attendant, they're fine. During gameplay, they were not. That is the problem.

If GB ever got caught having an over-inflated ball during gameplay, that'd be different. But that is not and has not been the case.

sambam94 said:

you really don't see the difference? If someone let the air out after the refs checked them, that is cheating...As a Pats fan, I'm pissed..

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I know this may seem like pedantic to you but continue to read.
Being low in pressure does not necessary equate to letting air out. This situation seems like what may have happened, but initial conditions are critical to the state of the balls at half time. There is more than 4 hours of elapsed time between when they were first checked by the ref and when they were rechecked at half time.
Temperature did not stay 51 degrees throughout the night. In face think the highest it got to at Foxboro was 49. Let the facts play out. We will see.

This is brutal. Countless posts on FB by haters today calling for our 3-rings and saying that our legacy is tarnished. I am sick to my stomach. Not a good omen for this game. Fair or not this is the label our franchise and fans are now labeled with. Heard it from Eagles fans this October that we cheated them out of their SB trophy in 2004. Now this is back with even more force. It led the local news this AM. Unbelievable.

KamikazeKnight said:

"Trending toward" is not evidence. If they're going to do something absolutely insane like suspend a head coach for the Super Bowl or disqualify a damn team, then they better have some pretty hard evidence linking the Patriots organization to a willfull act of letting air out of balls in the middle of the game. Otherwise, they've got nothing.

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I didn't say it was evidence. I mean that possibilities are being eliminated each hour, seemingly.

shmessy said:

No.

Each offense provides their own 12 balls.

This is something that has been widely discussed for the past two days.

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I haven't really engaged in this topic. I appreciate the clarification.

Couple questions:

- Did they check the other 12 footballs or just ours?
- Did they check any other footballs for other games at the conclusion?

I mean when you have a 300lb man leaning on it, snapping it to a QB who throws 60mph at a player who then holds it as tight as possible before being slammed to the ground on top of it I have to believe it could impact the football.

I would be will to bet the 1 football not deflated was the one that didn't get used.

dales804 said:

During gameplay, they were not.

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At what point though? They could have been fine until the 2nd quarter for all we know.

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.

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It's not even about the final score. It's the fact that after the issue was rectified in the 2nd half, we played even better and outscored you 28-0.

denverpatsfan said:

This is brutal. Countless posts on FB by haters today calling for our 3-rings and saying that our legacy is tarnished. I am sick to my stomach. Not a good omen for this game. Fair or not this is the label our franchise and fans are now labeled with. Heard it from Eagles fans this October that we cheated them out of their SB trophy in 2004. Now this is back with even more force. It led the local news this AM. Unbelievable.

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People worry way to much about what other fans say and media says. I am just going to enjoy the fact the Pats are playing in their 8th Super Bowl.

Username said:

Phil Simms actually said that according to Rodgers the refs not only turn a blind eye, they sometimes inflate the ball for him

"You know, the officials do check those footballs and sometimes maybe even get lucky and put an extra half pound of air in there to help Aaron Rodgers out."

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-...ssion-adds-context-to-deflated-football-talk?

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I don't take that as Simms speaking for Rodgers. I take that as Simms embellishing a bit. Maybe I'm wrong, though.

dannydyn said:

NBC Sports reports:



http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...-properly-checked-before-colts-patriots-game/

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And a person on here checked pressure in a 64.5 degree room before it was put in 37 degree temperature and an hour later it had dropped 2 PSI

Big-T said:

At what point though? They could have been fine until the 2nd quarter for all we know.

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Guess we'll wait for the report on the investigation. From what's been said they were tested at halftime. So when they actually got to that level, who knows?