PFT Talks to former NFL Supervisor of officials

ProFootballTalk ‏@ProFootballTalk 6m6 minutes ago
On PFT Live, @RefereeJimD says that officials did not know that balls set to 12.5 PSI at kickoff would drop lower than that on a cold day.

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ProFootballTalk ‏@ProFootballTalk 11m11 minutes ago
On PFT Live, former NFL official and supervisor of officials @RefereeJimD on football inflation: "It has never been an exact science."

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So Brady's been suspended based on a rule that was written in 1940 with a profound misunderstanding of middle school science that, as a result of this misunderstanding, is violated in every single NFL game played significantly above or below room temperature. And the refs didn't know the difference because nobody cared until the COlts lost their minds crying over it.

Awesome.

BradyFTW! said:

So Brady's been suspended based on a rule that was written in 1940 with a profound misunderstanding of middle school science that, as a result of this misunderstanding, is violated in every single NFL game played significantly above or below room temperature. And the refs didn't know the difference because nobody cared until the COlts lost their minds crying over it.

Awesome.

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Actually, if you want to be technical, he's been suspended for not turning over nude texts from Giselle in order to satisfy the multi-million dollar investigation into this archaic rule that no one cared about until the Colts lost their minds.

I find it hard to believe that over the last 70+ years there hasn't been anyone who worked as an official, an equipment guy, or in the league office who knew that the PSI would change based on the temperature in the stadium. There had to have been some bright people around the game who knew this over that period of time.

Maybe it never came up. Or maybe it came up a few times over the years, but no one gave it much serious consideration, until the 2015 AFCCG.

Koma said:

I find it hard to believe that over the last 70+ years there hasn't been anyone who worked as an official, an equipment guy, or in the league office who knew that the PSI would change based on the temperature in the stadium. There had to have been some bright people around the game who knew this over that period of time.

Maybe it never came up. Or maybe it came up a few times over the years, but no one gave it much serious consideration, until the 2015 AFCCG.

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Nobody cared.. if the balls looked/felt too flat they were refilled and that was it. The differences between 12.5 PSI and 10 PSI are so miniscule that nobody gave a **** and certainly didn't provide a big advantage.

Exactly. It never came up BECAUSE NOBODY EVER CARED BEFORE, IN THE HISTORY OF THE NFL.

luuked said:

Nobody cared.. if the balls looked/felt too flat they were refilled and that was it. The differences between 12.5 PSI and 10 PSI are so miniscule that nobody gave a **** and certainly didn't provide a big advantage.

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I don't think the refs ever cared - look at how over-inflated the balls in the Jets games were or the POS pressure gauges the refs were using. However, TB12 did care after that game and he forced the refs to actually do their job. I have a suspicion that after Brady started to force the this issue, there may have discussion in other pre-game officials rooms "Yeah, Brady is a PITA about air pressure, always forces us to make it as low as possible". Colts equipment guy hears this and on the chance that they might catch them (sorta like calling an illegal stick length in hockey) in a technicality alerts his boss. The rest is bad history.

Sicilian said:

Actually, if you want to be technical, he's been suspended for not turning over nude texts from Giselle in order to satisfy the multi-million dollar investigation into this archaic rule that no one cared about until the Colts lost their minds.

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Please prove your point by forwarding me those texts

PatsWickedPissah said:

Please prove your point by forwarding me those texts

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If I had those, I'd be posting from the private island I made Brady/Bunchen buy me in exchange for them, instead of from my day job.

Either that or I'd have been shot by Giselle's body guards by now.

What really pisses me off is that buried deep in the report is the readings for the ball that was intercepted.

The NFL officials took the following measurements: 11.75, 11.45, 11.4. It stands to reason that none of those jokers had any idea about the science behind it but the ball was RIGHT IN LINE with the expected PSI value.

This entire witch hunt was based on a couple dunderheads not understanding the effect of ambient temperature changes to a football. Screw the texts, the non-cooperation, all the BS that everyone is wrongly focused on. The original...football...was...FINE!

hambone1818 said:

What really pisses me off is that buried deep in the report is the readings for the ball that was intercepted.

The NFL officials took the following measurements: 11.75, 11.45, 11.4. It stands to reason that none of those jokers had any idea about the science behind it but the ball was RIGHT IN LINE with the expected PSI value.

This entire witch hunt was based on a couple dunderheads not understanding the effect of ambient temperature changes to a football. Screw the texts, the non-cooperation, all the BS that everyone is wrongly focused on. The original...football...was...FINE!

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An obvious point that seems to get glossed over a lot these days. The media talks of pressure loss due to temperature as if it was always common knowledge. And I suppose it was, but not common knowledge for the media and the NFL.

hambone1818 said:

This entire witch hunt was based on a couple dunderheads not understanding the effect of ambient temperature changes to a football. Screw the texts, the non-cooperation, all the BS that everyone is wrongly focused on. The original...football...was...FINE!

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Which is 100% the first thing you need to prove for a malicious use of process lawsuit. If the Patriots and/or Brady can then prove a secondary negative effect of this (i.e. lost revenue) then it would meet the 2 requirements needed to proceed with it in court.

"uh...we didn't know high school level science" isn't really probable cause is it? Kensil is a moron.

Because there wasn't a coherent process in place we cannot know that any balls in the game were or weren't tampered with.

1) It is clear that the gauges used by the nfl were cheap and not calibrated. When the allowable PSI range is 1 PSI having gauges that varied by ~.4 psi, is a total joke.

2) No process to record ball Pressure, in this case Anderson said he "remembered" the unrecorded PSI of the balls used by the Patriots and Colts that were submitted, that would be 48 balls, this of course is nonsense.

3) Wells took Anderson's recollection of the PSI of 48 footballs at face value but not his recollection of which guage he used, yeah no agenda there boys and girls.

No set of initial conditions for the balls, no baseline. Are balls being kept at 72 F, coming in from the bus at 47 F.

Here is a video from the 2013 season showing the pregame ball acceptance process

http://mmqb.si.com/2015/01/22/deflategate-video-how-nfl-officials-check-game-ball-pressure/

IF the PSI of the balls have to be within 1 PSI and this is CRITICAL to the Integrity of the game does the process documented in the video look adequate?

The inadequate process and correcting it should have been the focus of the Wells report not smearing the Greatest QB in the history of the NFL.

But that wasn't the report that Wells was paid to deliver. So it wasn't the focus of the report.

The range for ball PSI should be increased to a reasonable level, say 11 to 15 psi with proper process and measuring equipment in place combined with NFL supervision of the balls at all times no team personnel involved at all.

Remember Brady went 50-64 in the 2nd half of the Colts game and during the SB, it is fair to say he is comfortable with balls inflated to 12.5 psi.

hambone1818 said:

What really pisses me off is that buried deep in the report is the readings for the ball that was intercepted.

The NFL officials took the following measurements: 11.75, 11.45, 11.4. It stands to reason that none of those jokers had any idea about the science behind it but the ball was RIGHT IN LINE with the expected PSI value.

This entire witch hunt was based on a couple dunderheads not understanding the effect of ambient temperature changes to a football. Screw the texts, the non-cooperation, all the BS that everyone is wrongly focused on. The original...football...was...FINE!

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I don't think its "those people" not understanding. I feel like its a story being spoonfed to the public who just want narrative. Even us regular joes know that your bike tire or car tire will lose a little PSI if it goes from 61 degrees one march afternoon to 13 the next morning at 5am.

The other posters are right. It was never an issue until the politics got involved. Same deal with real politics right? Where do you stand on the issues...wait a second you smoked MARIJUANA IN COLLEGE!! *Forgets about war and economy etc*

The saddest part is.... we all as Americans eat this stuff up in some form or fashion every day.

Here is the question I haven't seen asked anywhere, Where is the rule that says the footballs have to be between 12.5-13.5 PSI during or after the game? Only rule I have seen cited is they have to be that way BEFORE the game? Knowing this information from a former ref I want to know the answer to this question even more now?

wpdougie2180 said:

Here is the question I haven't seen asked anywhere, Where is the rule that says the footballs have to be between 12.5-13.5 PSI during or after the game? Only rule I have seen cited is they have to be that way BEFORE the game? Knowing this information from a former ref I want to know the answer to this question even more now?

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The rule doesn't actually say it has to remain 12.5-13.5 (and that would be impossible because if you're at 12.5 on a cold day it will drop below and if you're at 13.5 in the intense heat of say Miami or San Diego in early September then there's a good chance you're over the limit).

wpdougie2180 said:

Here is the question I haven't seen asked anywhere, Where is the rule that says the footballs have to be between 12.5-13.5 PSI during or after the game? Only rule I have seen cited is they have to be that way BEFORE the game? Knowing this information from a former ref I want to know the answer to this question even more now?

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That's true, but the balls can't be manipulated in any way. So there's no rule against the ball being low but the FACT it was low set off alarms by those on the field who didn't know the science (i.e. everyone). The immediate conclusion was' they deflated the footballs!' The Colts were still right about in line with 12.5 so the alarm bells increased. I can honest-to-god understand the initial reaction, from those who didn't know the science.

Everything since that day has been sensationalism and a disgraceful witch hunt.

Big-T said:

The rule doesn't actually say it has to remain 12.5-13.5

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The NFL has been consistent from day 1 of this that they view Rule 2, Section 1 as applying throughout the game. And since they interpret the Playing Rules, that's all that matters.

And yes, it is impossible for hot or cold days, but as we know, no one ever thought of/realized that before now.