PatSunday
Third String But Playing on Special Teams
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2007
- Messages
- 601
- Reaction score
- 195
The Colts and Patriots, two footballs teams, faced off in the "semi-final".
1) The manager of the Colts team asked the league to keep an eye out for game-ball tampering. The referees were alerted. The match begun without any complaints.
2) Teams bring their own game-balls, so team staff puts game-balls recovered from the other team in a special bag.
3) A Colts player recovered the Patriots game-ball and gave it to a Colts staff, like usual -- he later explained to the media he did not notice anything unusual or different. The staff gave the ball immediately to the NFL VP's.
4) The NFL VP's requested that game-balls be looked at. The game-balls for both teams looked and felt normal.
5) The referees found that all but one game-ball for each team was outside the rules when they checked air pressure. They took several measurements to confirm that the gauges were unreliable. The balls increased in air pressure just minutes apart.
6) Upon determining that both teams had all but one football under the minimum air pressure so far, and the Colts balls had a longer time to adjust to the indoors, they stopped measuring and inflated the balls of both teams again.
7) The game resumed. The Patriots ended up winning 45-7.
8) With both teams in legal range, the Patriots improved in the second-half. On the other hand, the Colts never scored again.
9) The Colt GM was embarrassed and immediately emailed the local press that game-balls were below the minimum, but only mentioned the Patriots footballs.
10) There was a media storm with rumors that were later found untrue. Reporters wrote that Colts balls did not change at all, and that the Patriots game-balls were severely deflated by a large amount, unexplainable by laws of physics.
11) The NFL already had the measurements at the time of the game four months ago to clear up 95% of the rumors but never released it to the media and never defended the Patriots..
12) The Patriots owner requested an apology the first week because the NFL had the facts but was allowing the media to drag the Patriots name in the mud while they were preparing for a championship, and because they focused on just one of the teams.
13) The NFL exact rule for air pressure in question was created 75 years ago. It was simply a recommendation by the manufacturer for the original game-ball in 1941.
14) NFL videos released in the last decade show referees checking balls using manual sports gauges that are incapable of differentiating between 12.5 and 13.5 psi, the range specified in 1941. That means 11.75 (below minimum) is the same as 12.5 (legal), and you can't tell which one it really is.
15) Officials wrote down values like 10.85, 11.95, 11.35, 10.95, 11.15. However, gauges in the NFL officiating video are only accurate to +/- 0.4 PSI, and on top of that have lines every 0.20 PSI!
16) Even if we assume officials now use $30 digital ball gauges that give numbers in 0.05 increments, those still have an error of 1%. That means 12.25 and 12.5 are the same.
17) A portable gauge accurate enough to tell you something is 10.85 (+/- 0.01%) costs $1,000. It also did not exist in 1941 when the rule was created.
18) Balls are measured indoors two hours prior to bringing them out into cold and wet weather, causing a change of 2 psi as the air in the ball contracts or expands against the leather shell.
19) Allowing teams to adjust to preferences and weather conditions would improve the quality of the game because quarterbacks have individual grip strength and hand size, and prefer wildly different inflation levels.
20) Nobody in the sport cared about the rule for 75 years, including earlier that season, until the most famous, richest, and best-looking quarterback became a possible target of an investigation for being possibly involved in possibly breaking some kind of a rule.
21) The rule was added to the rulebook in 1941 for two reasons: teams shared footballs back then, so consistency was important, which is not the case in 2015. Also, the internet and mobile phones were not available to quickly lookup an appropriate number.
22) The NFL only investigated the Patriots, adding to media fury.
23) The NFL fired their own ball-handling employee after the game, but the connection has yet to be explained.
24) Did I mention the Colts lost 45-7?
1) The manager of the Colts team asked the league to keep an eye out for game-ball tampering. The referees were alerted. The match begun without any complaints.
2) Teams bring their own game-balls, so team staff puts game-balls recovered from the other team in a special bag.
3) A Colts player recovered the Patriots game-ball and gave it to a Colts staff, like usual -- he later explained to the media he did not notice anything unusual or different. The staff gave the ball immediately to the NFL VP's.
4) The NFL VP's requested that game-balls be looked at. The game-balls for both teams looked and felt normal.
5) The referees found that all but one game-ball for each team was outside the rules when they checked air pressure. They took several measurements to confirm that the gauges were unreliable. The balls increased in air pressure just minutes apart.
6) Upon determining that both teams had all but one football under the minimum air pressure so far, and the Colts balls had a longer time to adjust to the indoors, they stopped measuring and inflated the balls of both teams again.
7) The game resumed. The Patriots ended up winning 45-7.
8) With both teams in legal range, the Patriots improved in the second-half. On the other hand, the Colts never scored again.
9) The Colt GM was embarrassed and immediately emailed the local press that game-balls were below the minimum, but only mentioned the Patriots footballs.
10) There was a media storm with rumors that were later found untrue. Reporters wrote that Colts balls did not change at all, and that the Patriots game-balls were severely deflated by a large amount, unexplainable by laws of physics.
11) The NFL already had the measurements at the time of the game four months ago to clear up 95% of the rumors but never released it to the media and never defended the Patriots..
12) The Patriots owner requested an apology the first week because the NFL had the facts but was allowing the media to drag the Patriots name in the mud while they were preparing for a championship, and because they focused on just one of the teams.
13) The NFL exact rule for air pressure in question was created 75 years ago. It was simply a recommendation by the manufacturer for the original game-ball in 1941.
14) NFL videos released in the last decade show referees checking balls using manual sports gauges that are incapable of differentiating between 12.5 and 13.5 psi, the range specified in 1941. That means 11.75 (below minimum) is the same as 12.5 (legal), and you can't tell which one it really is.
15) Officials wrote down values like 10.85, 11.95, 11.35, 10.95, 11.15. However, gauges in the NFL officiating video are only accurate to +/- 0.4 PSI, and on top of that have lines every 0.20 PSI!
16) Even if we assume officials now use $30 digital ball gauges that give numbers in 0.05 increments, those still have an error of 1%. That means 12.25 and 12.5 are the same.
17) A portable gauge accurate enough to tell you something is 10.85 (+/- 0.01%) costs $1,000. It also did not exist in 1941 when the rule was created.
18) Balls are measured indoors two hours prior to bringing them out into cold and wet weather, causing a change of 2 psi as the air in the ball contracts or expands against the leather shell.
19) Allowing teams to adjust to preferences and weather conditions would improve the quality of the game because quarterbacks have individual grip strength and hand size, and prefer wildly different inflation levels.
20) Nobody in the sport cared about the rule for 75 years, including earlier that season, until the most famous, richest, and best-looking quarterback became a possible target of an investigation for being possibly involved in possibly breaking some kind of a rule.
21) The rule was added to the rulebook in 1941 for two reasons: teams shared footballs back then, so consistency was important, which is not the case in 2015. Also, the internet and mobile phones were not available to quickly lookup an appropriate number.
22) The NFL only investigated the Patriots, adding to media fury.
23) The NFL fired their own ball-handling employee after the game, but the connection has yet to be explained.
24) Did I mention the Colts lost 45-7?
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