Peter King: Footballs were tampered with by human

[RhodyPatriot]

That's what I believe. The refs never checked the pressure of the balls before the game.

Everyone is assuming the NFL league office was tipped off PRIOR to the game.

NO!!

The Colts were tipped off by John Harbaugh, friend of Chuck Pagano, that Brady likes an underinflated ball.
(Harbaugh was pissed at Brady because Brady chided the Ravens about knowing the rulebook)
When that Colt defender intercepted that pass BEFORE THE HALF (timeline is huge here) and took it to the sidelines as a souveneir, that put a Patriot ball in Colt possession and opened the door for Pagano to bust Patriot balls (no pun intended) and ask the refs to check the pressure of the football.

TIMELINE IS HUGE IN THIS STORY

Timeline matters because I don't believe the league office has prior knowledge and therefore I don't believe the referees felt in any way compelled to check the air pressure in every game ball prior to the game.

The NFL is a QB league and it is a league that loves its' QB stars.

There is no doubt in my mind when Tom Brady is prepping his footballs in the days leading up to a game that he has the ball deflated to his liking.

There is no doubt in my mind when Aaron Rodgers is prepping his footballs in the days leading up to a game that he has the ball inflated to his liking.

Same for Peyton Manning and Tony Romo and Eli Manning and........et al

And there is also no doubt in my mind that those same inflated and deflated footballs are placed into games week in and week out in the NFL without EVER having their air pressure checked.

The NFL is a QB driven league.

So what happened Sunday is the refs never checked the pressure of those balls prior to the game, they were in the exact same condition from days prior when Tom Brady prepped those footballs to his liking and the NE Patriots did not tamper with anything.

This is why after an extensive investigation there will be NO finding of tampering on the part of the NE Patriots.

It never happened.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

I thought aliens did it..oops

 

[Observer]

I thought aliens did it..oops

If they did then they found out that we are a country full of morons. No wonder they always invade the US first even in the movies.

 

[RayClay]

That's what I believe. The refs never checked the pressure of the balls before the game.

Everyone is assuming the NFL league office was tipped off PRIOR to the game.

NO!!

The Colts were tipped off by John Harbaugh, friend of Chuck Pagano, that Brady likes an underinflated ball.
(Harbaugh was pissed at Brady because Brady chided the Ravens about knowing the rulebook)
When that Colt defender intercepted that pass BEFORE THE HALF (timeline is huge here) and took it to the sidelines as a souveneir, that put a Patriot ball in Colt possession and opened the door for Pagano to bust Patriot balls (no pun intended) and ask the refs to check the pressure of the football.

TIMELINE IS HUGE IN THIS STORY

Timeline matters because I don't believe the league office has prior knowledge and therefore I don't believe the referees felt in any way compelled to check the air pressure in every game ball prior to the game.

The NFL is a QB league and it is a league that loves its' QB stars.

There is no doubt in my mind when Tom Brady is prepping his footballs in the days leading up to a game that he has the ball deflated to his liking.

There is no doubt in my mind when Aaron Rodgers is prepping his footballs in the days leading up to a game that he has the ball inflated to his liking.

Same for Peyton Manning and Tony Romo and Eli Manning and........et al

And there is also no doubt in my mind that those same inflated and deflated footballs are placed into games week in and week out in the NFL without EVER having their air pressure checked.

The NFL is a QB driven league.

So what happened Sunday is the refs never checked the pressure of those balls prior to the game, they were in the exact same condition from days prior when Tom Brady prepped those footballs to his liking and the NE Patriots did not tamper with anything.

This is why after an extensive investigation there will be NO finding of tampering on the part of the NE Patriots.

It never happened.

You guys know each other?

Has Bill Belichick, to this very day, ever sat with the media and explained what Spygate was all about??
Nah, Bill granted one interview but basically Belichick has never sat and explained to John Q Public/the media what "that" was.
Do you think that silence has greatly enhanced the "legend" (stain) of Spygate??

You bet it has!!

And now we have Deflategate.
This one lands not only on the head coach but DIRECTLY on the QB.
Bill Belichick does not care if the football is full of hot air or stuffed with feathers........but the QB does.
TOM BRADY needs to sit and explain this.
11 out of 12 footballs deflated by 2 lbs below league rule is ON THE QB.
He's the one handling/throwing the damn ball.
Tom Brady needs to sit and explain.

Do it sooner rather than later and do it honestly and this story by and large goes away.

Continue to act like you're above it all and this " cheatin' " stain is a permanent mark on this franchise.

We Patriot fans are tired of defending this franchise FAR MORE than this franchise has ever defended itself.

Enough!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[IcyPatriot]

John Harbaugh wears mom jeans ...

 

[goheels22002]

"The conclusion: There is little doubt the New England footballs were tampered with by a human." - Peter King

What a relief! Peter "Sherlock" King has limited the search for possible suspects down to a single species.

 

[PatSunday]

Patriots balls are at 12.5 PSI indoors. Referees approve. Done.

Colts balls are at 12.5 PSI on the visiting team bus; they bring them inside just long enough for officials to check them. The pressure starts going up to 12.8, or 13, or 13.3, or whatever. They only go up a little bit because they're inside for 30 minutes or an hour, not all day like the Patriots balls. The Colts don't need to pump them up, and officials don't either, and approve.

Colts balls drop back down to 12.5 outdoors. No one cares the pressure went up by almost 1 PSI in just a short time.

Patriots balls drop by 2 PSI over the next five hours. Why?
- They're at a new temperature for 5 hours, not 30 minutes like Colts balls.
- Squeezing the ball with your hands increases air pressure. Similarly, sports balls and balloons begin to exert additional pressure (PSI) on the air inside, as they stretch, on top of the normal air pressure due to air quantity and temperature. After a certain point, the balls begins to stretch. This effect grows as the air increases. Each additional ounce of air causes a bigger effect than the previous ounce, as the ball gets closer to bursting. When the air pressure in properly inflated ball (such as 12.5 PSI) drops by 1 or 2 PSI due to changes in temperature or air quantity, the "rubber band" effect of the ball starts to cancel out as the leather becomes relaxed, so the measurement observes a further loss of PSI on the air inside.

- Maybe the Colts add a water-resistant coating (new footballs already have such a coating). They may also do a much better job of keeping the balls dry, warming them to their body or wrapping them in towels. On the other hand, the Patriots follow Belichick's rule to make the ball as beat up as possible, as he stated yesterday.

Why does this matter? Air sucks at heat transfer. It can take a long time to fully chill the warm air inside an indoor ball if you bring the ball outside, especially if human hands are constantly handling it.

However, water is 25 times as efficient at conducting heat (or cold) as air. A wet ball without the right protection will strip the heat out of the ball, even an indoor ball, very quickly.

Adding (or removing) air to a football once it's at its final temperature is the correct way to fix the air pressure. That is what the referees did at half-time, but at the start, it is what it is.

A new idea: a Patriots employee washed the balls in warm/hot water for a few minutes each as part of the scrubbing process before giving them to the referees. Maybe applies a new coating. Why? To verify the ball won't get waterlogged during the game. To weigh the balls before getting them wet and after drying them. Given the power of water's heat conductivity, that would definitely warm up the balls quickly, even after being dried using a towel and room temperature air. The referees see 14 PSI, remove air to bring it down to 13.5 PSI, and it drops further during the game (a.k.a. what I suggest is happening to Rodgers).

The 12.5 indoor ball is washed which quickly brings it to 14 psi, referees deflate it by 0.5 PSI, and instead of starting at 12.5 and dropping to 11 - 12.5 PSI as described above, it drops even less, to 10.5 PSI.

This is all more likely than somebody deflating the balls -- given that a loss of 2 - 4 PSI is expected, it's absurd someone would know how much more air to deflate. You're talking measuring and deflating each ball, inserting a needle multiple times in every ball during the game.

I wish I could believe how this could happen. It could be a Netflix thriller. But the fact that the media is not talking about the half-dozen likely innocent explanations shows they're more focused on casting doubt than finding truth by analyzing each statement objectively.

With all of the factors above? We could be looking at 9 - 10 PSI, or less. The only thing is, at that point the Patriots would of course be able to notice. The quarterbacks would stop rationalizing the referees screwed up, as Rodgers believes, and realize there's a problem going on and bring it up during the game. But it sounds like at 10.5 to 11, quarterbacks assume the referees meant it to feel that way, as they cannot test or inflate during the game.

 

[Kjmass1]

In matters such as these, one must analyze the variables. If air pressure on the Colts and Patriots balls were different, how could that happen.

A) Were they filled at the same location? If the Colts balls were filled in a cold area while the Patriots filled theirs in a warm one, that could explain the difference.

B) Teams are allowed to "condition" their footballs. It is possible that the footballs ability to maintain pressure could be compromised by this process. A brand new ball will typically maintain pressure longer than an 10 year old ball. When teams "condition" their footballs, they are essentially aging them artificially. Since each team has their own processes and end goal in how they condition the ball, this could explain the discrepancy.

Either scenario is possible. Some might then say, "Well, then why did the Patriots balls maintain pressure in the 2nd half". The variable there goes back to option A listed above. When the officials reinflated the Patriots footballs, where did that occur. If it was on the field or in an otherwise cold location like the tunnel or something, those balls would maintain pressure because the air being put into them would have been cold "condensed" air. Since it was already cold air, it wouldn't have changed in the 2nd half.

Personnally, I think I've nailed this mystery. Time to move on.

Don't teams practice with these balls all week? For all we know the Colts balls were filled up in Indiana. Or on a plane. Or at the back of the bus. And then just topped off in Foxboro before the game.

What happens to a ball filled at mile high in 70 degree temperature and then played in a 10 degree ice bowl?

This is a science experiment. Fill up the damn balls and play the game like we were taught to do.

 

[PATSNUTme]

The conclusion: There is little doubt the New England footballs were tampered with by a human." - Peter King.

That rules out aliens so that saves the NFL a trip to Mars.