Curran: "Pretty plausible" to think McNally was ordered to bring balls to 12.5

[jb1095]

Rule 2, Section 2 of the Rule Book addressed the preparation that goes into getting the game balls ready. This is a process that includes the teams providing their own balls and the refs checking and marking them.

Each team will make 12 primary balls available for testing by the Referee two hours and 15 minutes prior to the starting time of the game to meet League requirements. The home team will also make 12 backup balls available for testing in all stadiums. In addition, the visitors, at their discretion, may bring 12 backup balls to be tested by the Referee for games held in outdoor stadiums. For all games, eight new footballs, sealed in a special box and shipped by the manufacturer to the Referee, will be opened in the officials’ locker room two hours and 15 minutes prior to the starting time of the game.

These balls are to be specially marked by the Referee and used exclusively for the kicking game.

In the event a home team ball does not conform to specifications, or its supply is exhausted, the Referee shall secure a proper ball from the visitors and, failing that, use the best available ball. Any such circumstances must be reported to the Commissioner.

In case of rain or a wet, muddy, or slippery field, a playable ball shall be used at the request of the offensive team’s center.

The Game Clock shall not stop for such action (unless undue delay occurs).

Note: It is the responsibility of the home team to furnish playable balls at all times by attendants from either side of the playing field.

 

[upstater1]

I'd love to see if this is true. Im not doubting you, but can we see the actual rule?

EDIT: Just checked it, and you are correct. The rule says nothing about not altering the balls to spec after they leave the refs possession. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

obgod, put up or shut up. Show the rule.

 

[jb1095]

Rule 2, Section 1 of the NFL Rule Book says that the balls must be a certain weight, length, width and even color.

The Ball must be a “Wilson,” hand selected, bearing the signature of the Commissioner of the League, Roger Goodell.

The ball shall be made up of an inflated (12 1/2 to 13 1/2 pounds) urethane bladder enclosed in a pebble grained, leather case (natural tan color) without corrugations of any kind. It shall have the form of a prolate spheroid and the size and weight shall be: long axis, 11 to 11 1/4 inches; long circumference, 28 to 28 1/2 inches; short circumference, 21 to 21 1/4 inches; weight, 14 to 15 ounces.

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.


There is nothing else in the rulebook regarding handling of the balls, or subsequent inflation or deflation of said balls after they are checked by the refs. The only points are listed above.

 

[upstater1]

Curran is right. It is plausible. Without evidence, it's a plausible theory, and nothing more.

Even if it's plausible or likely or overwhelmingly likely, and even if we all accept it, how is it relevant? This should only be about the AFCCG balls. Not what happened in the past when balls were at 16 PSI or whatever.

 

[Dr Pain]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxsXFX3tDpg… the Patriots balls at the half are entirely consistent with expected results anticipated by Headsmart.

 

[IllegalContact]

My wife hates football but asked what all this Deflategate stuff was about. Her eyes were glazed over after I explained what was going on and she said the almost the EXACT same thing. Of all the problems in the world and with this country, the media is spending this much time on under inflated footballs !!

Bingo...We have Bingo

because this is really not about deflated footballs

it is all about jealousy and envy

 

[IllegalContact]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxsXFX3tDpg… the Patriots balls at the half are entirely consistent with expected results anticipated by Headsmart.

but you don't understand....the guys who say 2nd hand smoke is not bad for you know what they're talking about

 

[Deus Irae]

Even if it's plausible or likely or overwhelmingly likely, and even if we all accept it, how is it relevant? This should only be about the AFCCG balls. Not what happened in the past when balls were at 16 PSI or whatever.

Pattern of established behavior

 

[patsderoer]

Did McNally tamper with the balls after the refs checked them? Did Wells provide any evidence for that?

Disgusting smear campaign against the Pats.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

There is nothing else in the rulebook regarding handling of the balls, or subsequent inflation or deflation of said balls after they are checked by the refs. The only points are listed above.

That's the book of playing rules (it's even called that: Official Playing Rules of the National Football League). It's not the only rulebook that players and teams have to obey.

And even within the Playing Rules, the very rule you quoted says the Referee is the sole judge of the fitness of the balls. So any team employee has no business messing with the balls after the ref has approved them.

 

[jb1095]

Did McNally tamper with the balls after the refs checked them? Did Wells provide any evidence for that?

Disgusting smear campaign against the Pats.

They state that it is "more probable than not" that the balls were all deflated while JJ went into the bathroom for 1 minute and 40 seconds.

 

[upstater1]

Pattern of established behavior

Which would only be relevant if the balls were at an unexpected PSI.

If the balls haven't been tampered with, why would anyone look at previous patterns?

They can't punish the previous patterns, but only use them to establish culpability for the AFCCG (which I agree with you about). But since the balls for the AFCCG did not show an out of kilter reading, how is the previous behavior relevant?

 

[patsderoer]

They state that it is "more probable than not" that the balls were all deflated while JJ went into the bathroom for 1 minute and 40 seconds.

Really? They have evidence that this guy took 12 balls with him in the bathroom for 1min and 40s?

 

[IllegalContact]

the holes, the incompetence.......are relentless

please.....hand down a suspension so that someone can prove as plain as day, how incredibly stupid the NFL front office is

 

[50-yard-line]

My wife hates football but asked what all this Deflategate stuff was about. Her eyes were glazed over after I explained what was going on and she said the almost the EXACT same thing. Of all the problems in the world and with this country, the media is spending this much time on under inflated footballs !!

Bingo...We have Bingo

And so, when fans of other teams start on me about deflategate, I laugh and say, "You are saying that my team beat your team because a football was slightly underinflated." Then I laugh louder and put the finger "L" on my forehead.

 

[sieglo]

That's the book of playing rules (it's even called that: Official Playing Rules of the National Football League). It's not the only rulebook that players and teams have to obey.

Okay, so you know of some other rule that applies here? Fire away.

And even within the Playing Rules, the very rule you quoted says the Referee is the sole judge of the fitness of the balls. So any team employee has no business messing with the balls after the ref has approved them.

Right. I guess they aren't supposed to even play with the balls then.

This provision clearly is intended to govern situations where there is some issue with the ball or dispute over its fitness on the field. That is not the case here.

 

[jb1095]

Really? They have evidence that this guy took 12 balls with him in the bathroom for 1min and 40s?

no. They have evidence that he took 2 bags of balls into the bathroom at the end of the tunnel leading to the field. The first bag contained 13 Patriots balls and the second bag contained 12 of the Colts balls. It is their claim that while he was in the bathroom, for 1 minute and 40 seconds, that he was able to unzip the bag and deflate all 13 Patriots balls while he was in the bathroom. They found it "more probable than not" that he did just that as opposed to finding it "more probable than not" that he simply went in there to take a leak. They corroborated this by the fact that he sated he walked into the bathroom, put the bags down to his left, and used the "urinal" to the right. They point out that the specific bathroom in question has no urinals, but only toilets with stalls. I think he just misspoke but the Wells report is using that statement to claim he was lying.

 

[PatSunday]

If Brady is involved at all, it's only to create a ridiculous goose-chase for the NFL.

Before the season: "Tom, the ball boy just started calling himself the Deflater." Tom: "Hilarious. If anyone reads that text message, the league will spend years to try to come up with something."

It's not something BB and Kraft would think is funny, but a player and part-time staff member who's been there for 15 years may give themselves sarcastic nicknames.

 

[PatSunday]

Lot's of inconsistent logic:

Since the Colts balls were compromised identically to the Patriots footballs as far as evidence shows, where compromised means they were out of video camera reach for 90 seconds, I don't understand why some parts of the Ted Wells report claim the Colts balls as the "baseline" and the Patriots as the experimental ones "since there is no reason to suspect the Colts balls were tampered with."

 

[emoney_33]

Brady has a working relationship with Jastremski, he lets him know how he wants the balls worn in and inflated. Jastremski inflates and prepares the balls every week. Tom feels the balls prior to gametime and chooses the ones he likes best. Jastremski gives the Brady approved balls to McNally who then takes them to the officials locker room. The refs do their thing by themselves and later on McNally asks to bring the balls from the dressing room area to sitting room area. At 6:30 McNally takes the balls to the field, where he is unaccounted for in the restroom for 1:40. McNally's claim that he carries the balls to the field himself numerous times is corroborated by a security official as happening around half the time.

Walt Anderson says it takes 20-25 minutes to check and mark 48 balls, only having to adjust 2. Anderson and Yette are the only 2 around during this operation with Anderson doing the entirety of the pressure checking. Anderson makes a fuss about not knowing where the balls are at 6:35, saying that "he's not supposed to do that" in reference to McNally taking the game balls and saying that "we have to find the footballs".

It takes an official an average of 30 seconds per ball to check the pressure and mark a ball, so McNally could conceivably have time to deflate at least a handful of balls in 100 seconds. But if Brady is so meticulous about the balls, why would he just be arbitrarily deflating balls and how did he mark them? I don't think you can detect a .5 PSI difference by feel, so what exactly was the purpose? We know he couldn't have deflated the balls by much more than that since the difference between Colts ball deflation was at an absolute maximum of 0.75.

If Farley is to be believed and he doesn't recall McNally ever leaving before them, then this would be his first offense. If this is his first offense, it would make no sense for Brady to direct it in a game that CLEARLY was planned to run the ball down the Colts throats for the 4th time in a row.

What I really want to know now, is what is the true normal practice with regards to game balls being taken to the field, let's hear from the other 31 equipment managers and security teams. If it truly is not normal practice to take them without the official then McNally, at best, made a pretty bad screw up and it would be hard to believe it was just coincidental. If it is normal practice, then Anderson's reaction make very little sense, and one might even believe it was part of a frame job. I mean after all, he was the last KNOWN person to have stuck a needle in any of the balls.