Again any talk of punishment is moot.
The patriots have all the leverage here. if the league comes down on them for ANYTHING at all in relation to messing with the balls, all they have to do is appeal it, and then submit exibit a.) Vikings vs Panthers. Both teams, ON VIDEO shown heating up the balls DURING the game using the on field heaters, in strict violation of the rules. the penalty, a memo saying please don't heat up the balls.
Case ****ing closed.
in the offseason the league has to do one of two things, change the wording of the rule, to something like the psi of the ball must be within x amount of This number when tested at random times. or b.) both teams must use the same balls, as prepared by the nfl.