CNN)Lets call this NFL game balls for dummies. Oh, dont take offense. Up until a few days ago, when the Deflategate scandal broke, we were all dummies when it came to the esoterica of NFL ball rules. Hell, lets be honest; we were imbeciles. Now, were learning all sorts of fancy things about the leagues regulations and how teams and referees handle footballs before and during a game. For instance, did you know the ball must be a prolate spheroid? And did you know that before today, the term prolate spheroid had appeared on CNN only four times in its history? Perhaps thats for the better. Anyway, youve got questions, and as so often is the case, we have answers. Lets get pumped up! (Sorry, its tough for writers to resist a play on words, no matter how terrible.) What on Earth is going on? The NFL is investigating the New England Patriots to determine why 11 of the 12 game balls they provided for Sundays AFC Championship game were under-inflated by about 2 pounds per square inch each. The Pats supplied their own balls? Isnt that letting the fox watch the hen house? Wellllllll, for lack of a more elaborate answer ... yes? ac berman pereira on patriots deflated ball scandal_00022503 Michael Pereira: Its easy to deflate a football 03:30 PLAY VIDEO According to NFL regulations, each team provides a dozen balls to the referee for testing two hours and 15 minutes before kickoff. The home team also supplies 12 backup balls, and for outdoor games, the visiting team has the option of bringing another 12 balls. In addition, the ball manufacturer -- in this case, Wilson (cue Cast Away jokes) -- ships eight more balls, in what the NFL scientifically terms a special box, directly to the referee. The box is opened two hours and 15 minutes before the game, and the referee marks each ball with a K, to designate it for kicking. ESPN writer Kate Fagan pointed out the curiosity of the regulation in an appearance on Around the Horn on Wednesday. When Fagan played college basketball, she said, the referees brought out NCAA-supplied balls an hour before the game. Those balls were used for warmups and the game, and they were not to leave the court, she said. If the NCAA has such a rule for womens basketball games, she posited, how can the ludicrously profitable NFL not provide its own game balls? A fine question. Whos in charge of making sure balls are up to snuff? 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, NFL rules state. When do NFL officials check footballs? 02:22 PLAY VIDEO The ball attendant transports the footballs to the field, and ball boys keep them on the sideline, ESPN reports. Ball boys are usually vetted by teams and paid by the NFL and can be sons or daughters of team employees, the network reports. So it was the ball boy! Yes, with a candlestick in the conservatory. Thats a joke. If the NFL had pinpointed a culprit, CNN wouldnt need to devote writers to deciphering the leagues game-ball rules. What other rules pertain to a game ball? As mentioned, it has to be a prolate spheroid, which in laymans terms means shaped like a football, and it has to be signed by Commissioner Roger Goodell -- as opposed to, say, Kate Upton or Weird Al Yankovic. It should have between 12.5 and 13.5 pounds of air per square inch and weigh 14 to 15 ounces. It should have a long axis of 11 to 11.25 inches, a long circumference of 28 to 28.5 inches and a short circumference of 21 to 21.25 inches. And, perhaps most importantly, it needs to be constructed of a urethane bladder encased in pebble-grained leather of natural tan color. So, no purple footballs. Why would someone deflate the balls? It supposedly makes them easier to grip for the quarterback and receivers. That wouldve been especially important in the wet conditions in which the AFC Championship was played. Is it always an advantage? Eh, unclear. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers allegedly once told commentator and former quarterback Phil Simms that he could get a better grip on an over-inflated ball. How was the issue even raised? In the second half of Sundays game, Indianapolis Colts linebacker DQwell Jackson intercepted Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. According to Newsday, he took the ball to his teams equipment staff, which then informed head coach Chuck Pagano, who told general manager Ryan Grigson, who told NFL director of football operations Mike Kensil, who told the officials on the field. This should remind you of that kindergarten game where you sat in a circle whispering things in your classmates ears to demonstrate how messages are lost as theyre conveyed from one person to the next. Thus, its entirely possible Jackson told the equipment staff he wanted to go for pizza after the game, and by the time it got to the officials we had Deflategate. What about the wing official and umpire who spot the ball before each play? Wouldnt they have noticed? Hmm, you would think so. Has this ever happened before? There are lots of tales of ball manipulation surfacing in the wake of Deflategate, but one particular story stands out. In 2012, the University of Southern California, which kind of has this thing for cheating, was accused of under-inflating balls used in a game against the Oregon Ducks. The school was reprimanded and fined, and a student-manager was axed when he conceded that he had under-inflated the balls after the officials had approved them. The unnamed student said he did it all by his lonesome, and no other USC coach, staff member or administrator had any knowledge of his shenanigans. Could weather have played a role? There have been numerous reports that cold weather can diminish ball pressure, which would normally be pertinent for the Boston area ... except that it was 51 degrees in Foxborough, Massachusetts, at kickoff. Is it possible Patriots coach Bill Belichick knew? Outside of Massachusetts, the general public puts Belichick somewhere on par with Whitey Bulger, so youll find no shortage of people who say, Oh, most definitely, especially after Spygate. The coach says, however, In my entire coaching career, I have never talked to any player (or) staff member about football air pressure. What about Brady? Asked about it Monday on a Boston radio show, the three-time Super Bowl winner responded, I dont even respond to stuff like this. He also responded by calling the accusation ridiculous. On Thursday, he told reporters he didnt alter the balls and assured them, Ive always played by the rules. At least one football icon has his doubts that Gisele Bundchens lesser half was not complicit. In one of the most damning non-accusations in history, Hall of Fame coach John Madden told The Sports Xchange he believed Belichick was clueless about the ball pressure, but I can see -- and you hate to make examples of what you can see because that sounds like you are accusing someone -- but I can see that being between the quarterback and the equipment guy. He also said, Thats something that wouldnt be driven by a coach or just the equipment guy. Nobody, not even the head coach, would do anything to the football unilaterally, such as adjust the amount of pressure in a ball, without the quarterback not knowing. It would have to be the quarterbacks idea. What to make of that? No idea, but they did name the greatest video game the world has ever known after the dude. Has the rest of the team spoken up? Several Patriots have called the controversy stupid and accused the media of fueling the controversy. (For what its worth, this writer is willing to bet his pinkies no journalist is responsible for deflating the balls.) Do the Pats forfeit the win if theyre found guilty? Ridiculously unlikely (sorry, Indianapolis), but they could be fined and docked a draft pick. After Spygate, the league took away a Patriots first-round draft pick, fined the team $250,000 and fined Belichik $500,000, but dont expect anything that serious in Deflategate. Could the ball pressure really have played that large a factor? Similarly unlikely. The Pats won 45-7, and 28 of their points came in the second half -- after the game officials had pumped the balls back up to their regulation pressure. You make the call wow Chat Conversation End
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 23:48:37 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015