Posted January 20, 2015 9:42 PM ET; Last updated January 28, 2015 8:08 PM ET
New York Post Tells It Like It Is
This report from Tampa shows that the quarterbacks preferred altered balls. But they did not have to be the ones doing the altering. Tom Brady at his press conference on Thursday January 22, 2015 said he did not do anything to the balls. But he stopped after he began saying "I had nothing to do with . . ."
[From article]
Eli Manning, who comes from one of the sport’s most famous families and has played in the NFL for 11 seasons, said he’d never even heard of letting air out of a football — and finds Tom Brady’s preoccupation with his balls odd, to say the least.
“I’ve never worried really much about the inflation or the certain number of pounds of inflation,” Manning said to an audience at the New York Athletic Club last week. “I thought it was kind of strange that Brady knew he liked his ball at 12.5 pounds of pressure in the ball. … That’s the minimum number that you can have, that seemed kind of strange to me. … I’ve never heard about anybody deflating the football to their advantage, it’s the first I’m hearing about it.”
http://nypost.com/2015/01/27/eli-manning-strange-tom-brady-knows-so-much-about-his-balls/
Eli Manning: ‘Strange’ Tom Brady knows so much about his balls
By Howie Kussoy
January 27, 2015 | 12:15pm
* * *
[From article]
The major takeaway of the press conference is that, according to Brady, no one from the NFL has interviewed him. This is simply mindboggling. Because of the way footballs are handled pregame, the quarterback would be the most essential source of information in the event irregularities occur. Brady is thus the first person the NFL should have spoken with if the league really wanted to get to the bottom of what happened.
One now has to be suspicious that the league would rather not know at this point. Why? Because we are just ten days from the Super Bowl and there is very strong evidence of cheating. If the league quickly learns who is responsible, it would have to suspend the cheater(s) from the big game or be mercilessly ridiculed for turning a blind eye. The NFL obviously does not want to suspend star players or coaches from its showcase event.
[. . .]
If the NFL wanted to interview Tom Brady, it would have been done already. Football turns out to be a lot like politics: Officials avoid information because if they learn something bad has been done, they are expected to do something about it.
[. . .]
After the interception before halftime, the Colts sideline informed their general manager, who informed league officials. Based on the complaint, the refs re-examined all 24 balls at halftime. The Colts’ balls were all still within the specs, but 11 of the 12 Pats’ balls were under-inflated by up to two pounds per square inch – i.e., about 10.5 pounds. It was unseasonably mild for Foxboro, Mass., in January – about 51 degrees. Between that and the fact that the Colts’ footballs were unchanged, there seems to be no weather-related explanation for a drop in air pressure in the Pats’ footballs.
There are thus only two apparent possibilities, neither of which is good for the Pats: Either (a) the Pats supplied under-inflated balls and the refs did not competently examine them prior to the game; or (b) the Pats, who had control of their chosen footballs after the pregame examination by the refs, deflated the balls before or during the first-half.
[. . .]
Turns out that it is largely because of Tom Brady that the NFL changed its protocols in order to allow each team to supply game balls for its own use. It used to be that the home teams were responsible for supplying all the game balls. But nine years ago, Brady and Broncos star QB Peyton Manning successfully petitioned the competition committee to change the rules.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/397011/nfl-doesnt-want-know-how-deflate-gate-happened-andrew-c-mccarthy
The NFL Doesn’t Want to Know How Deflate-gate Happened
By Andrew C. McCarthy
January 22, 2015 7:53 PM
* * *
[From article]
"Rich and I talked about it. The footballs needed to be worked in,'' Johnson said. "In years past, you heard Troy Aikman, John Elway and Steve Young complain about the balls being slick. Phil Simms, all of them. And basically we agreed on that if the balls could be - if we could work them in, we'd work them in.''
But neither player had any access to the footballs prior to the game.
"I never saw the footballs, I never touched the footballs,'' Johnson said. "I never got to touch them until game time. The first possession is the first time I touched the ball.''
But leaving nothing to chance, Johnson made sure the balls were scuffed and ready well before the Dixie Chicks sang the national anthem.
Johnson said he paid two ballboys working for the NFL a total of $7,500 to make sure the footballs were scuffed and broken in before the Super Bowl and they obliged. Johnson first revealed the secret payment to the Tampa Bay Times in 2012, just prior to the 10-year reunion of the Bucs' Super Bowl championship team.
http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/bucs/bucs-qb-johnson-paid-to-have-footballs-altered-before-sb-37/2214490
Bucs QB Johnson paid to have footballs scuffed before SB 37
Wednesday, January 21, 2015 7:45am
* * *
[From article]
The Patriots and their integrity-challenged coach could be in deep trouble with the NFL once more after ESPN reported late Tuesday that 11 footballs confiscated from their 45-7 win over the Colts in the AFC title game last Sunday were found to be underinflated by two pounds of air (PSI) each.
ESPN described league officials as “disappointed, angry and distraught” at the findings.
The bombshell report — which the network attributed to anonymous sources — could mean the second major cheating scandal involving Belichick and the Patriots since Spygate in 2007, when they were caught taping the Jets’ defensive signals and fined $750,000 and docked a draft pick.
[. . .]
In addition, CBS Sports reported late Tuesday the Ravens suspected the special “K-Ball” kicking footballs were underinflated in their loss to the Patriots in Foxborough in the divisional round.
http://nypost.com/2015/01/20/nfl-probe-finds-11-of-12-patriots-footballs-were-under-inflated/
NFL says 11 of 12 Patriots footballs were underinflated: report
By Bart Hubbuch
New York Post
January 20, 2015 | 11:36pm
* * * http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2919111/Interception-caused-Indianapolis-Colts-look-inflated-footballs-AFC-championship-game-against-New-England-Patriots-NFL-says-investigation-underway.html
New England Patriots DID deflate footballs for their win over Colts: 'Eleven of 12 game balls were under inflated'
The NFL has said it is reviewing whether the New England Patriots manipulated footballs during their 45-7 home win over the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC championship game Sunday night
Colts linebacker D'Qwell Jackson's interception reportedly caused the Colts to look into what is being called 'Deflategate'
A Colts equipment staff member was handed the ball by Jackson and noticed it seemed under-inflated, according to one report
Both Colts coach Chuck Pagano and general manager Ryan Grigson were reportedly notified
Grigson reached out to NFL director of football operations Mike Kensil who spoke to on-field officials, according to the the report
By ASSOCIATED PRESS and ZOE SZATHMARY FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 19:23 EST, 20 January 2015 | UPDATED: 09:31 EST, 21 January 2015
* * *
[From article]
Patriots head coach Bill Belichik said he did not know anything about the potential issue until Monday.
"We'll cooperate fully with whatever the league wants us to; whatever questions they have for us, whatever they want us to do," Belichik told reporters.
According to a report on the NFL's website, a ball was taken off the field and out of circulation during New England's 45-7 win over the visiting Colts that clinched a berth in the Feb. 1 Super Bowl.
Using a deflated ball is presumably done to help players increase their grip, which could have been an issue during Sunday's game that was played in rainy conditions.
According to the NFL report, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady dismissed the claims as "ridiculous" during his Monday morning appearance on Boston radio station WEEI-FM.
[. . .]
"I think I've heard it all at this point," said Brady, who threw three touchdowns in the win. "That's the last of my worries. I don't even respond to stuff like this."
The report also said that if the NFL confirms deflated footballs were used by New England to gain an advantage during the game, it could cost the team draft picks.
The Patriots are no stranger to controversy having been heavily fined by the NFL and docked a first-round draft pick in 2008 for videotaping an opposing team's defensive coaches' signals during a game.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/league-probing-patriots-possible-deflated-balls-161734516--nfl.html
League probing Patriots' possible use of deflated balls
Frank Pingue
January 19, 2015
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