The_Yoda said:
The balls are inspected then given back to the team, at which point thy can tamper away if so desired. As another poster pointed out the Refs should be the ones to hold onto the balls after inspection. |
Had the refs done their due diligence, it really wouldn't be taking the NFL this long to come out with the information (I can imagine the last thing the NFL wants is this debacle overshadowing the Pro Bowl and SB). What seems like has happened is basically the refs were supposed to use pressure gauges, and maybe didn't. And we know they shirk this duty on occasion because Rodgers admitted over-inflating balls, and being upset 'when they deflate them', which means they don't always catch it. Sounds like this is a widespread issue and varies from QB to QB. I'm assuming there'll be a league-wide memo w/ a new process for ball evaluation prior to a game.
I will say this, however, as a Patriots fan, if the NFL comes out with pre-game levels, and half-time levels, showing that w/in the 2 hour period the balls were altered in a way that cannot be explained via mother-nature or some other occurance, I certainly support the 25K fine. Not because I believe the Patriots got an unfair advantage, but because it's a rule that they broke. I think the league should also send out a league-wide memo, iterating this entire policy. So that there's no confusion over this.
If they're not going to document the levels of each individual ball pre and post-game, or have a camera on them at all times, I don't honestly see how this changes anything. You know full well that at LEAST 2 QB's (Not including Brady) who've won the SB in the past 10 years, like either over-inflated (Rodgers), or under-inflated balls (Eli).
