rodeo

98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher and Rich Show” reports that the Patriots turned in their game balls slightly under-inflated and an official — presumably head referee Walt Anderson — signed off on them. The show’s source indicated that a pressure gauge was not used. http://www.yardbarker.com/nfl/articles/report_nfl_approved_under_inflated_balls_from_patriots/18162203?linksrc=story_sitewide_yardbarker_footer_head_18162203

If a Pats attendant really did it there's no question at least Brady was involved. It's absurd to think some ballboy went into unilateral action.

So PFT is saying there's a video of a Pats locker room attendant taking all 24 (Pats balls and Colts balls) into a bathroom. That runs counter to everything we heard about how the chain of custody goes. It was reported that the balls go from a ref, to a uniformed football attendant, to the team's ball boys. There should be no Patriots employee who is given both team's balls. There is some serious breakdown here.

The kicking balls are separate and teams don't have access to them.

Well, it kinda did. The Panthers got busted this season illegally holding their footballs to heaters during the Vikings game. The fact you haven't heard anything about it tells you exactly what "everyone would be saying."

Looks like you missed the slew of NFL players saying it's no big deal. And Schefter saying the NFL coaches he asked seemed insulted that anyone would consider it a big deal.

Well here's a name I completely forgot about. Seji Ajirotutu WR

I'd like to try to get a couple of them. KB, Torrey Smith, Brandon Tate, Olsen would be a pretty darn good receiving crew. Those guys are also still young and it would free us up for a LT in the 1st round.

I really hope the report comes out before the Super Bowl, so it can be settled one way or another. If the Patriots win it'll be utterly tainted if they haven't released a report yet. And it would be even worse if they release a report a week later and are found guilty.

It baffles me how the NFL is like the reverse MLB. In baseball, if a pitcher messes with a ball, puts tar, whatever on it, it's a fine, a warning, basically a slap on the wrist. However if someone gets busted on PEDs it's a fuging huge deal, the media runs with it and there are monumental penalties. However in the NFL, we have a Super Bowl team busted for PEDs 7 times in a few years, and the league and media couldn't care less. However a team potentially tampering with balls and we have people calling for a lifetime ban. Really messed up priorities.

That would mean they had a record of the psi before the game, though, which is something I question. According to a former ball boy for the Bears he never saw them actually measure psi, only give the old palm test and check the laces before approving them.

there's really no need for this sort of attitude, dude.

I'll remember this complete impartiality when the results reveal no tampering. I'm sure you'll say "Very well then, the Patriots are not cheaters."

Or it could have been at the bottom of the stack and insulated. Things aren't always uniform like that.

Have they said Colts balls weren't deflated at all, or did they say they were legal? If the Colts balls were inflated to the max, and Patriots balls were inflated to the min, then if they both deflated 2psi the Colts balls would still be legal whereas Patriots would not.

But let me guess, you'd totally believe Pete Carroll if he denied a culture of PEDs since he took over in Seattle.

lol ok

lmao

please

my hobby is fighting you irl

Yeah I realized that after I posted, hence the edit.

Everyone's opinions are biased. That's what humans do. Nobody in this thread is looking at the situation and saying "Oh yes I am utterly objective." As Panthers fans your opinion is going to be colored already. I'm a Panthers fan, 100%. The Patriots aren't even any sort of 'second team' to me, go back and find gameday threads from when we've played them, I cheer as hard as for any other game. Ted Ginn burning them in 2013 was my favorite moment of the past few years. Some matters I want to defend them on and I'm not objective. That's.... really not a big deal.

I had a cousin on the Patriots from 2005-2008.

Not only unsubstantiated, but Harbaugh has flat denied it.

Your gotcha game needs as much work as your reading comprehension. When someone says a phrase like 'most likely scenario' or similar it's usually an indication that it's a theory, not a conclusion.