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Bucs QB used altered footballs in Super Bowl

Mr. Scot

By Mr. Scot,
in Carolina Panthers

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Mr. Scot Grand Master

Mr. Scot

Posted
Posted

...and freely admits it.

 

Four days before the biggest game of his life, quarterback Brad Johnson broke an NFL rule to help the Bucs win Super Bowl XXXVII.

At 34, Johnson had developed a few compulsions during his career. He changed his socks and shoes every quarter, and over the course of a game he replaced everything but his pants. Johnson always sweated profusely, and he liked the clean, dry feeling.

This was particularly true when it came to footballs. He had trouble gripping a wet football, a cold football or a new, out-of-the-box football.

It had been enough of a problem during the NFC title game in Philadelphia the week before — where it was 26 degrees at kickoff — that he was forced to wear a glove.

"I wouldn't have been able to play without it," he said.

At the Super Bowl, the NFL had 100 footballs. They were new, slick and supposedly under the league's watchful eye. But not leaving anything to chance, Johnson made sure the balls were scuffed and ready well before the Dixie Chicks sang the national anthem.

"I paid some guys off to get the balls right," Johnson now admits. "I went and got all 100 footballs, and they took care of all of them."

How much did it cost Johnson? "Seventy-five hundred (dollars)," he said.

"They took care of them."

Johnson made the revelation several years ago, proir to the 10-year reunion of the Bucs' Super Bowl champion team.

 

Bucs QB Johnson paid to have footballs altered before SB 37

 

 

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Mr. Scot Grand Master

Mr. Scot

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So.... just another reason to hate the bucs?

 

I'd say this reflects just as much on the NFL, actually.

 

How poor was their security that someone could so easily get away with this?

 

And the next natural question: So what did the Saints get away with? :lol:

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csx Grand Master

csx

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I'd say this reflects just as much on the NFL, actually.

 

How poor was their security that someone could so easily get away with this?

 

And the next natural question: So what did the Saints get away with? :lol:

Or how silly the  over reaction is.

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Mr. Scot Grand Master

Mr. Scot

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Or how silly the  over reaction is.

 

I don't feel it's an overreaction, but the pertinent question is how the NFL feels.

 

In the aftermath of the Ray Rice investigation, integrity questions probably sting.

 

But Bob Kraft is one of the owners who has vocally stuck by Goodell, so... :unsure:

 

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Snake Grand Master

Snake

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I'd say this reflects just as much on the NFL, actually.

How poor was their security that someone could so easily get away with this?

And the next natural question: So what did the Saints get away with? :lol:

For some reason I have a feeling no team is squeaky clean. There is a reason they call it home field advantage. Didn't Al Davis water the field before games or something like that?

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Mr. Scot Grand Master

Mr. Scot

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For some reason I have a feeling no team is squeaky clean. There is a reason they call it home field advantage. Didn't Al Davis water the field before games or something like that?

 

More than one team has been accused of groundskeeper shenanigans.

 

There's also the piped in crowd noise accusations that have dogged the Colts and others.

 

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d-dave Grand Master

d-dave

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There's gonna be much stricter ball examinations from now on.

 

Must...resist...joke...temptation!

 

Though to the point, it looks like this has been a fairly wide spread issue.  I mean, if you hear about it in bits and pieces, doesn't the old saying "where there's smoke, there's fire" come into play?

 

Besides being easier to throw and catch, what other effects does this kind of ball "management" have on the game for both teams?

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