New England Patriots caught deflating game balls

[May Day 10]

You know what's going to happen if there is any smoke to this fire: they'll throw the lowly ball assistant under the bus in the media, set him up with some nice arrangement so he won't talk, and we can get back to talking about the sheer precision and dominance of this football team.

 

 

we will be told "everybody does it" or "its not explicitly against the rulebook" or "youre just a biased Pats hater".... or "they won the game easily anyways"

 

any one or more of those mantras will be fed and are already being fed. The NFL is in its best interest to make this go away and not taint the Superbowl so nothing will happen. No doubt.

 

Our best hope is Irsay gets liquored up and makes a big deal out of it. I would be irate if I were the Colts.

 

 

 

 

and yes, people wonder how the Patriots "do it" with all new casts of characters and misfits like Blount and plug and play on defense. No matter what injuries, FA losses, botched draft picks, here they are. I wonder how they do it..... hmmm.....

[CountDorkula]

Billy boy needs to be suspended for the Superbowl if true.

 

You think the pats care if they lose draft picks?

 

Fine the owner $10MM

Fine the coach $5MM and suspended him for the SB.

Give them 0 draft picks next year.

[Captain_Quint]

High school/college/NFL each team brings their own game balls that they use when on offense. The balls are switched out after change of possession. Refs always check the footballs pre game to make sure they are properly inflated and not altered or scuffed up

 

So if this is true, it was done to benefit the Pats offense and maybe limit turnovers due to the weather?

The Colts would have used the same footballs that they always use if the above is true.

[plenzmd1]

Have Mike and Mike on in the background, not one mention of this yet.

 

For the record, I believe this is much ado about nothing, but it is a story and has been confirmed by NFL it is being investigated and should be reported.

[nucci]

 

They deflated the balls in the elevator and it's impossible to know what happens in elevators.

Nice

[QB Bills]

Business comes before fair play in today's NFL. Too much money involved. Its unfortunate, but even if they did cheat, nothing will come of this, I would imagine.

[Casey D]

 

So if this is true, it was done to benefit the Pats offense and maybe limit turnovers due to the weather?

The Colts would have used the same footballs that they always use if the above is true.

No, apparently not. Each team provides its own balls for offense that they maintain control over. I did not know that until this morning.

[Ted William's frozen head]

I !@#$ing hate those guys.

I throw/catch passes for exercise. (I can throw a nice spiral about 25 yards) A slightly under inflated ball is easier to throw, AND easier to catch.

*Much* easier on fingers catching it as well

[Casey D]

I throw/catch passes for exercise. (I can throw a nice spiral about 25 yards) A slightly under inflated ball is easier to throw, AND easier to catch.

*Much* easier on fingers catching it as well

Yes, it is like a corked bat in baseball.

[Jobu]

Send the balls to the league office and they will mysteriously vanish.

 

Probably what will happen. Bet you a dollar nothing will come of this.

 

Did this affect the outcome of the game? No. Patriots still would have killed the Colts. However, cheating is still cheating and the Patriots* seem to do it and get caught more than any other team. The fact the league allows this crap to continue with little or no meaningful punishment says a lot about the state of the league.

[HalftimeAdjustment]

So do we have to call them the Patriots** now? Or is there an easy symbol for a second offense?

[Captain_Quint]

No, apparently not. Each team provides its own balls for offense that they maintain control over. I did not know that until this morning.

 

This article says differently:

 

According to NFL rules, home teams are required to provide 36 balls for outdoor games and make the balls available for testing with a pressure gauge prior to the game.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2015/01/19/nfl-reportedly-investigating-if-patriots-used-deflated-footballs-in-afc/

 

This one says differently:

 

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/extra_points/2015/01/report_patriots_may_have_deflated_footballs_for_af.html

 

An NFL football must be inflated with between 12.5 and 13.5 pounds of air per the league's rule book. In addition, home and road teams must each provide 12 game balls to be inspected by the league 135 minutes before game time. The home team also has to have 12 reserve game balls on hand to be tested.

Edited January 19, 2015 by Captain_Quint

[mead107]

I never seen them change out the ball after int.

[filthymcnasty08]

Once a cheater, always a cheater.

 

Just my opinion, they never stopped what they were originally accused of doing. They have been a 2nd half monster in too many games. I know that upsets some fanboys of the legends here…so be it.

 

Again, my opinion, that Spygate and the associated cover up by the league, sent the message that the league will do almost anything to preserve the illusion of integrity. In the minds of extremely intelligent cheaters and criminals, that represents a large swath of gray area in which to operate…safely. Kind of a Double Jeopardy situation - absolutely no freaking way Goodell wants to deal with that again. They even got all the other owners to turn their backs on the integrity of the game and protect the golden goose.

 

Just in these playoffs, we have accusations from the Ravens on the illegality of their formations, and now this.

[ko12010]

Spygate, deflated footballs, headset frequency issues, officials in the owner's back pocket.

All coincidence???

No, they're just a model franchise! And the Bills are just losers.

[YoloinOhio]

@YahooSports_NFL: Patriots quarterback Tom Brady dubs deflate-gate accusations 'ridiculous' http://t.co/MtvRnKC8Nb#NFL

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

caption this

 

 

meet me in the shower in 15 minutes

[RyanC883]

Ground up and in the freezer!

 

Deflating the ball is an advantage to the ball handlers (hehe) particularly in poor weather

@bkravitz: Told if a league investigation confirms deflated footballs it will result in lost draft picks. Stay tuned.

 

 

It has reached the point with the Cheating Pats that they deserve the college football equivalent of the death penalty. (then LA can build an expansion team). Robert Kraft should be banned from the NFL, along with Bellicheat.

 

At the very least, kick them out of the Superbowl, and take away their 1st round picks for the next decade.

Edited January 19, 2015 by RyanC883

[judman]

Goodelle needs to forget that he was Robert Kraft's prom date.

 

Anything remotely close to sweeping this thing under the rug will (should) ruin him.

Edited January 19, 2015 by judman

[stevestojan]

Oh Jesus Christ, they won by 38 points. They could have been using a marshmallow and this wouldn't have mattered.

 

This is getting old and makes us look like jealous idiots.

 

And for theove of God, enough with the asterisks askter the name Pats. It's childish, but more importantly MAKES NO SENSE. You're not questioning their name. If you want to use it after one of the Titles (should you mention one of those), it's still childish, but at lease it makes sense - if that's what you're going after.

[TheBillsWillRiseAgain]

Oh Jesus Christ, they won by 38 points. They could have been using a marshmallow and this wouldn't have mattered.

 

This is getting old and makes us look like jealous idiots.

 

And for theove of God, enough with the asterisks askter the name Pats. It's childish, but more importantly MAKES NO SENSE. You're not questioning their name. If you want to use it after one of the Titles (should you mention one of those), it's still childish, but at lease it makes sense - if that's what you're going after.

 

Cheating is cheating. The cheating doesn't have to be the direct reason for your win to make it wrong/illegal.

[The Real Buffalo Joe]

Oh Jesus Christ, they won by 38 points. They could have been using a marshmallow and this wouldn't have mattered.

 

This is getting old and makes us look like jealous idiots.

 

And for theove of God, enough with the asterisks askter the name Pats*. It's childish, but more importantly MAKES NO SENSE. You're not questioning their name. If you want to use it after one of the Titles (should you mention one of those), it's still childish, but at lease it makes sense - if that's what you're going after.

fixed

[Maddog69]

Belicheck should be immediately suspended and not allowed to participate in Superbowl prep. They are giving the NFL a black eye. Something needs to be done. But I expect it to be swept under the rug.

[filthymcnasty08]

It will be interesting to see how the NFL handles this….it's not the reg season, there are 2 teams left and one of them most probably cheated. Everyone is watching and the Ray Rice/Purple Jesus incidents are still pretty fresh….The Gooddell war room will convene and Kraft will be on speaker phone…maybe Jerruh can offer up his PR "fixer"

 

I'm going to look for the articles to start this afternoon and throughout the week where ex players, ex coaches and ex officials come out and say "oh we all did it….nothing to see here"…a lot of them need the money and fat daddy Kraft has it in spades.

 

I hope we can eek one out for the Bills before this game has completely jumped the shark in everyones minds.

Oh Jesus Christ, they won by 38 points. They could have been using a marshmallow and this wouldn't have mattered.

This is getting old and makes us look like jealous idiots.

And for theove of God, enough with the asterisks askter the name Pats. It's childish, but more importantly MAKES NO SENSE. You're not questioning their name. If you want to use it after one of the Titles (should you mention one of those), it's still childish, but at lease it makes sense - if that's what you're going after.

Sorry but you're dead wrong. Has nothing to do with us so please leave that insecurity at the door. It's an unfair advantage on a rainy, wet day in the AFC championship game. A game where one fumble can cost you the Super Bowl…that is unless you can have an edge. One that was pre-meditated and where you cannot measure or cherry pick the effects after the fact by looking at the score….the game is tainted and the league needs to make it right.

[Jerry Jabber]

Patriots keep coming up with ways to get an advantage. Last week, they were doing last second substitutions which didn't give the Ravens defenders time to adjust, now it's under inflated footballs. I wonder what they'll have up their sleeve for the Superbowl.

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

Oh Jesus Christ, they won by 38 points. They could have been using a marshmallow and this wouldn't have mattered.

 

 

well then ... how do you feel about them running up the score?

[peterpan]

 

Probably what will happen. Bet you a dollar nothing will come of this.

 

Did this affect the outcome of the game? No. Patriots still would have killed the Colts. However, cheating is still cheating and the Patriots* seem to do it and get caught more than any other team. The fact the league allows this crap to continue with little or no meaningful punishment says a lot about the state of the league.

Yes it sure did affect the game. Thats why it is ILLEGAL to deflate the football, because it affects the game.

 

Oh Jesus Christ, they won by 38 points. They could have been using a marshmallow and this wouldn't have mattered.

 

This is getting old and makes us look like jealous idiots.

 

And for theove of God, enough with the asterisks askter the name Pats. It's childish, but more importantly MAKES NO SENSE. You're not questioning their name. If you want to use it after one of the Titles (should you mention one of those), it's still childish, but at lease it makes sense - if that's what you're going after.

IT WAS A TEN POINT GAME AT HALFTIME.

[May Day 10]

who knows how the game would have went though? They got to gameplan for it, and practice with the changed physics.

[TheBillsWillRiseAgain]

-Bill Bellichick files an antitrust lawsuit against the Jets to free him from his contract so he can join the Patriots

-Patriots get caught cheating in Spygate and fined in 2007

-Raiders accuse Patriots of tampering with Randy Moss in 2008

-Former Patriots accuse Patriots of cheating on injury reports in 2013

-Patriots investigated for deflating balls in the AFC Championship game in 2014

Real stand-up team they got there.

[Fixxxer]

It's always something with these cheaters. But they are the darlings of the NFL, nothing will happen to them.

[Captain_Quint]

caption this

 

 

meet me in the shower in 15 minutes

Your balls were just right today

[KDIGGZ]

I think for a team that has been caught cheating multiple times, the correct penalty should be a 1 year suspension for the head coach like what happened with Sean Payton in New Orleans

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

Oh Jesus Christ, they won by 38 points. They could have been using a marshmallow and this wouldn't have mattered.

 

This is getting old and makes us look like jealous idiots.

 

And for theove of God, enough with the asterisks askter the name Pats. It's childish, but more importantly MAKES NO SENSE. You're not questioning their name. If you want to use it after one of the Titles (should you mention one of those), it's still childish, but at lease it makes sense - if that's what you're going after.

You are right that it didn't affect the outcome of the game. But why invite this stuff? The pats push it too close to the line. After spygate, you would think they would be careful to ensure transparency and honesty. But instead they are looking for small sly advantages. It's really unprofessional.

[firemedic]

Hopefully, Seattle destroys them.............

[stevewin]

I think its important the note that while most people remeber Spygate for taping other teams signals, it was much much more than that.

 

"But it wasn’t just a matter of filming opposing team’s coaches — it was also how that information was allegedly passed to Brady.

As the scandal broke, the NFL was investigating a possible violation into the number of radio frequencies the Patriots were using during the Jets game, sources told ESPN’s Chris Mortensen, who reported at the time that the Pats did not “have a satisfactory explanation when asked about possible irregularities in its communication setup during the game.”

Quarterbacks communicate with the sidelines via microphones in their helmets that pick up an NFL-monitored radio frequency. An NFL sideline official cuts off communications on this frequency 15 seconds before the play clock runs out.

Offensive plays would be called based on stolen signals and the information relayed straight to Brady’s helmet, O’Leary theorizes.

In this scenario, the extra frequency is critical, as it allows the team to do something in real time with the stolen signals, out of earshot of the NFL monitor, and change its plays accordingly.

If there’s an open channel during the play itself, you can also alert the quarterback to open receivers he may not see.

O’Leary repeats a rumor that Pats backup quarterback Doug Flutie once said he accidentally picked up Brady’s helmet during the 2005 season.

“He was amazed that the coaches kept right on speaking to Brady past the 15-second cutoff, right up until the snap,” ­according to O’Leary.

“The voice in Tom Brady’s helmet was explaining the exact defense he was about to face.”

That same year, Pats linebacker Ted Johnson told USA Today that an hour before game time, a list of the opposing team’s audibles — the signals a QB would use at the line of scrimmage just before a snap to change the play — would sometimes appear in his locker. He had no idea where the lists came from. Three years later, he said he was as surprised as anyone to hear about the cheating allegations.

http://nypost.com/2014/10/12/they-are-cheaters-spygate-the-nfl-scandal-that-started-it-all/

I think people are very very right to question how good Tom Brady really is. I mean, he stands there un touched and throw 5 yard passes to wide open wide recievers. He knows the Defense before the snap. He is told about it in his helmet. Jamarcus Russel could win with that info

 

This is the reason it drives me crazy the respect and adoration Brady gets - cheater plain and simple. No way he would have had his success without it. IMO he should be villified for his success, not praised. He is the Barry Bonds of the NFL.

[papazoid]

total hogwash.

 

haters gonna hate.

 

 

why this story has legs.....There was an awkward moment to start the third quarter involving a ball being switched just prior to the Patriots' first play, although retired ref Mike Carey — serving as an analyst for CBS — suggested officials were customarily swapping one used for the kickoff with another designated for game action.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/patriots-quarterback-tom-brady-dubs-deflate-gate-accusations--ridiculous-135815596.html

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

Hopefully, Seattle destroys them.............

^ this X100

[filthymcnasty08]

total hogwash.

 

haters gonna hate.

 

 

why this story has legs.....There was an awkward moment to start the third quarter involving a ball being switched just prior to the Patriots' first play, although retired ref Mike Carey — serving as an analyst for CBS — suggested officials were customarily swapping one used for the kickoff with another designated for game action.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/patriots-quarterback-tom-brady-dubs-deflate-gate-accusations--ridiculous-135815596.html

 

So Tom Brady disagrees, glad we have that vital piece of information. Where there's smoke….

[The Real Buffalo Joe]

total hogwash.

 

haters gonna hate.

 

 

why this story has legs.....There was an awkward moment to start the third quarter involving a ball being switched just prior to the Patriots' first play, although retired ref Mike Carey — serving as an analyst for CBS — suggested officials were customarily swapping one used for the kickoff with another designated for game action.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/patriots-quarterback-tom-brady-dubs-deflate-gate-accusations--ridiculous-135815596.html

They should just have Brady run the investigation. I'm sure he'd find no problems.

[Wayne Cubed]

total hogwash.

 

haters gonna hate.

 

 

why this story has legs.....There was an awkward moment to start the third quarter involving a ball being switched just prior to the Patriots' first play, although retired ref Mike Carey — serving as an analyst for CBS — suggested officials were customarily swapping one used for the kickoff with another designated for game action.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/patriots-quarterback-tom-brady-dubs-deflate-gate-accusations--ridiculous-135815596.html

 

Why the story has legs? The story has legs because the NFL is IN FACT investigating it. Brady can call it hogwash all he wants but why would the NFL investigate it then Tom? I don't hear anything out of Seattle about them deflating their game balls, so I'm not really sure I get the "haters gonna hate" comment. And apparently the officials removed several balls from the came. 1 or 2 being deflated, ok that probably happens often. But several, that raises eyebrows hence the investigation.