#DFG: Canceling the Noise

[tedseye]

Of course the balls deflate in colder weather, and the Exponent / Wells Report indicates as much. The problem is that we don't have a starting temperature, a starting pressure, reliable pressure gauges, timing on when the balls were measured at halftime, or a valid control group. So they can run these experiments and easily claim that the data suggests the balls should have deflated by 1 PSI (or whatever) but the Patriots' balls deflated by 1.5 PSI (or whatever). There's no proving cheating or proving innocence - there was not enough data then, and there is no way to get it now.
 
This seems like wishful thinking. Goodell hasn't given any indication that he cares even a tiny bit about being respected "as a stateman, practically Solomonic." If he did, none of this would have been handled the way it was.

All you naysayers seem to assume Roger cannot change his spots. But haven't DCM and other lawyer types posited that the Covington & Burling lawyers who now are advising the NFL may well be advising that, as presently constituted, the league's case is likely unwinnable? We are talking exit strategy here for a Commissioner who now finds himself hoisted on his own petard - not a Commissioner who is penitently seeking to admit his mistake.

Just look at the 2015 ball inflation new rules, they go far beyond any game-by-game objective -- the data are designed to address the "scientific" issue. Sure the scientific answer is obvious to most of us already, but how else can Roger slip away from the albatross of the dishonest Wells report? And it will take a whole year to do it - long beyond his public's attention span, no?

No wishful thinking here: just a radar antenna brought to full alert by the weekend disclosure of the new rules: a classic lawyerly maneuver, it looks suspiciously like. I continue to assume the worst re the motives of Roger, Wells and the Exponent "experts," but am simply suggesting this latest move may be the opening salvo of a rescue operation by Covington - with or without an agreement by Brady/NFLPA.

 

[Three10toLeft]

Every so often after lurking in this thread for a bit, I come back to the realization that we are talking about a random thick neck from Brookline, allegedly going in to a bathroom and letting out one single pound PSI out of a football.
 
How is this real?

 

[Ed Hillel]

Actually, it's more like .2 to .3 PSI, allegedly. There's no discernible difference at that level anyway.

 

[nattysez]

Here's my tinfoil hat theory -- apologies if it's already been proposed.  If I were advising Goodell, I'd tell him never to rule on the appeal.  I'd tell him to do the following:
 
(1)  establish new rules that will allow some data-gathering about ball deflation due to weather next season.  This is so that if pressed in a court filing about why he hasn't ruled on the appeal, he can claim that the NFL is going to use the information gathered during this season to determine whether the Patriots' balls could have deflated only due to weather, so it simply isn't possible to rule yet. 
(2)  put the appeal in a drawer and forget about it
(3)  when the NFLPA calls to threaten to go to court if there's no ruling before the season starts, tell them that if they keep their papers non-inflammatory, the NFL will agree not to oppose any motion for a TRO or PI to prevent the imposition of Brady's suspension until the appeal is ruled upon.
 
This way, Goodell never becomes the guy who ruled against Brady, nor is he the guy who "went easy" on Brady.  And he can sell to the other owners that he's doing this to keep the Pats in line; if they ever cheat "again," he'll be able to really drop the hammer by denying Brady's appeal as well as adding new penalties against the team for the new issue.

 

[grsharky7]

So is today the big day?  Camp gets under way this week and the NFL released their new protocol for game balls yesterday.  I feel like this is a horror movie and you know the know the knife wielding maniac is going to jump out at any second.  

 

[jk333]

Actually, it's more like .2 to .3 PSI, allegedly. There's no discernible difference at that level anyway.

The intercepted Patriots ball was properly inflated - 11.52PSI from three measurements before halftime. Why there were further measurements is what the Wells report should have investigated.

 

[Super Nomario]

All you naysayers seem to assume Roger cannot change his spots. But haven't DCM and other lawyer types posited that the Covington & Burling lawyers who now are advising the NFL may well be advising that, as presently constituted, the league's case is likely unwinnable? We are talking exit strategy here for a Commissioner who now finds himself hoisted on his own petard - not a Commissioner who is penitently seeking to admit his mistake.

I don't know if the case is unwinnable or not - there are enough differences from established precedents that I don't think it's obvious how things will go. Moreover, I don't know that he cares about losing in court.
 

Just look at the 2015 ball inflation new rules, they go far beyond any game-by-game objective -- the data are designed to address the "scientific" issue. Sure the scientific answer is obvious to most of us already, but how else can Roger slip away from the albatross of the dishonest Wells report? And it will take a whole year to do it - long beyond his public's attention span, no?

For Patriots fans looking for exoneration, it's easy to see the data collection as related to science, but more likely all of this just has to do with ball security. The regulations specify who carries the balls when, who measures and re-measures, who approves, and where the balls go. Measuring detects potential tampering. It seems more likely that this rule protects the other 31 franchises from those dastardly Patriots than it exists to exonerate them.
 
Moreover, this rule doubles down on the idea that ball deflation is a Very Serious Matter and a threat to the Integrity of the Shield. Wisdom would dictate that Goodell say, "you know what? It doesn't matter and no one cares." Instead, he's reinforcing the idea that what the Patriots did(?) is real bad cheating and must be stopped at all costs. It provides justification for sticking at 4 games for Brady is a world where Greg Hardy also got four games.
 

No wishful thinking here: just a radar antenna brought to full alert by the weekend disclosure of the new rules: a classic lawyerly maneuver, it looks suspiciously like. I continue to assume the worst re the motives of Roger, Wells and the Exponent "experts," but am simply suggesting this latest move may be the opening salvo of a rescue operation by Covington - with or without an agreement by Brady/NFLPA.

 

[Gorton Fisherman]

So not even a non-denial denial from Irsay. Wanker. Although to be honest, his response is proably smarter than the one Bisciotti gave.

Regarding the newly announced football testing process, I don't see how the NFL is going to be able to keep their halftime measurement data secret. After the huge public mountain they've made out of this particular molehill, there'll be tons of pressure for them to come up with some data to try to post-rationalize the actions they took against the Patriots and Brady.

It's kind of a moot point anyway, because it's going to be super easy for teams, media, or other independent parties to more or less exactly replicate the football PSI experiment using their own test balls during games this season. And I have no doubt that this will happen.

I personally can't wait for the enormous shit sandwich the NFL is going to have to eat once people starting taking accurate, documented PSI measurements during actual game conditions. Sure, we may have to wait a couple months into the season until the cold-weather games start. But there is no doubt that the shit sandwich is a-comin', and it's going to be a doozy.

 

[DJnVa]

Here's my tinfoil hat theory -- apologies if it's already been proposed.  If I were advising Goodell, I'd tell him never to rule on the appeal.  I'd tell him to do the following:
 
(1)  establish new rules that will allow some data-gathering about ball deflation due to weather next season.  This is so that if pressed in a court filing about why he hasn't ruled on the appeal, he can claim that the NFL is going to use the information gathered during this season to determine whether the Patriots' balls could have deflated only due to weather, so it simply isn't possible to rule yet. 
(2)  put the appeal in a drawer and forget about it
(3)  when the NFLPA calls to threaten to go to court if there's no ruling before the season starts, tell them that if they keep their papers non-inflammatory, the NFL will agree not to oppose any motion for a TRO or PI to prevent the imposition of Brady's suspension until the appeal is ruled upon.
 
This way, Goodell never becomes the guy who ruled against Brady, nor is he the guy who "went easy" on Brady.  And he can sell to the other owners that he's doing this to keep the Pats in line; if they ever cheat "again," he'll be able to really drop the hammer by denying Brady's appeal as well as adding new penalties against the team for the new issue.

 

Your apology isn't needed because I can safely say no one has posted that theory before.

 

[RedOctober3829]

This is a prime example of how little Volin knows.

@BenVolin: Either/or, it's not that important RT @JohnKryk @BenVolin Will officials be using logo or non-logo gauges?

 

[ifmanis5]

This is a prime example of how little Volin knows.

@BenVolin: Either/or, it's not that important RT @JohnKryk @BenVolin Will officials be using logo or non-logo gauges?

Wow. Cafardo-esque level of lazy fail.

 

[jsinger121]

This is a prime example of how little Volin knows.

@BenVolin: Either/or, it's not that important RT @JohnKryk @BenVolin Will officials be using logo or non-logo gauges?

 
This lazy reporting is probably a big reason why the Globe is the least liked from what I heard at One Patriot Place.

 

[nighthob]

Don't most observers agree that collecting this sort of data will demonstrate over the course of next season that balls will deflate in the colder weather along the lines suggested by various non-Exponent scientists and engineers? Why would the NFL collect this data if they expect (which I think in their inner councils they now do) that the results will ultimately exonerate the Pats and Brady?
On everything except "cooperation", that is.
The timing of this looks very suspiciously like the first of a two-step resolution. Possibly a negotiated one. Couldn't Roger say that enough questions have been presented about the scientific assumptions underpinning the Wells report's scientific finding that the time for speculation is past, and the questions should be resolved, as it were, by experience to be gained on the football field. He could come across as a statesman, practically Solomonic.

The word you may be looking for as regards Goodell is Solomoronic. As for the concept of the data gathering exhonorating the Patriots, I'm pretty sure the exoneration campaign is be managed by the firm of Nessie, Sasquatch, & Yeti.

Look, there's no exoneration coming and you can believe that the world wide leader won't say a word about the halftime measurements taken in Arizona and Miami in September or Green Bay or Minnesota in December. No matter how hard league officials try to leak the data.

This farce has two purposes, first, so that when a federal judge asks the league why they've never taken the issue seriously before they can say, with a relatively stright face "It was always serious, we just didn't know that we needed to address it because we assumed our teams weren't cheaty cheaters that cheat. We had to implement this entire procedure to assure the integrity of the game."

The second, less obvious reason, is to prevent his rebellious employees from pulling this nonsense again next playoff season.

 

[RedOctober3829]

 
This lazy reporting is probably a big reason why the Globe is the least liked from what I heard at One Patriot Place.

This is also a prime example of how the misinformation by the media has fueled this whole thing.  From Mort's initial report on down the line, the pathetic level of reporting is embarrassing to the profession.

 

[DJnVa]

Wow. Cafardo-esque level of lazy fail.

 
Eh, not really.
 
As long as both officials use the same type of gauge and use it again at halftime, it really doesn't matter does it?
 

 

[RedOctober3829]

 
Eh, not really.
 
As long as both officials use the same type of gauge and use it again at halftime, it really doesn't matter does it?
 

They haven't been doing it up until now so why do we expect them to going forward?

 

[DJnVa]

They haven't been doing it up until now so why do we expect them to going forward?

 
I agree with that.
 
But the issue isn't with which gauge is used, it's being consistent about it. That's a different issue.
 

 

[GeorgeCostanza]

Mentaldisabldlst, as appeal decision day inevitably creeps closer, I just wanted to give you a chance to back out of our bet if you weren't feeling good about Goodell at least giving him 1 game. I know I'm just bursting with confidence the suspension will be vacated!

I've made many bad "gut feeling" bets in my life, but this was by far the dumbest.

At some point, logic and reason has to rule the day I keep telling myself. Then at every single turn of this fiasco, insanity reigns.

 

[MuppetAsteriskTalk]

 
Eh, not really.
 
As long as both officials use the same type of gauge and use it again at halftime, it really doesn't matter does it?
 

 
I'm not so sure that 2 of the same gauges won't sometimes read differently. Or if the same gauge won't read differently on subsequent readings. Without calibration requirements and standards for the allowable tolerances of the gauges, the readings are fairly meaningless.

 

[ivanvamp]

What GeorgeCostanza said. This thing, if it were handled by reasonable, rational minds, would have been over in like two days. That it has become this monstrosity is evidence that the league is not being run by reasonable, rational minds.

 

[RedOctober3829]

 
I agree with that.
 
But the issue isn't with which gauge is used, it's being consistent about it. That's a different issue.
 

And I agree with that sentiment.  The point I was trying to make was that Volin spreading the word that a consistently used gauge isn't important is just another example of media spreading misinformation about this whole issue.

 

[jmcc5400]

Is it possible Volin was bring sarcastic? Since, you know, this whole thing is a farce?

 

[( . ) ( . ) and (_!_)]

What GeorgeCostanza said. This thing, if it were handled by reasonable, rational minds, would have been over in like two days. That it has become this monstrosity is evidence that the league is not being run by reasonable, rational minds.

 
My friends like to bust my balls because my optimistic projections about Deflategate have been so wrong so often.  But I have come to realize the issue with my predictions is that I have been assigning rational actions to irrational actors.  This is why I really hope this ends up in court.  At that point I am much more confident in logic and reason taking over to drive the outcome.

 

[RedOctober3829]

 
My friends like to bust my balls because my optimistic projections about Deflategate have been so wrong so often.  But I have come to realize the issue with my predictions is that I have been assigning rational actions to irrational actors.  This is why I really hope this ends up in court.  At that point I am much more confident in logic and reason taking over to drive the outcome.

There has been no common sense applied in any stage of this circus and I don't expect any to come with RG's appeal decision.

 

[tims4wins]

I've made many bad "gut feeling" bets in my life, but this was by far the dumbest.
 

 
For I am Costanza... you know the rest
 
Today is my birthday. I can't think of a more fitting "gift" than an upholding of the 4 games.

 

[Valek123]

This is a prime example of how little Volin knows.

@BenVolin: Either/or, it's not that important RT @JohnKryk @BenVolin Will officials be using logo or non-logo gauges?

 
To me this isn't a prime example of Volin's deficiencies, it's a prime example to me of how little sarcasm transfers in Twitter.  It was in my mind a shot across the bow, aka measuring doesn't matter if they utilize different gauges to get the narrative they want.

 

[nighthob]

To me this isn't a prime example of Volin's deficiencies, it's a prime example to me of how little sarcasm transfers in Twitter.  It was in my mind a shot across the bow, aka measuring doesn't matter if they utilize different gauges to get the narrative they want.

I'd be more inclined to agree if we weren't talking about someone whose momma always told him that life was like a box of chocolates.

 

[DJnVa]

More Florio: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/27/owner-influence-could-make-bradys-lawsuit-stronger/
 

Any effort by owners to pressure, influence, or lobby Commissioner Roger Goodell on the Tom Brady appeal undermines Goodell’s independence. Which in turn strengthens Brady’s case in court.
 
The looming lawsuit (absent a zero-game suspension for Brady) will entail an argument that Goodell wasn’t truly impartial. What better way to prove his “evident partiality” (lawyers) than to
demonstrate the true contours of the mine field through which Goodell has been tiptoeing?
 
And what better way to do that than to march all 32 owners into court for sworn testimony regarding their communications with Goodell and the league office regarding the Brady suspension and appeal?

 

The possibility that owners may have to testify also could result in a new wave of pressure, influence, lobbying, etc. on Goodell. The new message won’t be, “Throw the book at Brady.” It may instead be, “Make this all go away. Now.”

 

[ivanvamp]

I'd so love to have the communications flowing in, out, and within the NFL office be out there for all to see. Yes, even if that includes Kraft.

 

[dcmissle]

This issue is a potential third rail. Which is a full day did not pass between Sal Pal's report and Bisciotti's non-denial denial. Otherwise, the report would have been ignored.

 

[DJnVa]

I knew coming into the office today I only had a couple hours of work to do. I am getting in done before lunch because I'm thinking there's a chance something goes down today, right? With camp opening Wednesday?

 

[DJnVa]

This issue is a potential third rail. Which is a full day did not pass between Sal Pal's report and Bisciotti's non-denial denial. Otherwise, the report would have been ignored.

 
So what you're saying is that the owners don't want their "private" conversations turned over to a 3rd party? Kinda like Brady didn't want his turned over?

 

[simplyeric]

The word you may be looking for as regards Goodell is Solomoronic. As for the concept of the data gathering exhonorating the Patriots, I'm pretty sure the exoneration campaign is be managed by the firm of Nessie, Sasquatch, & Yeti.

Look, there's no exoneration coming and you can believe that the world wide leader won't say a word about the halftime measurements taken in Arizona and Miami in September or Green Bay or Minnesota in December. No matter how hard league officials try to leak the data.

This farce has two purposes, first, so that when a federal judge asks the league why they've never taken the issue seriously before they can say, with a relatively stright face "It was always serious, we just didn't know that we needed to address it because we assumed our teams weren't cheaty cheaters that cheat. We had to implement this entire procedure to assure the integrity of the game."

The second, less obvious reason, is to prevent his rebellious employees from pulling this nonsense again next playoff season.

 
Maybe it's to prevent tampering with the balls that might lead up to a sting/set-up operation, because the NFL's internal inquiries (not made puble and excluded from the Wells report) might have established that it was just that (that some non-Patriots person tampered with at least one ball in order to try to make the situation worse... not to mention the guy snatching balls to sell).

 

[MarcSullivaFan]

 
Maybe it's to prevent tampering with the balls that might lead up to a sting/set-up operation, because the NFL's internal inquiries have established that it was just that (that some non-Patriots person tampered with at least one ball in order to try to make the situation worse... not to mention the guy snatching balls to sell).

Where was this established? A colts employee tested the ball. There is no evidence that he let air out, and the reading they took from it suggested he did not.

If I'm missing something let me know--otherwise this is precisely the sort of misinformation we need to avoid here.

 

[simplyeric]

More Florio: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/27/owner-influence-could-make-bradys-lawsuit-stronger/

And what better way to do that than to march all 32 owners into court for sworn testimony regarding their communications with Goodell and the league office regarding the Brady suspension and appeal?
 

 
 
 
 

 
Is this actually possible?  I know there's some dispute as to discovery and additional evidence...but if the appeal is partly (mostly?) based on a procedural issue with Goodell as reviewer, can the NFLPA/Brady team really threaten this type of havoc?

 

[simplyeric]

Where was this established? A colts employee tested the ball. There is no evidence that he let air out, and the reading they took from it suggested he did not.

If I'm missing something let me know--otherwise this is precisely the sort of misinformation we need to avoid here.

 
Sorry, phrasing:  by "NFL's internal inquiries" I meant info that was not realeased to the public (explicitly excluded from the Wells report, IIRC), so we wouldn't know, but that the NFL is (hypothetically) trying to set up regulations to deal with something that found some evidence of, internally/privately.
 
On the other hand, I think it was pretty clearly shown that some guy was stealing kicking balls, or trying to.

 

[Mooch]

One thing that didn't get much notice over the past few days is that the NFL hired Tod Leiweke (formally with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Seahawks front offices) as league COO:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/25/sports/nfl-hires-tod-leiweke-chief-operating-officer.html?_r=0

From that article:
 

After Goodell, who was previously the league’s C.O.O., took over as commissioner in 2006, he did not fill the chief operating officer spot, instead relying on other executives to handle the work.

Allowing that obvious power vacuum to exist for nearly a decade has allowed folks like Jeff Pash and Mike Kensil to make a mockery of the NFL without anyone to keep them in check. Jason La Canfora wonders if Bob Kraft's capitulation on Deflategate had something to do with this hire:
 

Did that Tod Leiweke hiring come as out of nowhere as it seemed?

Indeed, many influential people at the ownership level of top NFL clubs didn't learn the league had hired Leiweke as its new COO until a few hours before the press release went out last week. It caught many of them by surprise, with Leiweke most recently being with the Tampa Bay Lightning. It was being read by several execs I spoke to as a potential signal that chief legal counsel Jeff Pash's role may be shifting somewhat and focused even more centrally on matters directly related to legalities.

As I've noted before, in the aftermath of Deflategate, it's widely known in ownership circles that Patriots owner Bob Kraft, a don among dons, has soured on Pash and that much of his angst over the handling of this case is directed at him rather than Goodell. Leiweke, who spent several years in the Seahawks organization, is someone who could be a buffer of sorts, and in a year in which the NFL had one crisis after another, it could be that more new blood was simply needed. But especially at a time when Deflategate is very much on people's minds around the league, this hire was being viewed by many high rollers in the NFL through the prism of Kraft's dissatisfaction with the way things have been done over a very tumultuous last few years.

 

[Omar's Wacky Neighbor]

Now there's an idea for an NFL-N show, borrowing liberally from the WWE Network:  a 32 episode weekly series, serving each NFL owner as he tries to do dodge the server.

 

[txexile]

From Florio: "And what better way to do that than to march all 32 owners into court for sworn testimony regarding their communications with Goodell and the league office regarding the Brady suspension and appeal?"
 
[SIZE=15.520001411438px]-----[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=15.520001411438px]I say without fear of contradiction that no written sentence in this entire fiasco made me squirm with eager anticipation more than this one.[/SIZE]

 

[tims4wins]

I love Mike Florio

 

[dcmissle]

 
Is this actually possible?  I know there's some dispute as to discovery and additional evidence...but if the appeal is partly (mostly?) based on a procedural issue with Goodell as reviewer, can the NFLPA/Brady team really threaten this type of havoc?

On this issue, yes, because it goes to the integrity of the process. As I said over the w/e, I take a run at getting Ravens and Colts owners under oath. It may not be allowed. But it may.

In this connection, if a judge were to allow it, there is really nothing the NFL could do to stop it. Judges have tons of discretion on discovery.

 

[tims4wins]

Kevin Seifert
 

For Brady, however, each change can be viewed as a variable that casts doubt on culpability. Consider:

• 
  The NFL has now acknowledged that it's important to know the exact pregame inflation of each football. Brady was suspended without that acknowledgment.
  
• 
  The league admits that security surrounding footballs needed to be improved. Proof of Brady’s guilt was based in part on a Patriots employee taking game footballs into a bathroom during pregame warm-ups.
  
• 
  The NFL knows now that there should be a detailed process for checking compliance at halftime and after the game. Brady's suspension was rooted in an unprecedented and chaotic halftime scene at the AFC Championship Game in which two separate needles were used to test some footballs before time ran out.
  
• 
  The league has recognized, in effect, that its previous approach was lacking. Brady has been suspended for participation in a scheme with little of the documentation and process the NFL now considers essential.
  

The league would argue that its standard of proof -- "a preponderance of evidence" -- is low enough to justify Brady's discipline. At the same time, the new policy changes demonstrate the NFL's obvious discomfort with its predecessor. Can the league be comfortable with the evidence used to suspend Brady while at the same time admitting it needs better documentation moving forward?
That might be a question for a federal court to answer.

 
Legal experts?

 

[nighthob]

Where was this established? A colts employee tested the ball. There is no evidence that he let air out, and the reading they took from it suggested he did not.

If I'm missing something let me know--otherwise this is precisely the sort of misinformation we need to avoid here.

Yeah, I wasn't talking about the Colts employee that tested the ball, I was referring to the people in the NFL office that received the heads up from the Colts and mismanaged this whole situation into the fiasco that it is now (Goodell has certainly done yeomanlike work in this regard, but unlike Kensil & Vincent, didn't know this shitstorm was imminent and if he had known would likely have stillbirthed it). If you left them an opening, they could have re-run this whole fiasco at a Foxboro or Buffalo or some other cold weather playoff game next January and Goodell would find himself in a Kafkaesque nightmare. There's now no possible opening for them to do it again. But, as I said, this is the other reason, not the primary one.

 

[mwonow]

From Florio: "And what better way to do that than to march all 32 owners into court for sworn testimony regarding their communications with Goodell and the league office regarding the Brady suspension and appeal?"
 
[SIZE=15.520001411438px]-----[/SIZE]
 
[SIZE=15.520001411438px]I say without fear of contradiction that no written sentence in this entire fiasco made me squirm with eager anticipation more than this one.[/SIZE]

 
+++++++...

 

[Omar's Wacky Neighbor]

Sorry if this has been covered:  do we even know what year the 12.5-13.5 psi rule was put into the rules?

 

[dcdrew10]

On this issue, yes, because it goes to the integrity of the process. As I said over the w/e, I take a run at getting Ravens and Colts owners under oath. It may not be allowed. But it may.

In this connection, if a judge were to allow it, there is really nothing the NFL could do to stop it. Judges have tons of discretion on discovery.

 
I wonder if the threat of owners being called to testify under oath is enough to bring the NFL front office to it's senses? I almost want no changes to the punishment just to see Goodell, Kensil, et al., burn in court, it would almost make the whole thing, from the shadow over the Super Bowl to the loss of picks, worth it to see Isray, Mara, and Biscotti have to admit (or perjure themselves) their role in this shit show.  I can't see that happening. Ever. I think they might cave if legal council says the owners might have to testify, but the main assholes would find a way to hound Brady, BB, and maybe even Kraft, for a long time.
 
To quote Bret Bielema, the thought of owners testifying is "borderline erotic" for me.

 

[DJnVa]

Sorry if this has been covered:  do we even know what year the 12.5-13.5 psi rule was put into the rules?

 
A long time ago. It's buried in these threads.
 

 

[RedOctober3829]

Another aspect of the new rules that hasn't been brought up: they are still going to let the teams prepare their own footballs the same way as before.  You would think if the league wanted to take any sort of chance of teams screwing with the balls away they wouldn't let this go on anymore.

 

[nighthob]

Sorry if this has been covered:  do we even know what year the 12.5-13.5 psi rule was put into the rules?

They actually don't know. It was found in the earliest rulebook anyone could find, which was from the depression era. The NFL wasn't as thorough documenting the whys and wherefores as MLB, though it is as hidebound. During the whole George Brett fiasco they were able to look at the history of the pine tar rule and find that it was implemented during WWI as a cost-saving measure. The NFL isn't sure why the air pressure rule was implemented, but thanks to the shitshow that's Ballghazi they're doubling down.
 

Another aspect of the new rules that hasn't been brought up: they are still going to let the teams prepare their own footballs the same way as before.  You would think if the league wanted to take any sort of chance of teams screwing with the balls away they wouldn't let this go on anymore.

It doesn't really matter. Or at least as far as air pressure's concerned, because the referees remain responsible for the air pressure, and any balls underinflated are going to be, and were supposed to be, inflated to 13psi. As for the rest of it, the Wells report proved that the NFL still doesn't give a shit about ball preparation because right there in black & white is the information that the Colts prepared their balls illegally and no one gave a damn.

 

[joe dokes]

A judge might take that stuff into consideration, but as legal issues, if the neighbor's house has no doors you still can't steal his stuff;
There might be some use as to the league's "concern" about "integrity" insofar as it informed the penalty.