Here's an old ESPN story that explains the origins of this rule. Essentially teams were thought to be doctoring the balls to go further.Tito's Pullover said:Not to derail this very very serious and important accusation, but what is the purpose of special kickoff balls? Why can't there be 12 more balls and have them all be the same? I'm operating under the assumption that the only difference is that the k-balls are not prescuffed by the QB or his minions, so correct me if I'm off about that.
Can anyone post the text (or relevant parts) of this? The PS4 browser doesn't do pdfs.sime said:More detailed rules here:
http://static.nfl.com/static/content/public/image/rulebook/pdfs/5_2013_Ball.pdf
Well, smart teams generally don't let themselves get steam-rolled in the exact same fashion 4 times in a row so maybe they are just too stupid to notice.riboflav said:How exactly did the Patriots ensure that Brady would be using good balls and Luck would not? Or, is it presumed that the Patriots (who threw more passes than the trailing Colts) wanted to run and the Colts wanted to pass so therefore they risked it and deflated all 36 balls. And Luck and no one else on the Colts noticed?
I would assume that a deflated ball helps the passing game more than the running game. Makes the ball easier to throw and catch, whereas rushers are simply wrapping their hands around it.riboflav said:How exactly did the Patriots ensure that Brady would be using good balls and Luck would not? Or, is it presumed that the Patriots (who threw more passes than the trailing Colts) wanted to run and the Colts wanted to pass so therefore they risked it and deflated all 36 balls. And Luck and no one else on the Colts noticed?
Rule 2 The BallNightslyr said:Can anyone post the text (or relevant parts) of this? The PS4 browser doesn't do pdfs.
The Seahawks were in on this too!?!?sime said:Rule 2 The Ball
Section 1
BALL DIMENSIONS
The Ball must be a Wilson,
Okay, so this clarifies everything. A single ball was wrong, and replaced. It didn't meet the specs, so it will be reported to the Commissioner's Office as part of the SOP of ball handling (tee hee). It will be examined to determine why it was wrong.sime said:In the event a home team ball does not conform to specifications, or its supply is exhausted, the Referee shall secure a proper ball from the visitors and, failing that, use the best available ball. Any such circumstances must be reported to the Commissioner.
Note: It is the responsibility of the home team to furnish playable balls at all times by attendants from either side of the playing field...
Nanomachines.drleather2001 said:Ok. So the officials have control of the balls. How would the Patriots fuck with them!
Well put and this is where I'm at.riboflav said:You know what? I hope the Patriots did fucking cheat and I hope they always fucking cheat. Because I want my team to fucking win and I am sick of trying to defend them or explain the nuances of Spygate and all the other BS fans try to throw in our faces. So, ya, BB cheats! HAHHAHHHHAHAHA! And you keep watching your team lose to this cheater year after year hoping somehow your team will overcome the big fucking cheater this year, you fucking loser.
BornToRun said:Well put and this is where I'm at.
I'd rather have multiple Super Bowl championships and a "tainted" legacy than zero Super Bowls and a squeaky clean image. Fuck the haters, we steal your signals and deflate your balls.
I really don't know. I just felt like "we steal your signals and deflate your balls" made for a cool taunt.nothumb said:
Not to nitpick, but (to the extent that it allegedly happened literally rather than clearly happened symbolically) didn't we deflate our own balls?
BornToRun said:I really don't know. I just felt like "we steal your signals and deflate your balls" made for a cool taunt.
Thank you. The praise is much appreciated.riboflav said:
I know you're young but I thought it was a good line and I cracked a smile when I read it, which my wife will tell you is no small feat. So, kudos.
yahoo is reporting it now, though there report seems to be entirely based on that guys tweetsE5 Yaz said:This is precisely what's wrong with just finding any tweet(s) from a media type, where there is no secondary media outlet also reporting the story, and starting a thread like it's some sort of fucking news story.
riboflav said:It's everywhere - deadspin, espn, yahoo, cnn, etc. But it is all based on Kravitz.
singaporesoxfan said:Yeah it's a story in a number of media outlets, even if it's all sourced to Kravitz. Would be stupid not to have a thread for it.
I know. It's a meta story that every sports news outlet is talking about, if only to report on this one guy's claims. I think those are worth having threads about. I would have titled the thread "Reporter claims NFL investigating deflated footballs" rather than the current title, but it would seem odd to me to not even discuss the topic even if the premise of the claims seems (as my snarky posts in this thread might indicate) entirely ridiculous.E5 Yaz said:
You realize that is not a story from media outlets, right? Media outlets are reporting that this one guy claims to have a source
riboflav said:So, the Patriots had the ball to start the third. And what? They complained to the refs that the ball was under inflated because they were cheating and so could they get a new one from the ball boy? Wouldn't it make more sense if that awkward exchange of balls had occurred when the Colts had the ball?
The whole thing is moronic since the refs handle the ball between every play to spot it. Why would anyone try to purposely deflate them under that kind of scrutiny?riboflav said:So, the Patriots had the ball to start the third. And what? They complained to the refs that the ball was under inflated because they were cheating and so could they get a new one from the ball boy? Wouldn't it make more sense if that awkward exchange of balls had occurred when the Colts had the ball?
E5 Yaz said:
Simms thought the kickoff ball was kept in field of play. Kicking balls are different than those used for offense, apparently.
Let's say Kravitz wondered what happened at that awkward moment and asks some guy with the NFL. And the NFL guy says maybe the ball was deflated and so on and so on and so on ...
Meanwhile, game officials, who handled properly inflated footballs all year, somehow didn't notice this?
singaporesoxfan said:I know. It's a meta story that every sports news outlet is talking about, if only to report on this one guy's claims. I think those are worth having threads about. I would have titled the thread "Reporter claims NFL investigating deflated footballs" rather than the current title, but it would seem odd to me to not even discuss the topic even if the premise of the claims seems (as my snarky posts in this thread might indicate) entirely ridiculous.
drleather2001 said:What? That makes no sense.
Weighing a ball wouldn't reveal anything about inflation. Cripes.
It would be very easy to measure that accurately, but the results likely wouldn't be meaningful. Each ball itself will have variability, according to wiki the standard football weighs between 400 and 430 grams, so 5 grams gets swept up into the noise of typical ball to ball variability. You would need many (dozens?) of under inflated balls before you could statistically say they were different.SumnerH said:
EDIT: Except I botched the PSI to atmospheres comparison. It's more like .35 grams per PSI, about 5 grams total air in the inflated football. That's much more difficult to measure accurately, though not impossible.
wilked said:It would be very easy to measure that accurately, but the results likely wouldn't be meaningful. Each ball itself will have variability, according to wiki the standard football weighs between 400 and 430 grams, so 5 grams gets swept up into the noise of typical ball to ball variability. You would need many (dozens?) of under inflated balls before you could statistically say they were different.
How the hell would they do that?Wake's knuckle said:Another thing. Apparently the weight of the air in the ball is about 1 gram (2-4 grams in a basketball) -- which is a very small fraction of the entire weight of the ball. There's probably more variation in the weight of different footballs by the same manufacturer than that, so the weight itself wouldn't be an issue. Plus, it seems the referee is in charge of making sure the ball is reasonably firm, according to the rulebook, so I can't see that this would actually make any difference. The only thing I could think of that could give them an advantage is if they reduced the weight of the balls somehow -- perhaps by scraping away leather from the inside of the ball -- then practiced all week with the underwight balls so they were used to them.
86spike said:How the hell would they do that?
That would rule.bosox188 said:
I wonder if he could make Katy Perry have a wardrobe malfunction in 2 weeks.
The Referee shall be the sole judge as to whether all balls offered for play comply with these specifications. A pump is to be furnished by the home club, and the balls shall remain under the supervision of the Referee until they are delivered to the ball attendant just prior to the start of the game.
The home club shall have 36 balls for outdoor games and 24 for indoor games available for testing with a pressure gauge by the referee two hours prior to the starting time of the game to meet with League requirements. Twelve (12) new footballs, sealed in a special box and shipped by the manufacturer, will be opened in the officials’ locker room two hours prior to the starting time of the game. These balls are to be specially marked with the letter "k" and used exclusively for the kicking game.