It looks as if the Patriots, who already carry the taint of cheating, are at it again. Now the NFL is going to have to go through the trouble of giving the appearance of rooting out cheating while protecting one of its marquee franchises--and it will have to work fast because this story is going to overshadow its marquee event, the Super Bowl.
The NFL has found that 11 of the New England Patriots' 12 game balls were inflated significantly below the NFL's requirements, league sources involved and familiar with the investigation of Sunday's AFC Championship Game told ESPN.
The investigation found the footballs were inflated 2 pounds per square inch below what's required by NFL regulations during the Pats' 45-7 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, according to sources.
"We are not commenting at this time," said Greg Aiello, the NFL's senior vice president of communications.
League sources have confirmed that the footballs were properly inspected and approved by referee Walt Anderson 2 hours and 15 minutes before kickoff, before they were returned to each team.
Under NFL rules, no alteration of the footballs is allowed once they are approved.
ESPN reports that the balls provided by the Patriots passed the required inspection by referee Walt Anderson 2 hours, 15 minutes before the game and then were returned to the teams as outlined in the NFL's procedures. An underinflated football theoretically is easier to grip and throw, especially in the damp conditions such as Sunday’s game.
Those who argue that the cold weather played a part in the deflated balls are arguing against physics. Michael J. Naughton, chair of Boston College's physics department, explained to the Boston Herald: "If the footballs were notably lower pressure, then the only way it could have happened was if someone went in and stuck a needle in the ball and let two-thirds of the gas out, which means it is now up to the NFL to follow the chain of command — but no logical physics can explain the kind of pressure loss they're talking about."
Reactionaries who cite New England’s 45-7 victory margin to dismiss the significance of the deflated balls miss the point. Rules are rules and the Patriots might have broken one that is clearly outlined in the NFL’s rulebook--again. The Pats would have blasted the Colts with properly inflated footballs but they didn’t because they allegedly broke a rule.
And, of course, there is the reputation of the Patriots to consider after the Spygate scandal. The outcome of that episode also is a good indication that the Patriots will face no real consequences if they intentionally deflated footballs.
The most remarkable thing about the Spygate, in which the NFL found that the Patriots illegally taped the defensive signals of the Jets in 2007, is not Belichick would seek an unfair advantage. More telling was that once the NFL handed down its punishment—$500,000 fine for Belichick, a $250,000 fine and loss of a first-round draft pick for the franchise—the owners of the league’s other franchises didn’t raise a public stink.
In fact during the aftermath of the Spygate investigation, with Sen. Arlen Specter agitating for an independent investigation, one prominent owner, Steelers chairman Dan Rooney, said: "We consider the tapes of our coaching staff during our games against the New England Patriots to be a non-issue. In our opinion, they had no impact on the results of those games.” Two of the games taped by the Patriots were AFC championship meetings with the Steelers.
It’s just more proof that the NFL is more about entertainment than real competition. Why would the owners make too much of a fuss about the Patriots cheating when the money keeps rolling in? They are committed capitalists who are fully on board with the league’s socialistic structure, in which what’s good for one of the league’s marquee teams is good for everybody.
The NFL's owners are less interested in the integrity of the game than they are in making cash. They pretend to care about rules to stay in the good graces of the consumers of their product. NFL owners give the appearance of rooting out corruption so the Feds and Congress won't meddle and threaten the many public subsidies and tax breaks that benefit their private businesses.
So if the Patriots are found culpable at all in this latest cheating scandal, the NFL's punishment won't amount to much. Expect some team ballboy or other low-level employee who was following orders to be sacrificed for the greater good of wealthy people making more money, integrity of the game and its rules be damned.
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