Deflate-gate More Serious Than First Thought

It wasn't just one ball, it was 11 of 12 balls that were under-inflated during last Sunday's AFC Championship game.  That's according to a report by ESPN's Chris Mortensen.

Under NFL rules each team is designated 12 balls for a game.  The team's name is stamped on the ball with an additional 12 balls held in reserve.  Somehow following a pre-game inspection of the balls by the game officials, nearly all of the balls used by Patriots were deflated by a couple of pounds per square inch.  11 of the 12 balls?  That's not an accident.  That's intentional.

Two pounds per square inch doesn't sound like much, but it makes a huge difference in the grip of the ball.  Interesting that after a game in 2011 Tom Brady stated he likes when tight end Rob Gronkowski spikes the ball because it lets the air out of the ball and he likes a deflated ball.

Granted deflated footballs didn't have a whole lot to do with the Patriots 45-7 rout of the Colts, but it certainly taints their victory.  And it taints the reputation of head coach Bill Bilichick.  Even if he didn't have anything to do with it, he's responsible for the conduct of his team and reflects poorly on him.

So what does the NFL do about it?  Under NFL rules tampering with footballs calls for a $25,000 fine, but in this case it's 11 footballs.  If the official NFL report shows that the Patriots did in fact tamper with balls, they should be heavily fined and more importantly have a draft pick taken away.

But shame on the game officials for not noticing sooner.  They handle the ball between every play.  You can feel it when a ball is too soft.  It wasn't until after an interception by Colts' linebacker D'Qwell Jackson that he noticed the ball didn't feel right.  That eventually got back to the NFL and those illegal balls were removed.