Pats Cheating Comfirmed

[PizzaDoughz]

According to the report, the league sources say the NFL determined 11 of the 12 footballs used by the Patriots were under-inflated by two pounds per square inch each. Per NFL rules, footballs are required to be inflated between 12.5 and 13.5 PSI and weigh between 14 and 15 ounces.

http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2015/1/2...bill-belichick

Discuss.

[AustinChief]

Originally Posted by MagicHef

I'm pretty sure, since that's when the QBs pick out the balls that they want to play with, according to all the QBs (even Brady, if I remember) that have spoken on the subject.

Let's assume you are right and all the balls are inflated a few hours before the game. Seems to me (total speculation here) that you would want the balls inflated to exactly what you want then you would bring them out grip them all picking the 12 you want and sending those immediately back inside so they don't change. Then you warm up with the leftovers. If I'm as picky as people are claiming most QBs are... no way in hell do I get a ball that is "just right" and then screw around with it for a few hours before the game.

[AustinChief]

Originally Posted by Donger

Yes, but then the temperature would drop to ambient.

Over time it certainly would. Time is yet another variable we don't have a clue about here.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by MagicHef

I'm pretty sure, since that's when the QBs pick out the balls that they want to play with, according to all the QBs (even Brady, if I remember) that have spoken on the subject.

errr...pretty sure WHAT?

It's my understanding that Brady goes over and selects 24 balls out of who knows how many, and says "THESE". The ball boys then bring them to the refs. Then the refs pump them up to 12.5 if they are underpressurized.

But where they were when Brady said "these"? Who knows. Presumably not outside. Presumably not recently used in warm ups (because I doubt 24 get used in warmups, and because my sense is that he's picking 24 out of a much larger selection than just 24).

Bottom line -- nobody ever cared about this before, and there are many, many factors that go into what the PSI is at any given time. Everyone enjoys tearing the Patriots down, so Deflategate became a thing, but as Austin said, it's far more likely nobody ever knew or cared about the process/procedure until now, and it's obviously WAY more complicated than anyone in the league really ever thought about until now.

[Katipan]

Originally Posted by AustinChief

Let's assume you are right and all the balls are inflated a few hours before the game. Seems to me (total speculation here) that you would want the balls inflated to exactly what you want then you would bring them out grip them all picking the 12 you want and sending those immediately back inside so they don't change. Then you warm up with the leftovers. If I'm as picky as people are claiming most QBs are... no way in hell do I get a ball that is "just right" and then screw around with it for a few hours before the game.

Belichick explained that he forces a culture of anti-bitching about balls. If players talk about the balls, he makes them play with worse ball in practice. It's more reasonable to assume he would want ALL the players on the field to feel the Brady balls.

[MagicHef]

Originally Posted by AustinChief

Let's assume you are right and all the balls are inflated a few hours before the game. Seems to me (total speculation here) that you would want the balls inflated to exactly what you want then you would bring them out grip them all picking the 12 you want and sending those immediately back inside so they don't change. Then you warm up with the leftovers. If I'm as picky as people are claiming most QBs are... no way in hell do I get a ball that is "just right" and then screw around with it for a few hours before the game.

My understanding from the interviews was that they are picked out by the QB at the end of the practice period.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by AustinChief

Let's assume you are right and all the balls are inflated a few hours before the game. Seems to me (total speculation here) that you would want the balls inflated to exactly what you want then you would bring them out grip them all picking the 12 you want and sending those immediately back inside so they don't change. Then you warm up with the leftovers. If I'm as picky as people are claiming most QBs are... no way in hell do I get a ball that is "just right" and then screw around with it for a few hours before the game.

He picked 24, not 12, and I'm pretty well convinced he had way more than 24 to pick from. I mean, what would the point be of

Equipment Guy: Here, Tom, select 24 of these balls

Tom: 24 of these.....one, two......24 balls? WTF?

Equipment Guy: Yeah, which 24 do you want?

Tom:

So is he picking 24 out of 50? Out of 100? Are they out on the practice field? In a room? Are they then checked for PSI by the equipment guy, or (more likely) does the equipment guy say "Tom F'n Brady approved these -- I will put them in a room until I give them to the ref. I will not mess with Brady's approved footballs in any way. If the refs increase the air pressure, so be it, but I ain't messing with them."

But yeah, once again, NOBODY KNOWS. And until last week, nobody ever gave a rat's ass.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by Katipan

Belichick explained that he forces a culture of anti-bitching about balls. If players talk about the balls, he makes them play with worse ball in practice. It's more reasonable to assume he would want ALL the players on the field to feel the Brady balls.

I don't think that's true. What I think Belichick was saying is that he makes the practice balls as bad as possible so WHATEVER the game ball condition is, it will be better than the practice balls.

I don't think he's getting the team ready to use Brady's pre-selected footballs. Also, see my other post. He isn't picking 24 balls prior to the week of practice. He picks them, presumably out of a much larger pool, shortly before the game. Once he picks them, I doubt they get handed out for the entire team to screw around with.

[Katipan]

I didn't care because I didn't know. x 1000000

[BucEyedPea]

Originally Posted by Katipan

Belichick explained that he forces a culture of anti-bitching about balls. If players talk about the balls, he makes them play with worse ball in practice. It's more reasonable to assume he would want ALL the players on the field to feel the Brady balls.

What I don't get about the balls being to the QB's preference is it may not be a a receiver's preference for catching or a RB's preference for holding securely. Though, I never thought about this before. To me it was just a ball.

[MagicHef]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

errr...pretty sure WHAT?

It's my understanding that Brady goes over and selects 24 balls out of who knows how many, and says "THESE". The ball boys then bring them to the refs. Then the refs pump them up to 12.5 if they are underpressurized.

But where they were when Brady said "these"? Who knows. Presumably not outside. Presumably not recently used in warm ups (because I doubt 24 get used in warmups, and because my sense is that he's picking 24 out of a much larger selection than just 24).

Bottom line -- nobody ever cared about this before, and there are many, many factors that go into what the PSI is at any given time. Everyone enjoys tearing the Patriots down, so Deflategate became a thing, but as Austin said, it's far more likely nobody ever knew or cared about the process/procedure until now, and it's obviously WAY more complicated than anyone in the league really ever thought about until now.

Uh... pretty sure that they aren't backup balls or a different set of balls, in response to the post I was quoting.

Again, the sense that I got from the different QB interviews is that a large set of balls are used all during practice and warmups, then at the end of the session, the QB picks out the ones he would like to play with that game.

[Hootie]

Patriots definitely deserve benefit of the doubt, destroyed evidence, and apologies. No doubt.

[gblowfish]

This is wicked awesome...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/0...n_6579156.html

[Katipan]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

I don't think that's true. What I think Belichick was saying is that he makes the practice balls as bad as possible so WHATEVER the game ball condition is, it will be better than the practice balls.

I don't think he's getting the team ready to use Brady's pre-selected footballs. Also, see my other post. He isn't picking 24 balls prior to the week of practice. He picks them, presumably out of a much larger pool, shortly before the game. Once he picks them, I doubt they get handed out for the entire team to screw around with.

He specifically said when players bitch he gives them worse balls. Which is what I said.

Please stop repeating yourself and Austin. I really do read well the first time.

[Katipan]

Originally Posted by BucEyedPea

What I don't get about the balls being to the QB's preference is it may not be a a receiver's preference for catching or a RB's preference for holding securely. Though, I never thought about this before. To me it was just a ball.

I blame sticky gloves. NFL lets guys pour glue on their hands, why wouldn't QBs bend rules too?

[BucEyedPea]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

This is wicked awesome...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/0...n_6579156.html

Too late. Repost. This was already a few hours ago. How 'bout reading the thread?