Okay, so I know Luke usually handles all the Patriots stuff, but this whole "deflategate" thing has gotten out of hand. My brother Nick took it upon himself to solve the matter and wrote up a document the other night that pretty much solved the whole thing. He wanted me to post it on Top Cheddar just so even a few people could read it.
I might be a little late since Bill Belichick already had a press conference today, but I think that miiiiight have just been to talk about balls.
Anyway, here's the email I got from Nick, followed by the document he wrote up.
Explanation
of What Happened in Deflategate
-
Equipment
manager keeps/maintains team footballs
-
He
receives the incoming shipments of footballs, inflates them and the quarterbacks
select their preferred footballs (kickers balls come in brand new and are not
touched until the game)
-
Tom
Brady picks balls, unaware of any air pressure rule (says to equipment manager
“hey I like the ones that are squishier” or something to that effect)
-
Equipment
manager tests limits with how little air he can put in based on Tom Brady’s
comment
-
Refs
are lenient with the rule so they half-ass the inspections in that they do not
actually pull out a device that measures air pressure or anything
-
The
entire league probably doesn’t know the actual rule inside and out
-
Somebody
got mad that the Pats were so good and they looked up petty rules that they
possibly would be breaking
-
Knowing
that everyone messes with the footballs, they tattled about that
-
Members
of the Colts fabricated the story knowing full well that the balls were
actually deflated
-
There
has been no such investigation into any other teams, quarterbacks, equipment
managers, or any league referees
-
To
compare this to baseball, it is similar to an umpire inspecting a ball that has
a nick in it or has gotten “dirty”. It
is a judgment call by the umpire, just like it is a judgment call on the part
of the referee
-
In
the second half, a judgment call by the referees caused the balls to be
exchanged out based on a complaint. It
should’ve ended there because it is always up to the referee’s judgment
-
If
a pitcher throws a pitch with a ball that had a nick on it, that doesn’t make
him a cheater so if Tom Brady uses a football that the refs deemed fir for
play, he is not a cheater. The rules
also say you can’t “hold” but players are called for it all the time
-
He
is simply using a ball deemed fit by the officials
-
Nobody
on the sideline could have been deflating footballs because there are cameras
everywhere. Any suspicious activity by a
guy holding the footballs would surely be caught on a camera from some angle
Looking at the rules for both baseball and football, it is
pretty clear the intent of the rules regarding the baseball/football put in
play by the umpire/referee
MLB RULES
[Umpires] receive from the home club a supply of regulation
baseballs, the number and make to be certified to the home club by the league
president. The umpire shall inspect the baseballs and ensure they are
regulation baseballs and that they are properly rubbed so that the gloss is
removed. The umpire shall be the sole judge of the fitness
of the balls to be used in the game;
3.02
No player shall intentionally discolor or damage the ball by
rubbing it with soil, rosin, paraffin, licorice, sand-paper, emery-paper
or other foreign substance.
The pitcher shall not—
(1) While in the
18-foot circle surrounding the pitcher’s plate, touch the ball after touching
his mouth or lips, or touch his mouth or lips while he is in contact with the
pitcher’s plate. The pitcher must clearly wipe the fingers of his pitching hand
dry before touching the ball or the pitcher’s plate. EXCEPTION:
Provided it is agreed to by both managers, the umpire prior
to the start of a game played in cold weather, may permit the pitcher to blow
on his hand.
PENALTY: For violation of this part of this rule the umpires
shall immediately remove the ball from play and issue a warning to the pitcher.
Any subsequent violation shall be called a ball. However, if the pitch is made and a batter
reaches first base on a hit, an error, a hit batsman or otherwise, and no other
runner is put out before advancing at least one base, the play shall proceed
without reference to the violation. Repeat offenders shall be subject to a fine
by the League President.
(2) expectorate on the ball, either hand or his glove;
(3) rub the ball on his glove, person or clothing;
(4) apply a foreign substance of
any kind to the ball;
(5) deface the ball in any manner; or
(6) deliver a ball altered in a manner prescribed by Rule
8.02(a)(2) through (5) or what is called the “shine” ball, “spit” ball, “mud”
ball or “emery” ball. The pitcher is allowed to rub the ball between his bare
hands.
NFL
RULES
The Ball must be a “Wilson,” hand selected, bearing the
signature of the Commissioner of the League, Roger Goodell. The ball shall be
made up of an inflated (12 1/2 to 13 1/2 pounds) urethane bladder enclosed in a
pebble grained, leather case (natural tan color) without corrugations of any kind.
It shall have the form of a prolate spheroid and the size and weight shall be:
long axis, 11 to 11 1/4 inches; long circumference, 28 to 28 1/2 inches; short
circumference, 21 to 21 1/4 inches; weight, 14 to 15 ounces.
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.
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.
In case of rain or a wet, muddy, or slippery field, a
playable ball shall be used at the request of the offensive team’s center. The
Game Clock shall not stop for such action (unless undue delay occurs).
The Commissioner has the sole authority to investigate and
take appropriate disciplinary and/or corrective measures if any club action,
non-participant interference, or calamity occurs in an NFL game which he deems
so extraordinarily unfair or outside the accepted tactics encountered in
professional football that such action has a major effect on the result of the game.
Final Analysis
After reading the rules, it is so obviously clear that it is
left up to the referees to determine if the footballs are fit for play. Just like in baseball, players push the
boundaries of the rules until they are either asked to correct the action, or
are reported by another team and the game is carried out with minimal
interruption. However, more often than
not, these rules are judged so leniently and subjectively that within the grand
scope of the game, they are simply petty rules that are only applied in the
most severe and blatant cases (ex: Referee or Umpire physically sees an illegal
alteration occurring). The fact that the
media and fans don’t understand the ins and outs of these sorts of things is
unfortunate, however when your read the rules and think about the situation, it
is an easy conclusion to come to. Nobody actually
cares about the balls that much! So much, that the officials breeze
through the inspections and worry about things that matter such as officiating
the game, the players go out and play with whatever balls are put out on the
field, and the coaches coach the players.
As long as they are official NFL footballs, no other action is
taken. The footballs are an
afterthought. Lastly, let’s think about
how often referees go through the monotonous pregame routine where they are
supposed to inspect these footballs.
Anybody with a brain can figure it out.
They’re not machines…they walk into their locker room joking around, the
footballs are placed neatly on a table awaiting “inspection”. One of the refs picks one up, makes sure it
has the logo, Commissioner’s signature, and then they probably just play catch
with it, just carrying on not really caring much about dimensions and air
pressure and all that nonsense. These
dudes show up and do the same thing, with the same footballs, for every game
they officiate. If they look and feel
inflated enough then they approve them.
It’s as simple as that. And that
is why 11 of the 12 footballs were so negligibly underinflated – their
“inspection” was just a little once-over “looks good to me!” kind of
thing.
Some others may have this theory, but Nick just wanted to make it known that he put quite a bit of effort into actually determining what the heck might have happened last weekend. And I honestly think this is exactly what happened. Well done Nick.
