In a moment that should be celebratory, the Patriots are waking up to a distinctly deflating headline: Once again, there is an allegation that they cheated. Coming from Indianapolis reporter Bob Kravitz, the report is that the Patriots deflated game-used footballs in the hopes of gaining an advantage in the rain (a deflated football is easier to grip).
Here we go again. Despite shellacking the Colts 45-7 in the AFC Championship game to advance to their sixth Super Bowl of the Brady-Belichick era (where they will play the defending champion Seattle Seahawks), the Patriots will once more be hounded by the accusation that they somehow cheated their way to top.
Update: Yes, the Patriots played with deflated footballs in the AFC championship game.
The NFL rulebook on the subject reads as follows:
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 also mandates that the Patriots and Colts each supply 12 footballs that comply with the rules. This is where the Patriots allegedly cheated, since they could have deflated the ball that their offense used, at least initially:
Each team will make 12 primary balls available for testing by the Referee two hours and 15 minutes prior to the starting time of the game to meet League requirements.
It obviously sounds a little far-fetched, as Kravitz noted in his discussion with WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan on Monday morning. There was no guarantee that a Patriots ball would only be used by the Patriots (Update: upon further review, there is actually a high percentage chance that the ball used by New England’s offense would almost exclusively be touched by only Patriots’ players, which seems like a bad system, but is nonetheless true). Regardless, when headlines mention the Patriots and cheating allegations together, crazy speculation will inevitably ensue.
It stems from the infamous “spy-gate” episode from 2007, when New England was caught video-tapping the New York Jets sideline signals in the hopes of getting an advantage. Though exact details were never fully uncovered, and though there is irrefutable evidence that New England was far from the only team to commit such a violation, the Patriots became the center point for widespread animosity.
Clearly, this will be a storyline (gleefully for Patriots-haters, annoyingly for Patriots fans) in the media-infested two weeks of Super Bowl buildup.
If you’re looking for an exact reading of the NFL rules on the subject, here’s the link.
Featured image via Keith Allison, CC By SA 2.0
Editor’s note: The update link below the second paragraph of this story contained an error in an earlier version. ESPN’s report has the Patriots playing with under-inflated balls, but does not indicate who deflated them.
