Can we get past the inflamed rhetoric and posturing about “deflategate”? IMO, never has such a small molehill been made into such a tall mountain. Most posters agree on one thing – that this rule is either silly or unnecessary and needs to be changed. So how should it be changed?

My first question would be why do we need any rule about this? Why don’t we let every quarterback, on either team, use whatever footballs he wants? Where is the harm? If the QB on team A is using the ball he thinks gives him optimum performance, and the QB on team B is using the ball he thinks gives him optimum performance, who has an advantage over the other?

For some QB’s, that optimum performance calls for a ball inflated to 12 pounds or less. For others, it calls for a ball inflated to 14 pounds or more. For yet others, 13 pounds is the desired inflation. By picking one of these, the NFL is arbitrarily (and perhaps, unintentionally) choosing to give an advantage to one group of QB’s over the others. Aren’t rules supposed to provide a level playing field? So, if having no rule makes the playing field more level than some rule, any rule, shouldn’t we opt for no rule?

But, this is the NFL, and they want to have rules for anything and everything. What they don’t always seem to want is to have uniform penalties for breaking the rules. They have rules for what kind of celebratory TD dance is acceptable. Or what color shoes you wear. Or how long your socks can be.

Somehow, they have decided that the penalty for offensive holding is ten yards, with no loss of down. Defensive holding costs five yards and an automatic first down. But if you use a football inflated to 12 pounds instead of 12.5 pounds, the penalty is whatever the NFL says it is, and the league can apply different penalties to different teams, solely at its discretion. And they can apply them during the game, or wait until later, whichever suits them.

Some would argue that using an underinflated football is premeditated, while holding is merely intentional, so it should be treated more severely. Of course, running a pass play using an illegal pick is also premeditated, but the penalties for that aren’t much different than any other offense. So, if you insist on having some rule about inflation, why not make enforcement and punishment akin to other on field violations?

How about this? The NFL automatically reviews every scoring play on instant replay. Why not automatically check for inflation compliance after every touchdown? Require that the receiver or ball carrier immediately turn over the football to the referee when he scores. It should only take a few moments to weigh that football, and if it is found to be non-compliant the penalty could be severe – 15 yards from the original spot plus loss of down. How many TDs taken off the board would it take before a team made real sure its footballs were inflated enough to suit the league?

If only checking after TD’s isn’t frequent enough, how about allowing refs to randomly check the ball during any of the gazillion TV timeouts as well?

Any other ideas?

Most posters don't agree that the rule is silly or unnecessary.

The only problem is letting the individual teams control the balls - just make the NFL responsible for providing game balls. End of problem.

Until some mobster bribes a ballboy.

I know how to cure this. The next time they catch a team providing under-inflated balls, they inflate all balls to the proper air pressure, and then shove them inside the offender's ( ! ).

I seriously doubt anyone would try it a second time after getting caught the first time around.

Maybe people could just do the right thing? But that would take effort.

(01-25-2015 04:47 PM)HarmonOliphantOberlanderDevine Wrote:  Maybe people could just do the right thing? But that would take effort.

Haha. That's my first thought. Second thought was make the team caught using ab illegal ball forfeit the game. The teams would check the hell outa the balls without any other motivation

(01-25-2015 10:53 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  Most posters don't agree that the rule is silly or unnecessary.

Most people agree New England has a culture of doing whatever they want. Some consider deflating a ball to gain an advantage over your opponent cheating.

The interesting part is seeing what the NFL does in response. It could be a slap on the wrist or severe consequences. My guess is a slap on the wrist.

(01-25-2015 05:14 PM)SApuro Wrote:  

(01-25-2015 10:53 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  Most posters don't agree that the rule is silly or unnecessary.

Most people agree New England has a culture of doing whatever they want. Some consider deflating a ball to gain an advantage over your opponent cheating.

The interesting part is seeing what the NFL does in response. It could be a slap on the wrist or severe consequences. My guess is a slap on the wrist.

No doubt some people would agree with this. As for most, who knows? As I was considering a post suggesting that the main reason some people are making a big deal out of this is because it involves the Patriots and in particular Bill Belichek. I thought that I would contrast it to what would happen if another, more righteous coach were involved. My problem was that, when I tried to name such a coach, such a team, none came to mind.

The reason people believe that New England "cheats" more than other teams is because they win more. And I'm sure Belichek does everything he can to foster the idea that he is a shifty, devious, cheating SOB. Because whenever his opponents believe that, he is so far inside their heads it gives him a much greater advantage than actually cheating would.

Your guess is a slap on the wrist. You're probably right, because that's what it deserves. Even that is more than the NCAA penalty for using an underinflated ball. That penalty is only 15 yards.

(01-25-2015 02:43 PM)jgkojak Wrote:  The only problem is letting the individual teams control the balls - just make the NFL responsible for providing game balls. End of problem.

Until some mobster bribes a ballboy.

Not a mobster, but former Tampa QB Brad Johnson said that he paid two ballboys to scuff and soften up the Super Bowl game balls before the game.

Quote:At the Super Bowl, the NFL had more than 100 game footballs. They were new, slick and supposedly under the league's watchful eye. Both Johnson and Gannon, the Raiders quarterback and a former teammate with the Minnesota Vikings, were concerned about losing their grip during the biggest game of their lives.

"Rich and I talked about it. The footballs needed to be worked in,'' Johnson said. "In years past, you heard Troy Aikman, John Elway and Steve Young complain about the balls being slick. Phil Simms, all of them. And basically we agreed on that if the balls could be - if we could work them in, we'd work them in.''

Quote:Johnson said he paid two ballboys working for the NFL a total of $7,500 to make sure the footballs were scuffed and broken in before the Super Bowl and they obliged. Johnson first revealed the secret payment to the Tampa Bay Times in 2012, just prior to the 10-year reunion of the Bucs' Super Bowl championship team.

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/bucs/bucs-...37/2214490

Use Nitrogen like some places offer for your tires?


Seriously though, NE shut them out in the second half with proper balls...

(01-25-2015 02:43 PM)jgkojak Wrote:  The only problem is letting the individual teams control the balls - just make the NFL responsible for providing game balls. End of problem.

Until some mobster bribes a ballboy.

Honestly, as controlling over everything that the NFL is I was shocked when this went public and I learned that the teams are responsible for the game balls.

In college I can understand why each team is responsible for their game balls since there is not only a standard supplier but there are also different models within each supplier.

In the NFL there is not only just one supplier, Wilson, there is only one of their models legal for game use, The Duke. Why the NFL, the sports league that has league personnel to inspect player uniforms pregame doesn't A. supply the balls and B. have a crew who's sole job is maintenance and distribution of game balls.

(01-25-2015 11:00 PM)Kaplony Wrote:  

(01-25-2015 02:43 PM)jgkojak Wrote:  The only problem is letting the individual teams control the balls - just make the NFL responsible for providing game balls. End of problem.

Until some mobster bribes a ballboy.

Honestly, as controlling over everything that the NFL is I was shocked when this went public and I learned that the teams are responsible for the game balls.

In college I can understand why each team is responsible for their game balls since there is not only a standard supplier but there are also different models within each supplier.

In the NFL there is not only just one supplier, Wilson, there is only one of their models legal for game use, The Duke. Why the NFL, the sports league that has league personnel to inspect player uniforms pregame doesn't A. supply the balls and B. have a crew who's sole job is maintenance and distribution of game balls.

Actually, according to NCAA rules, once the game balls are turned over to the referee, they are supposed to remain under the supervision of the officials throughout the game.

I guess the NFL's answer to your last comment would be that they can't afford it.

To me it's a non-issue. If a QB likes a ball a certain level of psi that's fine with me. Its not like the ball us shorter or longer in size.

It's only an issue if they didn't use regular air (or nitrogen) and say had a mix of helium.
(Not sure if having some helium will make a difference as I don't know if a ball having 20% helium would make it float or carry farther down the field. I'd like to see an experiment done)

(01-26-2015 10:21 AM)MWC Tex Wrote:  To me it's a non-issue. If a QB likes a ball a certain level of psi that's fine with me. Its not like the ball us shorter or longer in size.

It's only an issue if they didn't use regular air (or nitrogen) and say had a mix of helium.
(Not sure if having some helium will make a difference as I don't know if a ball having 20% helium would make it float or carry farther down the field. I'd like to see an experiment done)

http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbu...y-farther/

Quote:Finding: BUSTED

Quote:Helium gas has half the density of air, and a regulation football pumped full of it weighs around 7 grams less than an air-filled one. Since a lighter ball would create less drag (friction) mid-air, you might deduce that it would go farther. But as the MythBusters realized after booting a boatload of air- and helium-filled footballs, simple deduction is no match for Newton's laws of motion.

Newton's Second Law states that an object's force is equal to its mass multiplied by its acceleration. The greater the mass, the greater the force (or inertia). Therefore, the slightly heavier air-filled football actually pushes through the air with greater force, flying slightly farther than a lighter helium-filled football.

(01-26-2015 01:46 PM)Kaplony Wrote:  

(01-26-2015 10:21 AM)MWC Tex Wrote:  To me it's a non-issue. If a QB likes a ball a certain level of psi that's fine with me. Its not like the ball us shorter or longer in size.

It's only an issue if they didn't use regular air (or nitrogen) and say had a mix of helium.
(Not sure if having some helium will make a difference as I don't know if a ball having 20% helium would make it float or carry farther down the field. I'd like to see an experiment done)

http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbu...y-farther/

Quote:Finding: BUSTED

Quote:Helium gas has half the density of air, and a regulation football pumped full of it weighs around 7 grams less than an air-filled one. Since a lighter ball would create less drag (friction) mid-air, you might deduce that it would go farther. But as the MythBusters realized after booting a boatload of air- and helium-filled footballs, simple deduction is no match for Newton's laws of motion.

Newton's Second Law states that an object's force is equal to its mass multiplied by its acceleration. The greater the mass, the greater the force (or inertia). Therefore, the slightly heavier air-filled football actually pushes through the air with greater force, flying slightly farther than a lighter helium-filled football.

Awesome. Thanks for info and remembering some physics I forgot about.

(01-26-2015 01:46 PM)Kaplony Wrote:  

(01-26-2015 10:21 AM)MWC Tex Wrote:  To me it's a non-issue. If a QB likes a ball a certain level of psi that's fine with me. Its not like the ball us shorter or longer in size.

It's only an issue if they didn't use regular air (or nitrogen) and say had a mix of helium.
(Not sure if having some helium will make a difference as I don't know if a ball having 20% helium would make it float or carry farther down the field. I'd like to see an experiment done)

http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbu...y-farther/

Quote:Finding: BUSTED

Quote:Helium gas has half the density of air, and a regulation football pumped full of it weighs around 7 grams less than an air-filled one. Since a lighter ball would create less drag (friction) mid-air, you might deduce that it would go farther. But as the MythBusters realized after booting a boatload of air- and helium-filled footballs, simple deduction is no match for Newton's laws of motion.

Newton's Second Law states that an object's force is equal to its mass multiplied by its acceleration. The greater the mass, the greater the force (or inertia). Therefore, the slightly heavier air-filled football actually pushes through the air with greater force, flying slightly farther than a lighter helium-filled football.

Wouldn't that assume that the acceleration of the 2 balls is the same? But it would be slightly harder to accelerate the heavier of the 2 balls at the same rate.