New Season – New Questions?

Reflecting back, I was asked to re-post this again with a recent question of can this happen in the CFL?

Given the recent scandal the NFL has gone through and all the problems they have encountered all season, the last thing they want is an issue with game balls during any Super Bowl.

This time the NFL will have to keep track of nearly five times more footballs than for a typical game and that will also include whether they are properly inflated and by whom, so there will be as the league stated “added security.”

With the continuing investigation probing as to whether and if the New England Patriots used illegally deflated balls during the AFC Championship Game, the NFL held its first pre-Super Bowl officiating press conference and the main topic was Ball inflation.

During the regular season each team prepares and breaks in 12 footballs it will use that day and they are presented to officials two hours and 15 minutes before kickoff for inspection, which includes an air pressure test on all balls.

For the Super Bowl, the Patriots and Seattle Seahawks will each have 54 balls and the overall awareness over proper ball inflation has become quite heightened since the start of the controversy began that is now known as “Deflate-gate”.

Patriots Coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady have openly denied that they had anything to do with deflating balls, perhaps to gain a grip advantage in the rain against the Indianapolis Colts two weeks ago.

The protocol for who oversees the balls before kickoff changes at the Super Bowl, too.

Tony Medlin is the equipment manager for the Bears and he is in charge and states “So we have 108 footballs that we take custody of on Friday and the teams do practice with those footballs.

They prepare them, and then we take custody of those footballs on Friday.

We have them in our control, and then they’re brought to the officials’ locker room three hours before kickoff Sunday. We inspect them, we gauge them and then basically approve or disapprove of the football.”

While everyone is hoping there are no issues it only adds to extra concern and according to some “This why leagues make and implement rule changes.”

“Just some additional security measures from Friday when we take custody to when they deliver them on Sunday,” he offered. “Not quite Stanley Cup (protection for the NHL’s famous trophy), but there will be additional measures.”