Over the past week, we have seen every major television network from ESPN to CNN trying to determine if people can tell the difference between a football that is inflated to 12.5 pounds per square inch (PSI) and one that has only 10.5 PSI of air pressure. Some can decipher between the two, others can’t.
But if you handed someone a football with 12.5 PSI and one with 11.5 PSI, hardly anyone would notice a difference — and that’s when looking for one. What’s your point, Del?
According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, 10 of the under-inflated game balls that the New England Patriots allegedly used in the AFC Championship Game were closer to one pound under 12.5 PSI. Chris Mortensen of ESPN reported last week that 11 of New England’s 12 balls were two PSI under the league requirement.
To make make matters more interesting, Florio’s source claims the only ball that came in two pounds under 12.5 PSI was the one that was intercepted by Indianapolis Colts linebacker D’Qwell Jackson and taken to the Indy sideline.
The difference between one pound and two pounds PSI would be very significant in this instance. Why? Because everyone’s favorite argument against the Patriots seems to be that there is no way weather conditions could account for a 2.0 PSI drop in air pressure inside a football. I’m no scientist, but I’m fairly confident that almost anything could account for a one-pound drop in a ball that is taken from indoors out into the elements.
You don’t even need Bill Belichick’s scientific investigation — complete with a fantastic “My Cousin Vinny” reference — to know that one pound of air pressure is negligible. Short of a video of someone sticking a needle into a football to deflate it, there’s absolutely no way the NFL could prove that the Patriots intentionally took one pound of air pressure out of their game balls.
As we have said all along, the details are incredibly important. That’s why the NFL is taking its time. Initially, my gut reaction was that the more the NFL digs the worse off the Patriots will be. Given Florio’s latest report and what we shared with you about the guy who allegedly started the Deflategate investigation, I’m not so sure that remains the case.
