Quote:Agreed.  Especially when the balls are weighed and certified before the game, then locked up and kept under strict control for the duration of the game. 

 

Could it happen?  Sure.  But it's just as likely that there was a ball with a faulty valve as it is that cheating was involved.

 

According to ESPN this morning the balls are given back to the team equipment managers after inspection, so they have 2 hours or so to doctor them if they choose to do so.

 

Quote:What you said plus the fact that both teams use the same balls too.

 

They don't. ESPN covered this too. Each team provides 12 balls for inspection then each side uses their own balls on offense. This is because QBs want balls broken in the way they like to get the feel they want. The only time the other team has possession is after a turn over and then only for that long.

 

Both the NFL official and Tim Hasslebeck said that this is a "no big deal situation", that an official who suspects an inflation problem simply pulls the ball from use. It sounds like the Indy radio guy who reported this is just a sour grapes kinda guy.

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