Deflategate may have Deflated the Game

Photo by NISHANT CHOKSI via The Wall Street Journal

It's taken me awhile to be able to find what I need to say on the matter of the what is known as Deflategate. I've looked at as much as I can and heard all that I could possibly hear. I even spoke about it on my second podcast on the BauerPower Half Hour. But as far as being able to write something about it, well it has not been easy on what I was going to try and say. But finally, I feel good with my opinions and what I need to say. So what do I think about Deflate Gate? I think it has may have just put an asterisk on the history of the NFL.

It was only about a decade or so ago that the NFL had decided to allow teams to be able to prep and use the balls that each of the teams' felt they wanted for the game. Before then, it was pretty much the job of the one team (home team usually) to provide the footballs that were necessary for the game and just hope that each quarterback would be able to play with it. Think about that: NFL teams use to share footballs. So now that brings me to the question: How can we trust that any of what we have seen from the NFL in history is actually based off of talent? Now I am not saying that these players are not skilled or talented in some sort of fashion. It takes a lot to be able to play this game at the professional level. It's just when you hear about something like Deflate Gate or even when the usage of PEDS was coming into play, it makes myself and others suddenly have to feel a strong sense of skepticism about the game that we love to play and/or watch.

At this point in Deflategate, we've heard that the NFL had found that 11 of the 12 balls used by the New England Patriots were deflated by about two pounds from the minimum 12.5 PSI during the AFC Championship game against the Indianapolis Colts. Then sources came out saying that the NFL had discovered that the balls were deflated for the first half of the game, and then suddenly became inflated to correct amount in the second half of the game. Just yesterday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell stood at the podium during a news conference in order to let everyone know that they are trying to find out who caused it, although they have not yet made a ruling on who is responsible.

Bill Belichick just has to be thinking about what may come
if the Patriots are found guilty in this matter

Even before Goodell's conference, there were a few times that ESPN was saying that the NFL was eyeing a locker room attendant as a "person of interest" in the scandal. And if I am right, I think they even said something about having video tape on him. That I am not 100% sure of yet. But in my own opinion, this has just become ridiculous. Regardless of if this attendant in the locker room did or did not do it, the majority of the punishment should be held to the New England Patriots' head coach Bill Belichick and all the way up to Robert Kraft. I say Belichick because I do not believe him at all when he is saying that he did not know about this until Monday morning. Come on man! You are the head coach of the Patriots, an organization who is of the highest caliber, and you tell us that you have know idea what is going on with your team? I find this a little hard to believe. I also say Robert Kraft because he the man who owns the organization, which means he should also know what is going on with his team. Plus, Kraft has had trouble before with the last time we had to deal with this being the 2007 New England Patriots being involved in Spygate, where a man was caught video taping the New York Giants' practices for Super Bowl XLII. All we can do now is wait to see if anything will develop after Sunday.

Peyton Manning and other QBs' stats may
always be called into question after this scandal

But again, the thought of the NFL's history I now feel is falling into question. Let's take a look at Peyton Manning; he is currently the NFL's passing touchdowns career record holder with 530 TDs [currently]. But now with Deflategate scandal here, I question how many of those balls maybe were missing a little air from them. What about Brett Farve, who threw 508 passing TDs and held the record before Manning? How many of those gun slinging passes were TDs thanks to a little less PSI? The same can be said about Dan Marino, Fran Tarkenton, Drew Brees, Joe Montana, and every other quarterback in NFL history. I mean you have to think about it now as even a small amount of 1 PSI can make a difference in how the ball is thrown for a quarterback or any player.

The ball looks like it is fully inflated football, but David Tyree's
catch in Super Bowl XLII just seems quite suspicious now

The lack of PSI can also make the ball easier to catch and handle as well as throw. Remember when I mentioned Spygate in Super Bowl XLII? Probably one of the greatest plays in Super Bowl history came when Giants' quarterback Eli Manning escaped being sacked and fired a ball down field that was caught by David Tyree in the back side of his helmet with one hand. I have watched that clip of him making that catch over and over, and I still find myself amazed at how he was able to do so. Perhaps Tyree's catch was benefited from a lack of air being in the ball. What about the NFL's great running backs? I hate to do this to Chicago Bears' legend and one of the greatest running back of all time, but Walter Payton use to hold the ball in a fashion that you would a carry something like a loaf of bread, which could have easily been knocked loose for a fumble. So was he able to carry it so well because the ball was easier to grip due to it being under-inflated? All that can be done now is guess and speculate.

One of the ways Walter Payton
would often would run with ball

The NFL's rich history is a hard one to poke at and tamper with because it was a different time and certain things were only just in their infancy as far as rules, enforcing punishments and fines, and many other movements. I just hate when issues in the realm of Spygate, Deflategate, PEDS use, illegal pads, or whatever the case is that make you have to frown down at teams and the NFL because of the type of thinking that goes, "Well if they are doing it today, then just when did it all start? How far back in history do we have to go to find when it became real?" which just pulls me away from enjoying the game and becoming a more critical monster of the sport that I love and will always love. Maybe one day, the NFL will finds answers to all the issues that still stand in the game. For now, I just want to kick back, relax, and get myself ready for the Super Bowl.