President Obama on Sunday would not say whether the New England Patriots cheated by playing with under-inflated footballs during their Jan. 18 game against the Indianapolis Colts.
“Well, I think that if you break the rules then you break the rules,” Obama said when asked about the controversy by NBC’s Savannah Guthrie during an interview ahead of the Super Bowl.
The president did have a suggestion for the National Football League going forward, however.
“The one thing I did not realize — and I’ll bet most fans didn’t — is that each team prepares its own footballs and brings them to the game. I don’t think there’s any other sport like that, so I’m assuming one of the things the NFL is going to be doing, just to avoid any of these controversies, is figuring out how the officials are in charge of the footballs from start to finish,” he said.
Two quick points: One, I’m disappointed that the President didn’t stress the need for proof prior to a national condemnation popularity poll, which, as it turns out, was based on faulty evidence (see the link below), and two, Super Bowl is always TWO words. Not one. Never one.
Of the 11 deflated footballs used in the New England Patriots’ win over the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship, only one was well below the legal limit of 12.5 PSI. That one ball was a full two pounds under while the other 10 were just a tick below, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. That news counters previous reports that said officials found 11 of 12 balls deflated by two pounds of pressure or more.
I’m with you deckbose. OK, it’s only a football game, but these were accusations that seriously impugned the integrity of Belichick and Brady. That’s not entirely nothing. And it has been infuriating to see how much false information has been released and never corrected by the NFL.
In the end, I think it is the league that (once again) is going to come out looking really bad here, not the Patriots.
The Key & Peele Super Bowl Special Comedy Central took the air out of all the ESPN-type bloviators and self-important players.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDp-ABzpRX8Bill Belichick has a history of cheating. 'Nuff said.
I think that what we’re after here is an equitable fix. Easy. Keep all the rules exactly as they are except: Give each team a pump and let them inflate the footballs that they use on offense, including the “kicking ball”, to any pressure that they like. Problem solved!