As someone else alluded to, I think Belichick already explained how the Patriots skirt (and probably have skirted) the rule for many years, maybe as far back as when they were first allowed to break in their own footballs in 2007. They found a way to artificially increase the PSI by a pound or so (their mysterious "rubbing" process), do this immediately before they are tested, and then just let them settle in at 11.5 or so, with a nice soft ball to throw, catch, and hang on to. Love them or hate them, the Patriots don't miss a trick, and they can say that they followed the letter of the law (if not the spirit) - their balls measured out at 12.5 PSI when they were examined before the game.
The prep accounts for 1 PSI less, the weather for the other. Net result will probably be the NFL taking away the team's ability to break in the ball, or teams submitting the balls two or three hours before testing to prevent this.
Cheating? Not really. Fair play? Not really, either.
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01-27-2015, 05:48 PM
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