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| Report: Patriots staff member handed official unauthorized ball in AFC title game | Report: Patriots staff member handed official unauthorized ball in AFC title game |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| You didn’t actually think you were free to again live in a world without stories about the Patriots tampering with footballs in the AFC championship game, did you? First of all, we’re still waiting for the NFL investigators’ account of whatever happened in DeflateGate, and now we have another report to dissect. | |
| According to ESPN, during that Pats-Colts game, a New England locker-room attendant attempted to hand an official an unauthorized football sometime in the first half. Unlike what we’ve heard about DeflateGate, this football was meant for special-teams use, and it is unclear if it had been tampered with in any way, such as having been deflated. | According to ESPN, during that Pats-Colts game, a New England locker-room attendant attempted to hand an official an unauthorized football sometime in the first half. Unlike what we’ve heard about DeflateGate, this football was meant for special-teams use, and it is unclear if it had been tampered with in any way, such as having been deflated. |
| A report by Kelly Naqi for ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” identifies the staffer as a 48-year-old named Jim McNally, who has worked at New England games for 10 years and has been assigned to the officials’ locker room since 2008. The report says that he has already been interviewed by members of the league’s investigative team. | A report by Kelly Naqi for ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” identifies the staffer as a 48-year-old named Jim McNally, who has worked at New England games for 10 years and has been assigned to the officials’ locker room since 2008. The report says that he has already been interviewed by members of the league’s investigative team. |
| Unlike footballs used by a team’s offense, which it gets to practice with during the week, special-teams balls are delivered directly to the officials before a game and unwrapped at the stadium. The NFL began this policy to prevent kickers from tampering with the balls in order to make them fly farther and straighter. | Unlike footballs used by a team’s offense, which it gets to practice with during the week, special-teams balls are delivered directly to the officials before a game and unwrapped at the stadium. The NFL began this policy to prevent kickers from tampering with the balls in order to make them fly farther and straighter. |
| Those footballs, called “K-balls” because they are marked with that letter, come out of the box in a relatively slippery condition, so kickers often squeeze them and rub them into the turf before kicks, in an effort to rough them up a bit. A representative from each team is allowed to rub the K-balls a couple of hours before a game, and then officials check their air pressure and put them in a bag. | Those footballs, called “K-balls” because they are marked with that letter, come out of the box in a relatively slippery condition, so kickers often squeeze them and rub them into the turf before kicks, in an effort to rough them up a bit. A representative from each team is allowed to rub the K-balls a couple of hours before a game, and then officials check their air pressure and put them in a bag. |
| ESPN, citing “four sources,” reported that an official in the AFC title game got suspicious when McNally handed him a ball that was not marked with the “K.” That official then notified Mike Kensil, NFL’s vice president of game operations, who was at the game. From ESPN: | ESPN, citing “four sources,” reported that an official in the AFC title game got suspicious when McNally handed him a ball that was not marked with the “K.” That official then notified Mike Kensil, NFL’s vice president of game operations, who was at the game. From ESPN: |
| A source told Outside the Lines that Kensil decided to personally go down to the officials’ locker room at halftime of the Patriots-Colts game to check the game balls, in part, because of the suspicions McNally’s actions raised. … One source said Kensil personally checked the PSI (pounds per square inch) levels of all 12 footballs the Patriots had for use on offense and found that 11 of those 12 were underinflated by “one to two pounds.” They were reinflated to the league-required level and were returned for use in the second half. | A source told Outside the Lines that Kensil decided to personally go down to the officials’ locker room at halftime of the Patriots-Colts game to check the game balls, in part, because of the suspicions McNally’s actions raised. … One source said Kensil personally checked the PSI (pounds per square inch) levels of all 12 footballs the Patriots had for use on offense and found that 11 of those 12 were underinflated by “one to two pounds.” They were reinflated to the league-required level and were returned for use in the second half. |
| A source told Outside the Lines that Kensil decided to personally go down to the officials’ locker room at halftime of the Patriots-Colts game to check the game balls, in part, because of the suspicions McNally’s actions raised. … | A source told Outside the Lines that Kensil decided to personally go down to the officials’ locker room at halftime of the Patriots-Colts game to check the game balls, in part, because of the suspicions McNally’s actions raised. … |
| One source said Kensil personally checked the PSI (pounds per square inch) levels of all 12 footballs the Patriots had for use on offense and found that 11 of those 12 were underinflated by “one to two pounds.” They were reinflated to the league-required level and were returned for use in the second half. | One source said Kensil personally checked the PSI (pounds per square inch) levels of all 12 footballs the Patriots had for use on offense and found that 11 of those 12 were underinflated by “one to two pounds.” They were reinflated to the league-required level and were returned for use in the second half. |
| It is not known if McNally is the same Patriots locker-room attendant who was reported to have taken two bags of footballs into a bathroom before the game. | It is not known if McNally is the same Patriots locker-room attendant who was reported to have taken two bags of footballs into a bathroom before the game. |