The Chicago Bears are in the Super Bowl! Well, kind of.
Bears equipment manager Tony Medlin has been put in charge of Super Bowl XLXI game balls, as he will secure and prepare the footballs before the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots do battle. Medlin along with a staff of ball boys were hired last week, before the “DeflateGate” news broke.
“Like many aspects of our policies and procedures, there are modifications for the Super Bowl,” NFL spokesman Michael Signora said, per ESPN.com. “At the Super Bowl, the equipment manager of another team (Medlin) is in charge of the game balls and arranging for the ball attendant crews, which are hired before the Super Bowl teams are determined. The officials will maintain strict control of the game balls for the Super Bowl.”
Signora added that changes could be coming in the wake of the NFL discovering 11 of the 12 balls the Pats used in their AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts were under-inflated.
“Many aspects of the regular-season process are in place. The Super Bowl teams receive balls to work with during practice as per our policies. The balls are then returned to the league late next week.
“We would expect that the Competition Committee will review all of these procedures in the offseason.”
Head coach Bill Belichick said Thursday he had “no explanation” why the footballs didn’t meet league requirements. Tom Brady is set to address the media this afternoon.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@mcmahonfan
