Add Jeff Blake to the list of retired NFL quarterbacks chiming in on DeflateGate.
Blake, who played for seven teams from 1992 to 2005, brushed off the concept of deflating footballs during a radio interview Wednesday. The former QB suggested the practice happened all the time during his playing days.
“I’m just going to let the cat out of the bag. Every team does it, every game, it has been since I played,” Blake said on Nashville’s 104.5 The Zone. “Because when you take the balls out of the bag, they are rock hard. And you can’t feel the ball as well. It’s too hard.
“Everybody puts the pin in and takes just enough air out of the ball so that you can feel it a little better. But it’s not the point to where it’s flat. So I don’t know what the big deal is. It’s not something that’s not been done for 20 years.”
Blake, who earned a Pro Bowl selection with the Cincinnati Bengals in 1995, isn’t the only quarterback who believes the New England Patriots did nothing wrong if it turns out they did indeed deflate the footballs they supplied for their AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts. There’s been no shortage of drama, though, especially given the Patriots’ Spygate scandal.
Perhaps things have changed since Blake hung up the spikes following the 2005 season. But he certainly doesn’t see what all the fuss is about amid the ongoing DeflateGate controversy.
“Well, I would say (to a ball boy), ‘Take a little bit of air out of it. It’s a little bit hard.'” Blake said, looking back on his time under center. “And then he’d take a little bit out and I’d squeeze it and I’d be like, ‘OK, it’s perfect.’ That’s it.”
So for those counting, we’ve heard from Jeff Blake, Damon Huard, Ryan Leaf and Jake Plummer, among others, regarding DeflateGate. Apparently, Rick Mirer has been unavailable.
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@sportingnews
