The New England Patriots have been getting a lot of flak for “DeflateGate,” but one former NFL official believes that wouldn’t be the case if it were another team.
When the NFL confirmed Monday that they were investigating the Patriots for possibly deflating footballs during their lopsided 45-7 AFC Championship win over the Indianapolis Colts, the media responded with a firestorm. But former supervisor of NFL officials Jim Daopoulos thinks the Pats will be A-OK.
“I don’t believe (the Patriots are in trouble),” Daopoulos said on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Felger & Massarotti” on Tuesday. “I think this is a non-issue, completely a non-issue. I just can’t imagine something like this happening.
“Basically what happens is the officials get the footballs before the game. They mark the footballs, they check the pressure of the footballs. There are so many issues going on, so many people out on the field. People that come out of the office in New York that are just walking around the field. And I don’t believe ball boy that is making $10 an hour is going to stand there with a needle in his hand taking air out of the ball. And how do they know which ball they’re going to send in there? And basically if a referee or an official doesn’t like the feel of the ball, he’s going to throw it out.”
Daopoulos even said that the NFL isn’t treating it like a “non-issue” because of the Patriots’ history with Spygate.
“Because it’s the Patriots,” Daopoulos said. “It’s an issue the NFL wants to investigate thoroughly, and they will spend a day, a week, a month looking into it. I just don’t believe that there will be any credence to these allegations. … Other teams talk about inflated footballs, under-inflated footballs, and it never comes to the forefront like this.”
Thumbnail photo via Stew Milne/USA TODAY Sports Images
