“So that brings it back to why the league puts the balls back into the care of a team.”
Maybe this is simply endemic? Like the refs normally just roll with it, and this time they didn’t, maybe because the other team complained in a big game and no one normally does? I guess I would find that hard to believe because each NFL game means so much money wise, you think the other team would complain all the time, as opposed to something like Billy Martin asking about pine tar.
Freegards
I’m thinking you’ve got it. Given the noise we’re hearing from other QBs it’s pretty clear it’s a popular rule to at least try to violate, and it could just be the refs are thinking “well we could fine every team 25 large after every game, or we could just let it slide”. Might be that what made this one so different is that somebody told somebody in the press, and the press guy didn’t realize this is a non-issue. And of course given how the league has navigated PR land this year they had to investigate, plus of course it’s SB hype time so everybody NEEDS to talk football.