“Of course I know he was joking around, but it is never a smart strategy to favor one NFL team, because then you are instantly hated by two dozen other team’s fans.”
I don’t think he favored one team. He made a joke for goodness sake.
But there are reasons to believe that he was framed. The league had been in contact with other teams concerning this before the game. They then did NOTHING to prevent this. In fact, against league rules, they left the balls unattended for hours!
One thing is for sure...the method of handling footballs is totally subject to fraud, since teams were allowed to use their own balls and handle them during the game. I hope NFL has wisened up.