Didn’t know that but in thinking about that, doesn’t that seem like a goofy rule? I mean in baseball, MLB/umpires provide the baseballs during the game. I don’t see a good reason for a rule like that which potentially allows stuff like this to happen.
In just about every organized sport from the pros to tee-ball, balls are supplied by the teams playing. In MLB, the home team supplies the balls. Umps only hold onto them during the game.
Papa, I suspect the NFL will be revising their rules due to this incident.
It’s because each QB has slight preferences. Some like them more scuffed, some like them newer, some like more prominent threads, some less, some lower PSI some higher. Peyton Manning is apparently the one that pushed to allow “customization” within certain boundaries. But those boundaries are good enough for some players. Aaron Rodgers is on record for wanting higher PSI and submitting them to the refs that way hoping they don’t catch it. 3 years ago Brady went on record saying he liked the balls that had been spiked by Gronk best because he spikes them so hard they lose a bit of air. It’ll be interesting to see how the league reacts to all this, they’ll either keep balls in the hands of league officials when not on the field, end the era of customization, or expand the parameters. Maybe 2 out of 3.