the Patriots would be just as guilty because they would be violating the spirit of the rule.
Especially since if they did it they've now lied about it.
Love how people are completely ignoring reports that the refs checked the balls with a gauge this time in favor of all kinds of other reports not related to this game.
IMO the Colts and/or Ravens figured out what the Pats were doing with the balls. Tipped the league off and now they've been caught red-handed. Only question left is how much evidence they can gather and who takes the fall. But they aren't going to skate at this point.
Because there is NO such report as yet that the balls were checked pregame with a gauge. King reported that the balls were checked at halftime with a gauge...and that they were checked post game with a gauge but all he says about the pregame inspection is that they are within the psi range. I realize that the only way to know that they are within range is to use a gauge so I know this is gonna be seen as splitting hairs but the reality is all we have for known facts are what is on the deflategate wiki page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeflateGate. I strongly recommend anyone posting to read that page and compare it to the 67 pages in this thread since its instructive of the vast diff between facts and rumor/conjecture/theories/misinformation that is contained within these 67 pages (and counting). Nothing wrong with rumor, conjecture and theories but we all need to be careful about what we are ALL passing off as "facts" because the fact is we just don't have that many.
There are countless reports that the balls were checked pre-game. The standard way of checking air-pressure is with a gauge. According to
this video, that's exactly how the officials check the balls before EVERY game. Why do you need to see a report that specifically says "the balls were checked with a gauge?"
I think critical to this entire investigation was how the balls were measured at half time. Ideally, if you are truly running an even test, all the balls, colts and pats, are tested exactly the same way, in the same type of environment, at the same time.
For example, after halftime did they measure the pats balls first?
From the time those balls left the field to the time they were measured, temperature would have an impact. If the pats balls were measured first vs. simultaneously with the cots balls, the colts balls would have an opportunity to warm up. PSI would change.
All variables in this sting operation should be held constant. Otherwise, the results will be garbage.
I don't have any confidence that the NFL ran this "test" in a scientific manner. If they did, I want to understand step by step what they did to both sets of balls.
Until then, I think everyone needs to calm down.
I think at some point, you (not "YOU," but anyone) has to use common sense. Whether they measured the Pats balls first or last, we're talking about a matter of minutes, not hours. It would make no sense for the refs to test the NE balls 2 hours before the game, then 5 minutes before kick-off go "why don't we check Indy's footballs now." Common sense says they test them all at once, and in the same location (refs locker/changing room). Common sense tells me:
The refs used a gauge to check ALL the footballs pre-game at the same time (within minutes of each other).
The refs used a gauge to check ALL the footballs at halftime at the same time.
The balls were all checked after the game at the same time.
Common sense (and science) also tells me that the NE balls WOULD NOT have lost over 2 lbs of air pressure from pre-game to half-time (unless they were artificially inflated with hot air, or tested in a ridiculously hot room like 90+ degrees).
Therefore, someone must have deflated the NE balls, and common sense says that no one in the NE organization would tamper with the footballs that Tom Brady was going to be using without Brady knowing about it.
So, I'm left to assume one of these things:
1-Brady was behind the deflation of those balls (told someone to do it, most likely-I doubt he deflated them personally)
2-Someone is "framing" Brady/BB/NE and deflated those balls to set them up.
3-BB/Josh McDaniels knows Brady likes the balls deflated and had them deflated without Brady being involved.
4-BB/McDaniels had the balls deflated, with Brady's knowledge.
1 is the most likely, IMO, with 4 being the next most likely, followed by #3, with #2 being ridiculously improbable.