NFL Will Try To Pin 'Deflategate' On A Locker Room Attendant

[kpete]

Breaking news: sources tell @FOXSports the NFL has zeroed in on a locker room attendant w Patriots who allegedly took balls from officials locker room to another area on way to field. Sources say they have interviewed him and additionally have video. Still gauging if any wrong doing occurred with him but he is strong person of interest
http://m.tmi.me/1eXHpm

Deflategate has taken another twist.

FOX Sports has learned that the NFL has zeroed in on a New England Patriots locker-room attendant in connection with the scandal of improperly inflated footballs used in the AFC championship game against the Indianapolis Colts.

The person of interest was already interviewed by the league. The NFL is trying to determine whether any wrongdoing by this individual occurred, sources tell FOX Sports.

There is surveillance video showing the attendant taking the footballs from the official's locker room into another room at Gillette Stadium before bringing them out to the field, sources tell FOX Sports.

The NFL confiscated 11 of 12 footballs at halftime that were under the league-mandated air pressure of 12.5 PSI. The league has since launched an investigation into the matter.



http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/deflategate-fallout-nfl-focusing-on-patriots-locker-room-attendant-012615
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/26/deflategate-locker-room-attendant_n_6549608.html

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. latest- ball boy took two bags of balls - 12 in each - into a bathroom for

90 seconds. Patriots submitted the surveillance film themselves.

So how to deflate 11 of 12 balls to a precise level in 90 seconds from a big bag of balls?

Wow! What a mess. All news is from leaks. Love it.

Go Pats!

[MohRokTah]

7. Simple

Put together a ball needle, a pressure gauge and a thumb release valve. Practice a little and 90 seconds becomes plenty of time.

[Orrex]

9. If you want to make such an outrageous claim, you'd better have a big sack of balls.

[Are_grits_groceries]

10. What if there is another person or two in the bathroom to help?

They could do that easily.

[padfun]

52. And aliens

There could have been aliens in there too.

[Are_grits_groceries]

54. I was positing a real solution

for letting the air out of 12 footballs in 90 seconds. Another person is a logical conclusion. Your post is a stupid response. I have no idea whether the ball boy did anything or not. However, it could have happened.

[MisterP]

2. is this the guy?

[pinboy3niner]

8. LOL! Or...

Rose Mary Woods explains the psi gap

[msanthrope]

53. Did it take 18 minutes to do? nt

[dilby]

3. guy wont care and wont talk.

He was probably paid 70k which is 10 times more than he was making for the part time job moving balls.

[bluestateguy]

4. Oh what a bunch of shit

And we're supposed to believe that a pimply faced kid masterminded this scheme on his own?

[yeoman6987]

5. Yep! Hope it works. Too much distraction from

The real story which is the Superbowl is coming up. That should be the story. The media always make things worse. Go Patriots!

[benz380]

15. NFL said they have proof he had plastic surgery to have the pimples applied. n/t

[egduj]

6. Sources are saying that the sticking point preventing him from completely coming forward...

is what color the Mercedes will be that the Patriots are going to give him for falling on the sword.

[Iggo]

11. So an employee of the Patriots did it.

Yeah, we pretty much knew that.

[pipi_k]

25. But

under whose directive?

that's what we don't know.

We also don't know where the ball boy took them before they got out onto the field.

[Iggo]

37. Under whose directive? I'm guessing another employee of the Patriots.

Conclusion: The Patriots are cheaters.

[Greybnk48]

12. And Tom Brady couldn't tell they were underinflated

the entire game? And none of his receivers could tell either? No one said that they may have been sabotaged so they could be accused of cheating?

Oh, well. The poor slob ball boy has probably been paid several million smackers to take the fall for Brady and Belichick. They got away with it, probably for the entire season it sounds like, and nothing will happen. That's how things are run now days across the board in the good old U.S.A.

[moondust]

14. And multiple officials couldn't tell

despite handling the ball before every single play the Patriots ran?

[joeglow3]

19. Again, only in the USA do people blame the officials

We can't expect people to, you know, play fair. They HAVE to cheat and it is really the fault of the officials.

Fucking amazing.

[moondust]

20. It's not blame.

It's the simple recognition that this "scandal" is a lot of hot air, so to speak.

[joeglow3]

35. The only people I have seen say that are Patriot fans

[Dreamer Tatum]

41. And the only people I've seen advance it are Patriot haters. nt

[joeglow3]

44. I was rooting for Patriots before this

I am not a Wilson fan and wanted him to lose. But, I hate cheaters more.

[former9thward]

32. It is the job of the officials to determine the balls

are properly inflated. They handle the balls on every single play in every game. They know what is proper and what is not. It is their responsibility. Dead silence from them.

[joeglow3]

36. That is secondary

The primary responsibility is for the teams to not fucking cheat.

[Greybnk48]

50. Agreed joeglow3!

And no one can tell me that Tom Brady did not feel the difference immediately. The feel of a football is second nature to him. And the receivers would have known immediately too. They knew and they cheated. And they are NOT supposed to fucking cheat! Not to mention be permitted to pull it off.

[pipi_k]

30. Yeah, what a strategy!!

BTW, you do know that Brady's passer rating for the season was not stellar, right?


http://espn.go.com/nfl/qbr


Only #4.


Actually it might be a good strategy. Sort of Columbo-like in its brilliance.

Columbo always played dumb in order to catch the criminals, who underestimated him.

Same for the Patriots, right?

Deflate the balls a bit during the season, make people think he sucks.

Then when nobody's thinking they have much of a chance, reinflate the balls and win the whole picnic basket.


Oh, those devious rascals!!!

[Frank Cannon]

13. Just the latest in a seemingly endless parade of "bad apples".

Another well-meaning but dimwitted underling who suddenly, under his own initiative, runs amuck and does something sleazy/illegal to help out his poor, sainted employer, who is always completely oblivious to his actions.

Bad, bad underling.

[Dreamer Tatum]

42. Like the official Steriod Mule of the Seattle Seahawks, I'd wager.

"Oh, I thought that was just fruit juice!"

[Frank Cannon]

48. ALL NFL teams use the juice. Sadly, I accept that as a given.

I think I can also safely assume that all NFL teams don't underinflate their footballs to help decrease turnovers.

Guess we'll find out if that strategy actually mattered much this weekend.

[bullwinkle428]

16. This was as predictable as the sun rising in the east.

[KittyWampus]

28. wonder if any office pools were betting on when it would happen.

[geek tragedy]

17. Seems like he had practice to be so efficient. nt

[MohRokTah]

29. Ball pin, pressure gauge, and a thumb pressure release.

2PSI per ball, 11 balls, 90 seconds?

It's doable if you practiced the the above setup.

[Iggo]

38. Almost as if he does it all the time.

[MohRokTah]

47. Ages ago I worked in a tire shop.

I put together something similar to release pressure in tires to a desired pressure quickly. This was so we could blow up the tires a bit high and check for leaks, then adjust down to the desired pressure.

[Frank Cannon]

49. It's 7 seconds per ball.

Of course it's easily doable in 90 seconds. They're footballs, not truck tires.

[MohRokTah]

51. Especially if you've been practing the trick since 2006. eom

[B Calm]

18. Do locker room attendants distribute the steroids too?

[CreekDog]

21. I hope I'm not expected to believe they did this without any prompting from above

Because I surely don't.

[pipi_k]

22. Another person of interest...

Mike Kensil, who used to be with the Jets, who are quite possibly the biggest Patriots haters in America.


http://boston.barstoolsports.com/random-thoughts/who-exactly-is-mike-kensil-aka-the-ringleader-of-deflategate/


And, in case people forget, it was Eric Mangini, coach of the Jets, who first started the whole "Spygate" thing.


Also, a few weeks ago Bill Belichick lodged a complaint against Jets owner Woody Johnson for tampering with a Patriots player:


http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/01/18/jets-owner-accused-tampering-over-darrelle-revis-comment/jsValTFi5ZcC00XI3N7OIN/story.html?comments=all&sort=NEWEST_CREATE_DT


Certainly, no proof that anyone in the Jets organization, past or present, had anything to do with this latest bit of stupidity, but when trying to figure out a misdeed, it's always a good idea to look at motive.

What's more plausible...

A team that didn't need to cheat doing something shady with the footballs?

Or a couple of people out for revenge against someone they hate?

[KMOD]

40. lmao

The Jets are a tattletale, the Jets are a tattletale.

[meaculpa2011]

23. Belichick hired Clemenza to hide the deflation apparatus...

in the bathroom.

The locker room attendant then asked for permission to go to the bathroom and...

POW!!!

Two stabs with the needle right between the logos.

[fishwax]

34. :)

[cwydro]

24. Snerk!

"Still gauging if any wrong doing occurred with him but he is strong person of interest"


gauging!?

[pipi_k]

33. But here's the hilarious thing...

If the pressure of the balls is that crucial, one would think that they would never be out of sight of the officials.

So I come to two conclusions...

1. The ball pressure isn't that big of a deal in the first place or

2. The NFL has judged that there's not enough time for monkey business in between when the officials check the balls and when the ball boy(s) get them to the field.


If ball pressure is that crucial, then maybe they need to be locked up in a special container and wheeled out to the field right after being checked so nobody can alter them.

[Iggo]

39. Here's another hilarious thing...

If deflating the balls is cheating, then they're cheaters.

[oberliner]

43. Patriots will win the Super Bowl

Get ready for a smiling Tom Brady hoisting up the MVP trophy.

[Dreamer Tatum]

45. Preferable to scumbag Sherman preening and howling. nt

[oberliner]

46. Or Russell Wilson crediting his lord and savior for the victory

Like JC doesn't have better things to do.