When the first (erroneous) reports emerged regarding #Deflategate, my wife and I had a conversation about it, which went something like this.
Wife: “What’s the issue?”
Me: “They say someone took air out of footballs.”
Wife: “Why would they do that?”
Me: “To make it easier to grip.”
Wife: “What’s the benefit of it?”
Me: “Makes it easier to throw.”
Wife: “Shouldn’t the NFL want that?”
Nine years later, that simple, first-impression logic remains undeniable. The rule requiring footballs to be inflated between 12.5 and 13.5 psi was the ultimate “it was like that when I got here” rule. No one knew where it came from, why it was, or how the numbers were picked.
Former Eagles center Jason Kelce recently pointed out the stupidity of the rule and the enforcement of it against the Patriots and Tom Brady, in an episode of the New Heights podcast.
“I don’t even think Tom should have got in trouble for deflating footballs,” Jason Kelce said, via Lauren Campbell of MassLive.com. “I’m pro-deflating footballs. I’ll say it. I’ll say it. I am pro-deflating footballs. . . . He outsmarted people. Why the fuck does it matter how much air is in that mutherfucker? If you’re throwing it and catching it, who the fuck cares?
“We’re all mad because he had the common sense to fucking take a little air out so the receivers could catch the fucking thing? Why is that against the rules? You all could have taken the air out, too. You guys could have taken the air out, too. You just weren’t smart enough. So why am I getting penalized because you’re fucking dummies? It’s a rule, but it’s a stupid rule, though.”
Amen to all of that. It is a stupid rule, and it was an even stupider investigation. Bungled from the outset, with the conclusion predetermined and the challenge becoming working backward to prove it. The thinking was that some in the league thought the Patriots didn’t get punished enough for the original Spygate controversy, and that this was a way to supplement their…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/jason-kelce-sees-fundamental-lunacy-171129798.html
Author : ProFootball Talk on NBC Sports
Publish date : 2024-05-27 17:11:29
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