Joseph Krum
Staff Writer
@joseph_krum
Sports teams are always looking to get the upper advantage on the opposing team, and some even go as far as cheating to try and best their opponent. Deflating footballs is one way a team can try to help themselves in the game, and that’s exactly what the New England Patriots have been accused of.
It is no surprise cheating can even fall down to the high school level and below.
The New England Patriots defeated the Indianapolis Colts in the American Football Conference Championship, 45-7, yet the accusation of them not inflating their footballs to the league requirements brought the win under some discrepancy. Much controversy has come from many fans who feel as if the Patriots cheated, since 11 out of their 12 balls were under inflated by about two pounds per square inch.
Yet both Coppell High School equipment manager/assistant offensive line coach Blake Johnson and wide receivers coach Nate Blackwell both think nothing like this has happened at CHS or any other teams on the high school level.
Johnson thinks that even though the balls are thoroughly prepared, no one should tamper with them.
“[Running backs coach Daniel Foster] is in charge of the footballs,” Johnson said. “Before every game, he pumps up the balls and cleans them off, oils them up to make sure they’re right. Then he lets the quarterback choose what four, five, six balls we’ll use and rotate throughout the game.”
Blackwell, as a former Coppell quarterback, got to choose what ball he could use after they were prepared for the game, yet he was not too invested in which ball to pick.
“When I played, I didn’t care that much about the footballs; I just picked one up and threw it,” Blackwell said. “Some guys like to pick out their special balls and choose the ones that feel the best in their hands, but I never did that.”
Yet even if the opportunity came up for someone to alter the balls, Johnson thinks no one probably would.
“I guess somebody could alter them but no one wants to spend the time tampering with the balls,” Johnson said. “Coach Foster keeps an eye on them and works with them a lot.”
Quarterbacks handle the football almost every play, either passing it, handing out to the running back or trying to run with it themselves. Deflating these balls could make them easier to handle, which can easily give one team more of an advantage.
But as for how much of an effect one or two pounds of air less a ball has can be hard to make a significance.
“I don’t know how deflated you could tell the ball was but you could definitely tell a difference in how easy it is to grip the ball,” Blackwell said. “If the ball has a little air out of it it’s easier to grip and throw than if the ball is pumped up to it’s capacity. So I could see why there’s some advantages there but as far as a pound or two pounds I’m not sure how much of an advantage it is.”
More people who handle the footballs a lot are the referees. At least one of the game officials also handle the balls almost every play. Before the game, by the National Football League policies they must check the pressure of each ball to make sure it complies to the league standards. In the Patriots game where the balls were altered, a locker room attendant apparently took the balls into a separate room, presumably after the officials checked them.
The Texas high school officials also do the same process of checking the footballs as the NFL refs, and Blackwell thinks that the officials do a good job and it would be hard to alter them after the officials check.
“In high school we do the same things as the pros,” Blackwell said. “The officials check the balls and they put their mark on the ball. Each official has their own marking so we can’t mimic it. They check those prior to the kickoff. I’ve never known of other coaches deflating balls, and I’m not sure it could happen.”
