NFL to conduct random football inflation checks

According to the report, starting this upcoming season, footballs will be checked randomly at halftime and after games, with pressure readings to be documented.

The new procedures also state that footballs will remain under the watch of NFL officials, who will inspect each one and deliver them to a kicking ball coordinator, who will take chain of custody of all footballs until 10 minutes before kickoff.

There’s no change in the properties of the football, which means they will still be inflated between 12 1/2 and 13 1/2 pounds per square inch (PSI).

If a football is found to be below the minimum of 12.5 PSI or above the maximum of 13.5 PSI, it will be inflated or deflated to 13 PSI.

The second question I have for the league is why is it taking so long for a ruling on Tom Brady’s suspension?

It was during the pre-game period of the AFC championship on January 18 at Gillette Stadium that the NFL, via the Wells Report, believes the balls were altered.

Of course, the league’s lax standards wouldn’t absolve a Patriots staffer clandestinely ducking into a bathroom to stick a needle into footballs, if that is indeed what happened. Each team will be required to supply 24 footballs-12 primary and 12 backup-to the officials’ locker room two hours and 15 minutes prior to each game.

Referees will include all game ball information in his report to the league.

Two members of the officiating crew will be charged with inspecting the footballs, where previously only the referee had that duty. When a game is selected for the testing, the kicking ball coordinator will collect all 24 footballs from both teams and be escorted to the locker room by NFL security personnel. Last season, the league’s security representative was not a part of the total process and the kicking ball coordinator was not specifically assigned to be with the footballs the entire time.

Footballs will be under stricter scrutiny next season according to Fox Sports.

Pereira calls the new procedures an overreaction but adds, “I think the league has a tendency to do that”. In those games, the backup footballs will be inspected postgame, too. By the time they get off the field and then have to leave to notify the teams with a two-minute warning to get back on the field, that leaves them hardly enough time to catch their breaths.

“Really? It’s come to this?” The Patriots were penalized write selections that were docked two and a DOLLAR1 million, and quarterback was suspended for four games, a charge he is not unappealing.