Daopoulos On Deflated Football Charge: Only Big Deal Because It's The Patriots
BOSTON (CBS) - The charge doesn't seem to warrant giving back their AFC Championship, but the Patriots have found themselves in the middle of a controversy once again.
It started Sunday night after Colts linebacker D'Qwell Jackson intercepted a Tom Brady pass in the second quarter. Jackson reportedly gave the ball to someone on the equipment staff, who thought it seemed under-inflated. He allegedly told Colts coach Chuck Pagano. The Colts general manager was also notified and he notified a league official, according to the report by Newsday.
NFL rules require game-used footballs to be between 12.5 - 13.5 pounds per square inch, and news of the alleged infraction broke hours after the final whistle.
Former supervisor of NFL officials Jim Daopoulos made his weekly appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub's Felger & Massarotti Tuesday afternoon to try and make sense of it all.
"I don't believe [Patriots are in trouble]. I think this is a non-issue, completely a non-issue," said Daopoulos.
"I just can't imagine something like this happening. Basically what happens is the officials get the footballs before the game, they mark the footballs, they check the pressure of the balls; there are so many [NFL types] walking around the field that I can't believe a ball boy making $10 bucks an hour is going to stand there with a needle in his hand taking air out of the ball ... if the official doesn't like the feel of the ball he'll send it out."
Michael Felger was curious to know why the NFL hasn't come out and said it's a non-issue, and Daopoulos' response was clear.
"Because it's the Patriots. It's an issue the NFL wants to investigate thoroughly, and they will spend a day, a week, a month looking into it. I just don't believe that there will be any credence to these allegations. ... Other teams talk about inflated footballs, under-inflated footballs and it never comes to the forefront like this."
NFL executive V.P. of football operations Troy Vincent said on Tuesday the NFL hopes to wrap up it's investigation in the next 2-3 days.
Listen below for the full interview with Jim Daopoulos: