Former Dolphins QB Says He Saw Patriots Using Illegal Footballs
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A former Miami Dolphins quarterback is saying that he saw the New England Patriots using doctored footballs long before the Deflategate scandal.
A.J. Feeley said during a radio interview on Wednesday that he saw Tom Brady using old, worn footballs during a game against Miami in 2004.
This came at a time when the NFL rules were that teams had to use new balls that were provided by the league.
"Somehow this beat-up ball from the ball boy was getting thrown in on offense for New England, yet when we were on offense this orange brand new ball was getting thrown in," Feeley said.
"He's getting his own balls thrown in on offense. That was an issue to me at the time. We saw it then."
It was an issue, and if true it was another time that the Patriots had broken the league rules.
The questions remains though, if it was an issue for the Dolphins back in 2004 than why not bring it up until 2015?
As the NFL has shown us this week, they take any tampering with game footballs very seriously. Perhaps Feeley and the Dolphins didn't think it was as big of a deal.
Regardless, this is another incident that, if true, adds to a growing history of the Patriots breaking league rules in order to gain a competitive advantage.
With four Super Bowl championships in the last 14 years, maybe the team feels the punishment is worth the crime.
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