Hurley: In DeflateGate Part II, Football Fans 'Know What They're Getting With The NFL'
BOSTON (CBS) -- A major scandal broke out on Sunday afternoon. Fox Sports' Jay Glazer reported that the Giants tested two footballs used by the Steelers in last week's game, determined them to be under the allowable PSI limit, and then submitted the footballs to the league.
Scandal. Just like when it happened to the Patriots and Tom Brady.
Except, this time, there was no scandal. The NFL released a statement within an hour of the report, denying its validity, stating that there was no issue whatsoever with the footballs, and that no "formal complaint" had been filed with the league.
Though the flame of "DeflateGate Part II" died shortly after it was lit, Toucher & Rich still needed to talk to the man who has lived and breathed DeflateGate for years, Michael Hurley.
"When things like this happen, how can you blame [Patriots fans for getting irate]?" said Hurley, who had immediately written about the Steelers' situation on Sunday afternoon. "Was there a formal complaint in the AFC Championship Game, or did [Mike] Kensil and [Troy] Vincent barge into the officials' locker room and start sticking needles in balls and thinking they had done this proper inspection? There was no formal complaint then, and it still turned into the biggest sports stupid scandal of my lifetime."
Fred and Rich poked some fun at Hurley for now turning this into a major story for weeks (and months) to come, but Hurley said that the story won't have any legs. That's been the way things have worked for some time when it comes to the NFL getting caught in a web of blatant hypocrisy.
"The NFL admitted that science was actually real, and that every scientist who wasn't getting paid by the NFL actually was telling the truth. They didn't just make stuff up out of thin air," Hurley said. "Last year, [the NFL's] halftime measurements and recordings [of PSI numbers] and sending those official measurements into the league every week turned into 'spot checks' with no recorded measurements or anything, just to make sure there were no breakdowns in the chain of custody."
The Steelers' footballs reportedly measured similarly to the Patriots' footballs in the now-infamous AFC title game in January 2015.
"So, you're talking about the same thing. One turned into a two-year, $12-15 million spent on nonsense, and the other turned into an iPhone note going out on Twitter within a half-an-hour," Hurley said.
Despite the obvious disparities between the two reactions from the NFL, Hurley said it's no surprise. That's just how the NFL does business.
"The way it's gone since last year is, 'The NFL did this, it's really hypocritical, it's blatantly obvious, they're not telling the truth, the end.' And no one cares. People care for a day, and the NFL is smart -- they know that people will move on. This never even started, people can't move on from it, because they never even hopped on. So it's over before it began," Hurley said. "Last year, there was an internet rumor just on Reddit that Mike Kensil got fired, because he wasn't on the NFL operations page. This was a Sunday in August, and the NFL came out and quickly corrected that and said Mike Kensil's status hasn't changed. Meanwhile, you have emails from the Patriots publicized from the Patriots of them begging and pleading with Jeff Pash to just correct the false report [from ESPN] out there that said the footballs were at X when the NFL knew they were never at X. And the NFL was like, 'No, we're not doing that, we'd just confuse the story at that point. We don't want to cloud it, and we don't want to add to the misinformation.' It's like, you presented the misinformation, you leaked the misinformation, and then you refused to correct it.
"People understand the deal at this point. They know what they're getting with the NFL. I don't think anyone believes that no complaint was lodged. It's just a whole big mess."
One thing Hurley noticed on Sunday was the response from most media members, who openly complained that they had to "deal with" another deflated football story.
"Glazer reporting it was like, 'Oh, no! Not again!'" Hurley said. "And Bob Kravitz tweeted, 'NOOOOO!!!!!' Do you know what [Kravitz's] response was last time? It was, 'If Robert Kraft has an ounce of integrity, he will fire Bill Belichick immediately.' So, everyone's like, 'Oh, we've got to deal with this again!' when it's their overreaction the first time made it this thing."
Hurley also discussed Ben Roethlisberger's nonchalant response to the accusations, the origins of DeflateGate, and more. Plus, Rich unveils an incredible new song dedicated to Hurley's devotion to deflated footballs, PSI, transcripts and pressure gauges. Listen below, and watch above.
