Why would NFL officials inspect footballs and then put them back into the hands of the teams, well before kickoff? It sounds ridiculous.
The NBA doesn’t take a game ball and let each team handle it during warm ups or practice and then hand it back over for the game. A single ball is used and neither team touches it until the opening tip.
Major league umpires rub down dozens of balls before games, and those balls are kept in their possession until game time when they get put into use. Of course, you can’t over inflate or under inflate a baseball and a hockey puck doesn’t take air either.
But the solution to this under-inflated ball deal is simple. Inspect the balls and then keep them in your possession. There’s no reason why either team should be handling the footballs once the inspection takes place.
Beyond that, this story has taken on a life of its own. Let’s figure out the punishments, if any and move on. The Patriots didn’t throttle the Colts 45-7 last Sunday because the balls they were using had less air in them.
Here’s my thoughts on inflate gate!