hawknation2015
New member
BillBelichick":2do9j6bd said:hawknation2015":2do9j6bd said:BillBelichick":2do9j6bd said:hawknation2015":2do9j6bd said:His excuse is that they handed over a ball that was at least one psi below specification . . . but that it wasn't detected because of the way they squeeze and rub the balls. He is admitting a certain level of recklessness if not an intent to cheat.
However, I am betting it goes way beyond this.
He, like you, me, and everyone else had no idea that prepping the balls, which everyone does and is fully accepted, would affect the PSI of the balls. If that's "wreckless," then any NFL QB who preps their balls is "wreckless."
He's laying it all out honestly and telling everyone what the outcomes of the research he's been wasting his time doing for this witchhunt.
Do you really believe only the Patriots prep their game balls? Just this year Aaron Rodgers openly admitted that part of his "prepping" process was trying to "sneak in" over-inflated balls. Is there a thread about him?
Rodgers admitted cheating does not justify your cheating.
The fact is the balls should be measured before they are "prepped" to ensure that they are actually in compliance. And that is to assume that anything Belichick has said is to be believed. It would be an amazing coincidence that the prepping was enough to raise the psi of the balls to exactly 12.5. As we saw with Spygate, his word should be taken with a grain of salt.
Is prepping game balls cheating?
Handing over a game ball that is below 12.5 psi (or above 13.5 psi) without prepping is cheating. Belichick has now at least admitted to this level of reckless culpability.
Whether the prepping itself is cheating would depend on the type of prepping. For example, are hairdryers involved in the prepping that would intentionally raise the psi? That would go beyond recklessness.
And again, this is to assume that anything Belichick claims is to be believed. Accidentally raising the psi of a non-compliance ball by exactly one psi prior to inspection does not make a lot of sense. I still think he had his ball handlers manually deflate the balls after inspection.