Mike Pereira, former NFL director of officiating, expects the NFL to come down harshly for what he views as a clear and intentional violation of rules by the New England Patriots.
“This is cheating. And this is something the league doesn’t want,” Pereira told CBS on Thursday. “It’s bad enough that rules get taken advantage of and you kind of work against the intent of the rule. But this is cheating. And it is something the league will deal with harshly.”
Pereira said officials would not notice footballs being deflated after inspection. But he also strongly believes there was an effort by the Patriots to side-step rules.
“Somebody got to somebody and took a couple pounds out of the balls,” Pereria said.
The growing storm over the Patriots’ alleged use of illegal balls threatens to overshadow what could be a classic matchup with the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, Feb. 1 in Glendale, Arizona.
The focus on the Patriots will likely intensify when they arrive in Arizona on Monday to a crush of reporters.
The NFL’s investigation, known as “deflategate,” is reportedly due to wrap up on Friday.
Under NFL rules, no alteration of game balls, which must be inflated between 12.5 and 13.5 pounds per square inch, is allowed once they are approved. According to media reports, 11 of the Patriots’ 12 game balls were significantly below the required levels.
Baltimore Ravens defensive lineman Chris Canty is not glossing over the deflation of game-used footballs as a minor offense by the Patriots because of what he considers a pattern of behavior by the franchise.
Canty and the Ravens lost at New England in the divisional playoffs one week before the Patriots blasted the Indianapolis Colts 45-7 in the AFC Championship game. The NFL has found that 11 of the Patriots’ 12 game balls were underinflated, according to Chris Mortensen of ESPN.
“The Patriots are habitual line-steppers,” Canty said on NBC Sports. “If the allegations are true, then you are talking about attacking the integrity of our game and I have an issue with that.
“What I’m going to say about the deflating of the balls, to me there is no difference than performance-enhancing drugs. You are cheating at that point. You are getting a competitive advantage outside of the rulebook and there has to be some sort of consequences for that.”
Patriots coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady both said Thursday they had no knowledge of any intentional deflation of game balls and were shocked to learn of the investigation on Monday.
“To me, the integrity of the game is the most important thing,” Canty said. “You want to be successful as a player, but you want to think that you are doing things that are within the rules and that you are out there competing, and it’s not, whether it is performance-enhancing drugs or deflated footballs that is out there aiding in your performance.”
Canty and the Ravens lost at New England in the divisional playoffs one week before the Patriots blasted the Colts.
For the Super Bowl, the NFL will continue its practice of using equipment managers and ball attendants independent of the participating teams.
Chicago Bears equipment manager Tony Medlin will be in charge of the process.
“Like many aspects of our policies and procedures, there are modifications for the Super Bowl,” NFL spokesman Michael Signora said. “At the Super Bowl, the equipment manager of another team is in charge of the game balls and arranging for the ball attendant crews, which are hired before the Super Bowl teams are determined. The officials will maintain strict control of the game balls for the Super Bowl.
“Many aspects of the regular-season process are in place. The Super Bowl teams receive balls to work with during practice as per our policies. The balls are then returned to the league late next week, Signora said.”
In the wake of the controversy over under-inflated balls allegedly used by the Patriots, the competition committee is likely to review its policies.
“It would seem to be simpler to have one set of balls, which was the case for many years,” Pittsburgh Steelers president and co-owner Art Rooney II said. “The officials brought the balls out and everybody used the same ball, and it seems like that would be an easy answer to this.”