Only one of the footballs used by the New England Patriots during the AFC Championship Game was grossly under the prescribed limits for pounds per square inch (PSI) of air pressure, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reported Sunday.
Citing sources with knowledge of Ted Wells’ NFL-sanctioned investigation into “Deflategate,” Rapoport reported that the league found many of the footballs were “just a few ticks under the minimum” of 12.5 PSI.
The NFL is investigating the Patriots after 11 of 12 game balls they used in their 45-7 win over the Indianapolis Colts were found to be underinflated.
The league received video, turned over by the Patriots, showing an “elderly” New England game-day worker taking the bags of 12 footballs for each team into a bathroom near the Gillette Stadium referees room. The man was in the restroom for 98 seconds.
Also, many of the footballs bore the initials of AFC title game referee Walt Anderson. However, he was in charge of two other Patriots games this season, and the footballs from those games were kept in circulation, meaning it is possible footballs approved for other games wound up in the AFC Championship Game.
Meanwhile, the NFL has not yet interviewed Patriots coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady in the two weeks since the league began investigating whether the team deliberately underinflated footballs, according to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio.
Victory parade postponed to Wednesday
The New England Patriots victory parade will be postponed to Wednesday, according to a Boston Globe report.
The parade will now begin at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
“Due to today’s bad weather and the worsening forecast for tonight, the New England Patriots and the City of Boston have made the mutual decision to postpone the victory parade,” Walsh said in a statement. “We thank everyone for their flexibility and patience during the planning of this parade and we look forward to celebrating with Patriots fans during better weather on Wednesday.”
The route for the parade will begin at the Prudential Center in downtown Boston and end at City Hall. The mayor said there will be no rally at City Hall Plaza after the parade due to the cold temperatures expected.
Edelman status uncertain
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said he was not sure if Julian Edelman was checked for a concussion late in the game when he took a big hit from strong safety Kam Chancellor.
The Detroit Free Press reported overhearing assigned medical observers in the press box calling down to the field with orders to check Edelman for a concussion. Then minutes later, the same crew called to ask why he still had not been checked.
“It was a big hit,” Pats QB Tom Brady said.
Belichick said his agreement with trainers and doctors is that he will use the players who are cleared and to his knowledge, Edelman was available.
Edelman had nine receptions for 109 yards, including the game-winning 3-yard score.
Patriots’ Hightower faces shoulder surgery
New England Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower will have surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder, according to NFL.com.
Hightower suffered the injury in Week 13 against the Green Bay Packers. He sat out Week 14 and 17 but otherwise played through it.
He was in on a game-saving tackle on Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch in the final seconds of the Patriots’ 28-24 win in the Super Bowl.
Hightower, 24, missed two other games with a knee injury.
Seahawks’ Irvin apologizes for fight, ejection
Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bruce Irvin, who was ejected with 18 seconds left to play in the New England Patriots’ 28-24 victory in Super Bowl XLIX, apologized Monday for his actions.
Irvin said he was overcome with emotion after seeing teammate Michael Bennett get hit after Patriots quarterback Tom Brady took a knee at his 6-yard line. A shoving match escalated between several players, with game officials tossing Irvin after naming him the instigator.
Irvin took to Twitter to explain his actions:
“I want to apologize to all of the younger kids for my actions last night. I was trying to protect my brother and it got out of hand. … It’s easy to say u would have done different but in the heat of the moment I just reacted when I seen my brother get punched. … Still not an excuse and I’m truly sorry to all the 12’s and my Wvu family for my actions.”
Irvin got in a shoving match with Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, and then he was pushed from behind by Patriots guard Ryan Wendell, escalating the fight from both sides.
“I was protecting a teammate, emotions flew,” Irvin said after the game Sunday night. “I saw somebody hit Mike Bennett, so I went and backed up my brother. I went about it wrong. Emotions were flying high, and I apologize. But if it happened again, I would go protect my teammate. That’s just how it is.”
Game sets ratings record
The New England Patriots’ last-minute win over the Seattle Seahawks gave Comcast Corp.’s NBC the biggest preliminary television rating in Super Bowl history.
The game was seen Sunday in 49.7 percent of homes in large U.S. cities, the broadcast network said in an e-mailed statement. New England won the game 28-24, sealing it with a goal-line interception with 20 seconds remaining.
The major-market rating was 4.4 percent higher than last year’s and 3 percent higher than the previous record of 48.1, set in 2013 when the Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers.
The rating peaked at 52.9 from 10 p.m. to 10:15 p.m. as the game reached its conclusion.
The annual broadcast, the biggest U.S. television event, set audience records in six of the previous seven years. Four of those were decided by Sunday’s four-point margin or less, though Seattle’s victory in 2014, which drew 112 million viewers, was a 43-8 blowout.