I promised myself I would never write about the hilarious, and in my opinion, irrelevant debacle involving the New England Patriots and their alleged tampering with the air pressure in footballs utilized in the recent AFC Championship game.
During that game, the Colts took a beat down that was both embarrassing and depressing for their organization and the fans who have faithfully supported them.
After all, there’s been way too much coverage of this matter both locally and nationally, and I am simply tired of it all.
But this all changed yesterday when I watched Patriots owner Robert Kraft state he believed the NFL will owe his team an apology if and when they find his head coach and star quarterback had nothing to do with the situation.
While I do not know Kraft personally, I did have a lengthy conversation with him years ago at a Notre Dame football game and I told him I respected the way he built his stadium without taxpayer funding. Sure he received some infrastructure assistance from the surrounding municipalities, but that was a paltry sum to pay and hundreds of millions less than a conventional stadium deal would have cost the locals. That chance encounter aside, I stopped and thought about his request for an apology, and then it hit me. He is correct. The NFL will owe him that sentiment and then some.
The real crux of the matter here resides out at West 56th Street in Indianapolis. That’s right, the Indianapolis Colts. They must shoulder the blame for setting a whimsical investigation into orbit, after General Manager Ryan Grigson’s ill advised phone call during the game to NFL officials.
Grigson ,who has done a large number of things right during his tenure, simply reported a trend that has been going on for ages in the NFL in terms of “doctoring” the football.
With his team playing lethargically and defeat lurking in the air, he overreacted and dropped the dime on an organization that has historically owned the Colts with the exception of one AFC Championship game (that now seems like a million years ago). Shortly after the investigation began, numerous NFL quarterbacks have conceded there are multiple ways to “manipulate” the football and every team has a process to scuff, (Uh, I meant prepare) the ball for battle.
The list of those offering comments included perennial All Pro Aaron Rodgers of Green Bay and Brad Johnson who led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl victory under Coach Jon Gruden, who basically pled the fifth when asked about Johnson’s comments in which he conceded he paid a couple of guys over $7,000 to “treat” the 100 footballs the NFL provided to the team for the Super Bowl to his specifications.
No big deal eh? The consensus amongst three NFL assistant coaches that I spoke to in the last 72 hours is the practice of “altering” the football is relatively league wide, and the Colts have now spoiled the party for everyone seeking an advantage, by drawing the NFL detective squad into the fray.
Does a widespread trend equate to cheating? Well it depends on who you ask.
Purists will cry out yes and that offenders need to be burnt at the stake, while all those seeking the competitive advantage will differ. One thing is for certain, you can bet the air pressure in the balls used in the upcoming Super Bowl will be uniform, and checked over and over to insure the hallowed integrity of the game. If I seem jaded on all that integrity stuff, let’s just say that in my opinion that ship sailed in professional sports decades ago.
I must also add that Grigson has always been polite to me and given me his time including one unscheduled conversation on the sidelines before a Colts home game. I think he is a breath of fresh air after the draconian Bill Polian era, but he simply jumped the gun on a matter that has been in vogue for many years.
Does that make him a sore loser? Maybe, but more importantly it sends a message to his peers that they will not forget the next time he dials them up for a possible trade that he feels could help the Colts, and that is far more damaging than the beat down his team took recently in Foxboro.
Any way you slice it, he probably should have kept his complaint pad in his pocket, at least until after the Super Bowl and addressed it privately with the NFL. If Kraft ends up getting his apology, Grigson will no doubt wish that he had of done such. He knew the compromised football syndrome was an “All Skate” matter in the NFL and still chose to pursue it with some of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s closet friends. That may end up causing Grigson a lot more than a simple football game as things move forward. That just might deflate an ego as well as a football.
Danny Bridges who once altered the air pressure in his cousin’s bicycle tires to win a street race, can be reached at (317) 578-1780 or at Bridgeshd@aol.com.
