I Was Wrong When...

[RedskinJake]

Originally Posted by CRedskinsRule

I thought inflating a football was easy.

Ensuring properly inflated NFL footballs, in 23 simple steps - NFL Nation - ESPN

Oddly, nothing address the temperature of the balls at the time of testing. The protocol may address it but the story makes no mention of it. Suppose team A brings a cold ball in at 12.5 PSI and team B brings their balls in warmer at 12.5 PSI. If the balls are checked quickly, team B will be playing with balls that do not meet the spec and team A will be. There's still an opportunity to play with the gray areas here. All 48 balls should be allowed time to normalize to a given temperature before testing.

F1 racing is having a similar conversation now as well. Teams at Monza were given a minimum tire pressure by Pirelli but F1 and Pirelli had a vague policy on when to test the pressures and at what temperature to do the test. F1 teams regularly use heat blankets to warm the tires prior to the race. The time that passes between removal of the heat blanket and testing could greatly affect the outcome of the pressure check.

Also, I have heard no mention of what gas should be used. Different gas ratios, air being approx 78% nitrogen, 21% Oxygen and 1% Argon and misc gasses. Different ratios will do different things in response to temperature changes. Also moisture content affects the same. If I want to have a ball that doesn't lose air pressure during the game, a la Aaron Rodgers, I might use a drier air with more nitrogen. If I want to still get lower pressures for a better grip and it's going to be a cold game, I might want moist air with more oxygen content.

The NFL has done little to address the reality of what's happening and honestly I don't think they understand basic, 10th grade chemistry. I promise I could, within those rules, get a ball that is softer during the game. There's just too many variables that haven't been addressed.

The truth is, it shouldn't even be a rule. If GB and NE are playing and Rodgers wants rock hard 14psi balls and Brady wants a softer 12psi ball, who is hurt by that? The on field product is going to be better and there is very little effect on the game itself. If it matters that much to everyone then the NFL should provide all balls, with the exact same dimensions and filled with the same gas and at the same pressure.