Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay has put his two cents worth into the controversy surrounding allegations that the new England Patriots violated NFL rules by deflating footballs in their AFC Championship game victory two weeks ago in what has now been dubbed “deflate-gate.” It is no surprise that Irsay is interested in the issue since his team was the one that the Patriots trounced in the game.
While raised Catholic, Irsay’s father, Robert, who owned the Colts before him, came from a Jewish Hungarian family.
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Before an NFL Honors ceremony held yesterday Irsay told NFL.com that he has not been given any special updates about the league’s investigation into the matter. “You know I haven’t, but I have spoken to the commissioner and I feel like it’s in good hands in terms of the league looking into it, ” he said. “But I haven’t gotten any updates over the last few days.”
“Of course, obviously we’re (interested) but at the same time, I know they’re going to look into it and find out what happened, ” he said. “I really don’t have any new information right now.”
About Jeff Wells and Ted Pash who are conducting the investigation, Irsay told AP, “I think Wells and Pash are going to dig into it, be very detailed. Every play in the playoffs is so important.
“Every aspect is so important. You want to make sure you have a level playing field, but they are a great team and a great franchise and we have a great rivalry with them And we look forward to playing them. I am confident that they will thoroughly look into it and find out what happened.”
The reason why taking air out of a football is significant is because a ball with less air pressure in it is easier to grip, thereby making it easier for the quarterback to throw for accuracy and easier for the receivers to grab in the air. This is especially true in wet weather conditions which was the case during the AFC Championship game.
Unlike in other sports where both teams use the same balls throughout the game, in football each team has a separate set of balls for when it is on offense.
