When does trust go too far? The NFL has only itself to blame for DeflateGate.
What do you love about the National Football League? The players, who are amongst the most athletic and dedicated humans on our planet? The coaches, who spend hours finding the wrinkles and weaknesses most of us couldn't identify given weeks? The stadiums, full of history and heart-healthy concessions? The broadcasters?
But it's not footplayer or footcoach or footstadium. It's footBALL. And that's where the NFL screwed up, big time. This is what an NFL football looks like.
Says right there: National Football League. Laces to help a quarterback grip and throw the ball. Inflation valve where a needle can be inserted to pump the ball to its desired internal pressure. And, of course, the secondary hand pump near the nose of the ball - the real culprit behind this mess.
The second pump seems like a good idea. It can come in handy if:
- the ball starts losing air due to a slow leak while the play clock is running
- the stadium fills with poison gas and a quick thinking coach realizes the balls can contain that gas, saving countless lives
- a game is played on another planet and NASA realizes this is a good opportunity to get an air sample
But the second pump only works if the players treat the power to control the ball's air pressure responsibly. The power to inflate is also the power to deflate. If the Patriots abused that power, they should be penalized. The NFL, however, must recognize that it was the asp in the garden, dangling this forbidden fruit before Bill Belichick's hungry eyes.
In a win-first culture, would you have done any differently? We, the fans, implore you, Roger Goodell. Give us footballs that the players can't so easily inflate or deflate on their own. Take back control of our game.
Source SBNation.com - All Posts http://ift.tt/1E2u3N5
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