NFL insists Deflate Gate didn’t start as a sting operation

The NFL says that the Deflate Gate controversy did not start because of a sting operation orchestrated against the New England Patriots.

With news now coming out that the Patriots balls may not have been deflated as much as we all thought they were, the league is taking this opportunity to deny the existence of a sting operation to catch New England in the act. The sting operation theory came out of two contradicting reports. The first, and most widely circulated, was that the officials became aware of the deflated footballs after an interception by Colts linebacker D’Qwell Jackson. They then proceeded to check the balls at halftime.

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However, Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer said the league planned to check the balls at halftime from the very beginning. That report gave the impression that the NFL had a sting operation in place and wanted to see if the Patriots would deflate their footballs, only to be caught red-handed at halftime. It also means that the league was willing to let the AFC title game be undermined by possible cheating to facilitate their trap on the Patriots. Not a good look.

According to a story by Pro Football Talk, there has been mention on the NBC Super Bowl pregame show that the league continues to insist that there was never a sting operation in place. They have said the incident first made itself known in the AFC title game and not before. Of course, it’s not like the league would admit having a sting in place, for obvious reasons.

The fact that the officials did not log the football pressure before the game seems to point to a lack of a plan, or either that, a rather sad plan to catch the Patriots in the act.

"Prior to the game, a game-day worker employed by the Patriots, a man described as elderly, took two bags of 12 footballs (one bag from each team) into the restroom near the referees’ room in Gillette Stadium. The man was in the room for 98 seconds. When he exited the room, he took the balls to the field. There is video of the man entering and exiting the bathroom, but it’s unclear if there is a clear shot inside the restroom."

The new information was reported in a story by Ian Rapoport earlier on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Deflate Gate rolls on, with the investigation expected to take several more weeks. The Patriots have said they are innocent, while commissioner Roger Goodell said on Friday that they’ve made no judgments on the situation.

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