By Harry Allison
Talk about a story that is the pimple on the ass of the real deal!
If a Patriots locker room attendant did deflate any footballs before the AFC Championship Game, it looks like he only had 90 seconds to do it.
According to ProFootballTalk.com, the locker room attendant — who was named a “strong person of interest” on Monday — left the officials locker room before the title game with 24 footballs that had been approved for play.
Before taking the balls to the field though, the attendant made a brief stop in a stadium bathroom, where he spent 90 seconds. An NFL source told PFT that the league is aware of the bathroom timeframe because surveillance video exists showing the man carrying the footballs into the bathroom with him.
So now the question for the NFL becomes: Was the attendant actually going to the bathroom or was he deflating footballs?
Deflating 11 footballs in 90 seconds might sound difficult, but it probably wouldn’t be impossible, especially if this was something the attendant had done before.
A source told PFT that deflating 11 footballs in 90 seconds would be an “easy” thing to do.
It’s also possible that he switched out footballs while in the bathroom — but it’s also possible that he did nothing at all. Keep in mind, everything’s a theory at this point and the NFL is investigating any and all theories.
FoxSports.com reported on Monday that the locker room attendant was a “strong person of interest” because he appeared to be the only person who was alone with the footballs after they were approved for use in the game by the officiating crew.
The footballs were pumped to the appropriate pressure when they were taken out of the officials locker room.
