NFL tweaks pregame football procedure in the rulebook after Deflategate

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http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/n...-procedure-in-the-rulebook-after-deflategate/

A slight rule change is coming to the NFL in 2016.

The good news is that fans won't notice any difference, and players and teams won't be forced to drastically alter their pregame routine. The bad news is that the rule change relates to everyone's least favorite topic: Deflategate.

As Pro Football Talk first pointed out on Sunday, the NFL tweaked the pre-game ball procedure for the 2016 season. Here's the new rule, via the official rulebook, with the bolded parts marking the changes:

SECTION 2 SUPPLY Each team will make 12 primary and 12 backup balls available for testing by the Referee no later than two hours and30 minutes prior to the starting time of the game to meet League requirements. For all games, six new footballs, sealed in a special box and shipped by the manufacturer to the Referee, will be opened in the officials' locker room two hours and 15 minutes prior to the starting time of the game. These balls are to be specially marked by the Referee and used exclusively for the kicking game.
And here's PFT explaining the change:

Previously, each team was required to make 12 balls available for pregame testing two hours and 15 minutes before kickoff. The home team also was required to make 12 backup balls available for testing in all stadiums, and the visiting teams was permitted to bring 12 balls for pregame testing at game played in outdoor stadiums only.
So, each team is now required to always provide 24 total footballs 15 minutes earlier than usual.

As PFT went on to write, there's really no way to know the exact reason the NFL made the change. But, as we all know, it's probably related to Deflategate, the scandal that's plagued the NFL for well over a year now. As it stands, Tom Brady is suspended for the first four games of the upcoming season for his alleged role.

Of course, Brady is hardly the only quarterback who likes his footballs a specific way. Aaron Rodgers prefers his to be as overinflated as possiblewhile Eli Manning's footballs require months of prep work. So, not only did Manning's work load increase, his due date also moved up.

 

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Might as well put this one in here;

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/07/10/seven-weeks-later-no-action-from-the-second-circuit/

On May 23, Patriots quarterback Tom Bradyrequested a rehearing of the appeal that reinstated his four-game suspension arising from #DeflateGate. Nearly seven weeks later, there hasn’t been a peep from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in response to the petition and a flurry of friend-of-the-court briefs.

Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the court has taken no action on the request.

Options include granting a rehearing before a three-judge panel, granting a rehearing before the full court, or denying the request entirely. The Second Circuit also has the option of requesting a response from the NFL, which by rule may submit a brief opposing a request for rehearing only if specifically directed to do so.

If a rehearing is granted, Brady undoubtedly would be available for the first four regular-season games, and possibly for all of 2016. If the petition is denied, Brady would have to decide whether to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the case, and whether to seek an order from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg staying the suspension until the Supreme Court decides whether to take the appeal.

Even if Brady ultimately loses in court, he successfully has avoided the suspension for a year — and he possibly will avoid it even longer.