As the news regarding #DeflateGate has slowed to an enlarged-prostate trickle (for now), the biggest remaining questions are: (1) what did that Patriots employee do with a bag of footballs in 90 seconds behind a closed door?; and (2) is 90 seconds enough time to let air out of nearly a dozen footballs?
Barring a deathbed (or sooner) confession, we’ll never know the answer to the first question. As to the second question, plenty of folks have been experimenting with footballs and needles.
On Tuesday’s PFT Live on NBC Sports Radio, for example, I inserted a needle for a few seconds into a ball that had been inflated to 13.5 PSI. A loud hiss emerged, and when the needle was removed it was easier to squeeze the ball. It became clear to me then that, if someone wanted to deflate 10-12 balls in 90 seconds, it would indeed be possible.
Gersh Kuntzman of the New York Daily News performed a more organized test, taking 12 balls that had been inflated to 13 PSI and removed two PSI in a total of 40 seconds. Adding in the time necessary to open the bag and to access the balls and to enter and exit the bathroom, the exercise took 77 seconds.
Kuntzman isn’t the only one who has done it. One highly-placed official with an NFL team “took the top off” a dozen balls in a mere 56 seconds.
“Next time I’m gonna pee as well,” the source said.