Patriots Ball Boy Spent 90 Seconds In Bathroom With Footballs


Is a Patriots ball boy to blame for deflating footballs at last week’s game?

According to Pro Football Talk, a person was spotted by the surveillance cameras taking two bags filled with balls into the bathroom.

Both bags had 12 balls each; one bag was for the Indianapolis Colts and the other was for the New England Patriots. The report claims that the person, who is believed to be a Patriots ball boy, remained in the bathroom for over a minute.

According to the report, he did not emerge from the facilities until “approximately 90 seconds” after he was first spotted heading inside. The footage was discovered by the New England Patriots and was reportedly turned over to league officials.

In order for this presumed time and location of the controversial ball deflation to be correct, it must first be proven that all 11 balls could have been deflated during that relatively short time period — 90 seconds.

Could 11 footballs be deflated in just one-and-a-half minutes? NBC Sports reports that a league source with extensive experience and knowledge claims that it is possible — especially depending on the type of bag that was used to carry the balls.

For instance, a person (such as the Patriots ball boy) could have easily accessed the balls without removing them individually if the bag allowed him to do so — such as one with a large zipper. The insider claims that a “needle in each ball for a couple of seconds” with that type of access would make deflating the balls “easy” to do.

Keep in mind, however, that the surveillance video footage alone incriminates neither the Patriots ball boy or locker room attendant, nor the overall team alone. That is because the footage does not show the attendant actively deflating the balls; it only depicts him walking into the bathroom carrying them.

Since the New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick and starting quarterback Tom Brady deny having anything to do with “Deflategate,” the question of “Who did?” still remains on the minds of many fans, players and critics alike.

Jay Glazer, with Fox Sports, indicated with a tweet on Monday that the NFL has focused the investigation on someone that is “much farther down the food chain” than Belichick and Brady.

If true, then we may at least have the direct culprit in “DeflateGate.” Still to be determined would be this person’s identity and, more importantly, whether or not he was acting on orders from anyone else in the Patriots’ organization.

What do you think? Was the Patriots ball boy responsible or not?

Share this article: Patriots Ball Boy Spent 90 Seconds In Bathroom With Footballs
More from Inquisitr