DeflateGate: Referees Properly Checked the Footballs

The information surrounding the New England Patriots and the deflated footballs continues to leak out into the public.

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio is reporting that the league has reviewed the pregame process and have determined that the "footballs were properly checked out" prior to the game. The league has also addressed why the officials didn't notice the change during the game play:

First, per a league source, the NFL has reviewed the entire process and determined that the balls were properly checked by the officials before the game. Which means that, when the balls left the possession of the referee, the pressure was at least 12.5 PSI and no more than 13.5 PSI.

Second, as to the fact that the officials didn’t notice anything wrong with the balls while handling them after every play, the source explains that a pressure difference of one or two pounds would not be obvious, if the official is not specifically looking for it.

This is obviously not good for the Patriots when it comes to considering the potential outcome of this research.

We'll continue to monitor this situation.