Et tu, AJ?
Former NFL quarterback AJ Feeley revealed Wednesday he witnessed the New England Patriots using doctored footballs more than a decade before the Deflategate scandal that culminated Monday with Tom Brady’s four-game suspension.
Feeley, in an interview on Philadelphia sports talk radio, said he saw Brady using illegally broken-in balls during an October 2004 game in New England, violating a rule that mandated teams use new balls provided by the league. Not until 2006, after lobbying from Brady and Peyton Manning, did the NFL permit teams to use their own game balls.
“Prior to Tommy and Peyton Manning coming to the league about, ‘Let us doctor our balls, let each team bring their own balls to the game,’ we used to all play with the same balls,” Feeley said Tuesday on 97.5 The Fanatic. “What’s interesting is when I was in Miami in my first year [as a back-up], I was on the sidelines and I noticed that somehow the beat-up ball was getting thrown in on offense for New England. Yet when we were on offense, the brand new ball was getting thrown in. I made note of it. I even said something to the ball boy, but he just kind of gave me a smirk.”
Feeley, who played for five teams over 11 NFL seasons, said he tried to raise the concern with Miami’s coaches but they brushed him off – yet it persisted as a sticking point with the quarterback.
“He’s getting his own balls thrown in on offense,” Feeley said. “That was an issue to me at the time. ... We saw it then.”
On Monday, the NFL suspended Brady for his likely role in the deflation of game balls “in a deliberate effort to circumvent the rules” ahead of New England’s AFC Championship win over the Indianapolis Colts. In addition, the team was fined $1m and docked two draft picks.
