PHOENIX - Indianapolis Colts linebacker D'Qwell Jackson said it wasn't him who raised the concerns about New England's footballs being under-inflated during Sunday's AFC Championship Game.
After Thursday's Pro Bowl practice at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, Arizona, Jackson said he couldn't tell whether the ball he intercepted in the second quarter of a 45-7 loss to the New England Patriots was or wasn't deflated below the threshold allowed by the NFL.
"I'm a linebacker, I'm a defensive guy," Jackson said. "If anybody recognized anything it definitely wouldn't come from me."
[+] EnlargeD'Qwell Jackson
Thomas J. Russo/USA TODAY Sports
D'Qwell Jackson may have caught Tom Brady's interception, but he says he wasn't the one that noticed the inflation on the Patriots' football.
After picking Patriots quarterback Tom Brady with about 9:21 left in the first half, Jackson said he gave the ball to the Colts' equipment staff to save for him as a "souvenir." He didn't know what happened to the football after that and said it's still "beyond" him as to what the chain of events were.
Asked how the football got to NFL officials, Jackson said "that's a question that I can't answer."
"I don't know how it got to this point," he said. "Somehow I'm in the middle of it."
On Thursday, both Brady and Patriots coach Bill Belichick said they were innocent of tampering with any of the footballs
Jackson, who didn't have an interception in the regular season, said he didn't think the ball allegedly being under-inflated helped him catch Brady's pass.
"In my opinion, I thought I have pretty good hands," he said. "But i don't know one way or the other whether a deflated ball or inflated ball would help that matter."
Jackson said he didn't find out about the allegations levied against New England until he landed back in Indianapolis and his driver filled him in on the news. Then he started getting tweets and texts, including one from his agent, about the balls. He called the fallout "comical."
On Thursday, Jackson said he was confident the NFL will get the issue corrected. He didn't feel it was his place to suggest what kind of punishment -- if any -- the NFL should give the Patriots if it's discovered they knowingly deflated their footballs below the 12.5 pounds-per-square-inch regulation.
"Me, personally, being a defensive player, I don't know the advantages or disadvantages of having the ball not inflated, deflated," Jackson said. "I have no idea. I'll let the NFL deal with that. That's why they're there, to make those hard decisions."
Jackson still hasn't received the ball as a keepsake and he doubts he'll ever see it again.
"I'm going to do my best to get a hold of it," Jackson said.
Jackson said the Colts' coaching staff didn't alert the defense to keep an eye out for under-inflated footballs, adding he had more important concerns heading into Sunday such as making sure the defense was lined up properly. He said the last thing he was worried about was the football's air pressure.
Colts safety Mike Adams declined to discuss "Deflategate" after Thursday's practice.
"I'm not going to even touch that subject," he said, before warning Colts cornerback Vontae Davis not to talk about it either.
Pro Bowl quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and Andy Dalton both said they don't have a preference if their footballs have more or less air pressure.
"The way that we've done them in Cincinnati, I'm sure they're the normal pressure and that's how I like them," Dalton said.
Stafford said he throws the footballs as the Detroit equipment staff prepares them.
"They pump it up, put it in the game and I throw it," he said.
Asked whether a football is easier to throw if it has less air pressure, both quarterbacks said it's a personal preference.
"I don't know if you can say it is easier or harder. I think people like the ball the way they like it. Apparently Aaron Rodgers likes a beach ball," Stafford said with a laugh referring to the Green Bay quarterback stating he doesn't want a maximum for how much footballs should inflated.
Stafford was then asked jokingly if Rodgers could throw a beach ball as well as he does a football.
"Yeah, he could," Stafford said. "He would probably spin it pretty good."
Jay Glazer also reported the NFL was going to test the balls at halftime regardless due to prior objections by the Colts during their previous matchup.
Jay Glazer also reported the NFL was going to test the balls at halftime regardless due to prior objections by the Colts during their previous matchup.
That's another part of the story that makes no sense to me. So if they've been doing it for a while, the league chooses the game before the super bowl to start investigating? This kind of bad press couldn't come at a worse time.
That's another part of the story that makes no sense to me. So if they've been doing it for a while, the league chooses the game before the super bowl to start investigating? This kind of bad press couldn't come at a worse time.
You're talking about a league headed by Roger Goodell here. He isn't exactly known for being proactive. He probably was notified of this, but much like the Ray Rice case just wasn't interested in bothering to get the full picture until the shit hit the fan.
Does it matter? When you inflate to bare minimum they were bound to be under weight regardless.
Your claim that the cold is why the Patriots balls were under-inflated is 100% wrong if 11/12 Pats balls were under-inflated and 12/12 Colts balls weren't.
Thus "Bound to be under weight regardless" is clearly wrong.
Wonder why no one on that ESPN panel is talking about Brown's allegation. So they can also have problems but get away with it because they suck. Makes sense.
I can't believe how expensive tickets are for the Super Bowl. On Sunday after the Patriots and Seahawks won they projected ticket prices would be lower since both teams had been in the game recently, but right now the cheapest ticket on Stub Hub is $2,800 whereas last year on 1/22 the cheapest ticket was $1,150 and in 2013 the cheapest ticket was $1,267 (per Darren Rovell). Right now I'm planning on going to the game but if tickets aren't below $2,000 by Monday I might just go to Vegas and watch the game there.
Your claim that the cold is why the Patriots balls were under-inflated is 100% wrong if 11/12 Pats balls were under-inflated and 12/12 Colts balls weren't.
Thus "Bound to be under weight regardless" is clearly wrong.
What if the colts like their balls Max inflated? This whole topic is a joke. Where is then outrage over Rodgers wanting overinflated balls. Maybe we should open an investigation as to whether Eli used illegal balls when facing the pats in both superbowls. Hell let's take away the bucs Superbowl. This only became a ridiculous sensationalist issue because of patriots hatred.
IMO the Pats probably submitted balls at minimum inflation with the intentions of the balls naturally deflating over the course of the game.
That's not cheating. That's just smart. Belichick and Brady are definitely lying though, and that definitely makes things worse. It's just such a non-issue to me, personally. This is just a Super Bowl storyline.
Again, if the NFL is so upset about it, they should change the way balls are supplied.
I don't think I've heard Jackson was implying the balls were deflated (although I've read so much crap about this, it's hard to keep it all straight). What I heard was
He intercepted the pass
Ran to the sideline
Gave the ball to his equipment manager
Why did he give it to his equipment manager? I don't know. Maybe that's just what he does. It's not like he's handling them very often, being a LB.
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