In case you needed another reason not to pay attention to NFL preseason, we now have Deflategate 2.0. Only now, it’s the Steelers. Howard Eskin of 610 WIP, a Philadelphia radio station, reported on Twitter that one of the Steelers’ footballs was “VERY deflated” during their 31-14 preseason victory over the Eagles. Eskin also said the NFL is investigating, though it was a brief one. The league released a statement Friday morning saying the balls were defective. “All footballs were in compliance with NFL rules following the pregame inspection process and all proper procedures were followed,” NFL vice president of football communications Michael Signora said in a statement. “In the third quarter, a football that was found to be defective was removed from play, will be sent back to Wilson for review.” In 2016, the Giants asked the NFL to review two Steelers footballs that they believed were below the minimum pressure, but the NFL found no wrongdoing. Unlike with the Patriots, the NFL is ready to move on from this quickly.<doc-sep>Follow KDKA-TV: Facebook | Twitter PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Preseason football games are, as Coach Mike Tomlin says, all about “getting 90 down to 52.” So who would ever suspect controversy would rise from an incomplete pass with 10:18 on the clock in the third quarter? That’s when a sideline pass from rookie quarterback Mason Rudolph fell incomplete. The ball ended up next to the 20-yard marker and just feet away from Eagles Radio Network sideline reporter Howard Eskin. On the broadcast, Eskin told the guys in the booth, “I saw the ball boy pick it up and squeeze it like it was a marshmallow. It was so under-[inflated] now the NFL is examining that football. I don’t know if this quarterback has small hands and needed it under [inflated]. It was clearly, clearly, under [inflated] and it’s being examined by the NFL right now.” He followed the on-air comments with a tweet. During #Eagles #steelers pre season game their was at least one Pittsburgh football found that was VERY deflated . The #NFL has the Football and is investigating. I saw the FB after incompletion and it was like a marshmallow. @SportsRadioWIP — Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) August 10, 2018 The report was picked up and spread across social media like air rushing from a punctured football. Did the NFL have another Deflategate on its hands? The Steelers deferred all questions to NFL headquarters. The reports were so rampant it prompted a very quick response from the NFL to set the record straight. NFL vice president of football communications Michael Signora issued a statement saying the ball in question was “defective.” “All footballs were in compliance with NFL rules following the pregame inspection process and all proper procedures were followed. In the third quarter, a football that was found to be defective was removed from play and will be sent back to Wilson for review.” While Steelers fans accused Eagles fans of crying sour grapes since the Steelers beat the defending Super Bowl champs, Eskin was quick to return to Twitter: “I’ve now been told there have been defective FBs this preseason and although I clearly saw deflated FB I now believe it was not intentional and trust #NFL release.” I’ve now been told there have been defective FBs this pre season and although i clearly saw deflated FB i now believe it was not intentional and trust #NFL release. @SportsRadioWIP Deflated football found in Steelers-Eagles game – https://t.co/9wlkNIv3Mb https://t.co/4Hl7rEcB2l — Howard Eskin (@howardeskin) August 10, 2018 The issue of deflated footballs gained national attention when the New England Patriots were accused of using them during the 2015 AFC Championship Game. Following a long investigation that was drawn out in court, quarterback Tom Brady was suspended for four games. The team was also fined $1 million and had to surrender two draft picks.<doc-sep>Getty Images Has Deflategate come to the preseason? The NFL is investigating after the Steelers were using a deflated football during the third quarter of Thursday night’s preseason game against the Eagles, according to Howard Eskin of WIP. Eskin, who was working the game as the sideline reporter on the Eagles’ broadcast, said he saw the football in question and it was “like a marshmallow.” The incident took place during the third quarter while Mason Rudolph was playing quarterback for the Steelers, according to Eskin. In the AFC Championship Game in January of 2015, the NFL concluded that the Patriots had used a deflated football. After a lengthy investigation, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was given a four-game suspension and the Patriots were docked two draft picks and fined $1 million. Whether the NFL would pour similar resources into investigating a deflated football thrown by a backup quarterback in a preseason game remains to be seen.<doc-sep>
Two years after Tom Brady served a four-game suspension for the silliness that was the original Deflategate, the level of air pressure in NFL footballs is again in the news. On Thursday night, WIP sideline reporter Howard Eskin tweeted this during the Steelers-Eagles game: The NFL wasted little time responding, presumably because it's hard to imagine: a. the Steelers would be cheating to win a meaningless preseason game, or b. that deflating footballs is actually helpful. "All footballs were in compliance with NFL rules following the pregame inspection process and all proper procedures were followed," NFL vice president of football communications Michael Signora said in a statement. "In the third quarter, a football that was found to be defective was removed from play and will be sent back to Wilson for review." Back in Dec. 2016, FOX Sports' Jay Glazer reported that the Giants reported the Steelers to the league for allegedly deflating footballs during a regular-season game. But there was no investigation, protracted or otherwise, because following Glazer's report, the league promptly issued this statement: "The officiating game ball procedures were followed and there were no chain of command issues. All footballs were in compliance and no formal complaint was filed by the Giants with our office." At the league meetings several weeks later, commissioner Roger Goodell was asked about the latest development in underinflated footballs. "What you do is you test the balls before the game, and the officials always maintain control of those footballs from that point on," Goodell said at the time. "We went back. We checked with the officials to make sure they checked the proper inflation. They did that. The balls were retained in their control throughout the game from that point on. So the protocols were followed all the way." Steelers president Art Rooney II made an important point after the Giants game that's worth reiterating here: "I don't think people seem to understand that we don't have custody of the balls anymore, so they don't have much of an opportunity to deflate them. So I don't know what happened, I don't know if something happened, and if it happened, I don't know what happened. So there's not much I can say about it." Let's all hope this is the last time we speak of deflated footballs.