Former NFL QB says Patriots used illegal footballs in 2004
At least one former opponent of Tom Brady believes that the issue of the Patriots using unapproved footballs raised in “Deflategate’’ is nothing new.
Appearing on 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia on Wednesday, former NFL quarterback A.J. Feeley said that he saw that the Patriots were using doctored footballs in a game back in 2004 when Feeley was a member of the Miami Dolphins.
“Prior to [Brady] and Peyton Manning coming to the league and saying, ‘Let us doctor our balls,’ we used to all play with the same balls,’’ Feeley said. “When I was in Miami my first year, Jay Fiedler was the starter, but I was on the sidelines and somehow this beat-up ball from the ball boy was getting thrown in on offense for New England, yet when we were on offense the orange brand new ball was getting thrown in there.’’
In 2006, the NFL changed their rules to allow teams to use their own footballs during games. Prior to that season, all game balls were provided by the home team and were brand new for each game. But Brady and Manning were able to convince the NFL competition committee to allow each team’s offense to use their own footballs.
Timeline of Deflategate
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