This Is Why Under-Inflated Footballs Could Have Given Tom Brady An Advantage

Membership Ticker

Clara Jeffery,
Editor-in-Chief

"You guys were one of the outlets who got singled out to balance the ledger": That's what a former Facebook employee told Monika Bauerlein and me as we dug into recent news that the platform was throttling traffic to certain publishers, including Mother Jones. It's enraging for several reasons, and since it happened during our fall fundraising drive and affects our bottom line, we hope the Mother Jones community will stand up for our fearless journalism and send a message with a donation to support it today.

"You guys were one of the outlets who got singled out to balance the ledger": That's what a former Facebook employee said as we dug into recent news that the platform was throttling traffic to certain publishers, including Mother Jones. It's enraging, and since it happened during our fall fundraising drive, we hope the Mother Jones community will stand up for our fearless journalism and send a message with a donation to support it today.

Manuel Valdez/AP

For indispensable reporting on the coronavirus crisis, the election, and more, subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily newsletter.

To those of us for whom the nuances of professional football tactics are a bit of a mystery, there was one question looming over New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s surreal Ballghazi press conference yesterday that went unanswered: What’s so great, in theory, about a deflated football? Seems like, if anything, an under-inflated ball would be less aerodynamic?

Turns out, the potential benefit is all about grippiness. From Fox Sports:

John Eric Goff, professor of physics at Lynchburg College in Virginia and author of “Gold Medal Physics: The Science of Sports,” told FoxNews.com that the league-mandated PSI range is ideal for playing football. “If, however, there’s rain or snow or something else happening, that would make the ball a bit slicker, so having a bit less pressure in the ball makes it easier to squeeze and the grip improves,” he added.

Interesting!