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As if Mason Rudolph didn’t have enough on his mind heading into Thursday night when the Pittsburgh Steelers played the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 1 of the NFL Preseason, the last thing he probably expected was to be accused of deflating footballs.
That is exactly what happened when a second half pass sailed out of bounds, and a sideline reporter picked up the football and described it as feeling like a “marshmallow”. This ignited a slew of rumors surrounding the Steelers equipment staff, and Rudolph, but the NFL would later say all proper procedures were followed and it was nothing more than a defective football.
With that out of the way, the question is what did happen? How did Rudolph end up being snapped a defective football? Before training camp practice on Saturday, Rudolph talked to the media about his side of the story.
Mason Rudolph said he knew right away the ball was deflated. Said it was like an old ball that was on your grandpa garage for two years. @TheAthleticPGH
— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly) August 11, 2018
Said it was on go route to Patterson in third. Ball was taken out of play after that. Said it was so deflated that it was almost impossible to throw.
— Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly) August 11, 2018
So there you have it, folks.
By listening to Rudolph’s account of the events which took place at Lincoln Financial Field Thursday night, the deflated football in question was certainly anything but a competitive advantage. In fact, it could be considered the complete opposite.
The Steelers get back to training camp practice Saturday as they begin their preparation for their Week 2 preseason game against the Packers in Green Bay this Thursday.
Stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes surrounding the black-and-gold as they get back to work at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe.
Here is video of Rudolph talking about the events which took place:
Mason Rudolph on the defective football vs #Eagles. #Steelers @937theFan pic.twitter.com/eBFFhuoYqo
— Josh Rowntree (@JRown32) August 11, 2018