Coleman Feeley
On the line
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2013
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submitted Today, 08:35 PM in Texas Longhorns Football By Coleman Feeley
At all levels of competition there are people willing to do anything to win, and at the highest levels of competition, winning is everything. With the recent suspension of NFL superstar Tom Brady, a spotlight has been put on dishonest play of the past and present.
However, this spotlight is nothing new. Players, as well as coaches, have always come under scrutiny for the lengths they are willing to go to win. From deflating game balls to players using steroids, there’s only one word for it: cheating.
Tom Brady and the Patriots just received penalties for the deflate-gate scandal in which New England equipment managers under-inflated game balls, making them easier to squeeze and therefore easier to catch and throw. In the NFL and NCAA every sports related action taken throughout the week is geared towards one end result, winning the game. NFL and college coaches meet with trainers, nutritionists, athletic trainers, doctors, and even psychologists to factor in everything from what the players eat for breakfast two days before a game, to when they should go to bed and wake up while traveling. With such attention to detail, it’s preposterous to think that somehow 11 out of 12 game balls became under-inflated in the Patriots locker room before the game.
The physical condition of a ball is a key factor in not only the throwing process but the kicking and catching processes (catching a softer football is less difficult just as kicking a more rounded football is less difficult). Brad Johnson of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers admitted to taking similar actions by paying equipment managers to remove the slick polish off the game balls before Superbowl XXXVII.
The condition of the ball is not the only aspect of the game teams try to change. In the past, instead of deflating game balls, receivers used a product known as stick’um – an adhesive aerosol glue that receivers spray on their gloves to increase the chance of catching the ball. Recently one of, if not the, all-time greatest wideouts to play the game, Jerry Rice, admitted to using the spray.
Other athletes cheat in different ways by improving their physical skills with steroids or PED’s. In football the only tool a player has is his body; there are no rackets, bats, mitts, or clubs. This puts a greater importance on size, strength, and speed, leading some players to use steroids and/or HGH. The NFL began testing for Performance-Enhancing Drugs or PED’s in 1987, but didn’t begin dishing out punishment until 1989. To no surprise, despite the addition of a punishment there were failed tests throughout that first year. Players have since admitted to using steroids as far back as the 70’s, and make no mistake, players still use them today.
In college football a recent trend in cheating is stealing the opposing team’s signals – most teams call their plays from the sideline with hand signals and, generally speaking, most teams have similar signs or even share signs. Due to this similarity, and the willingness to do whatever it takes to win, coaches ‘pick’ signals to help out their team. For example, if an Offensive Coordinator ‘picks’ the signal for an “All Go†passing play from the opposing team, he’ll tell his Defensive Coordinator so he can adjust accordingly.
Because a majority of this comes from the coaches in the booths, teams began to hide their signals with hand-held signs. While some teams operate solely off of these signs, most just block their signaler from the opposing team’s booth (fig 1, you can see the QB with the headset is still signaling).
Just as you can be sure there will always be football, you can be sure that someone will cheat. Whether they’re coaches or athletes, equipment managers or trainers, teams will always push the limits of the rulebook in an attempt to gain a competitive edge. This can all be summed up by an revealing piece of information I learned in college from a defensive backs coach, “If you ain’t cheatin…you ain’t tryin’.â€
