Former Broncos quarterback Jake Plummer used to take footballs from the ball boy and rub them on the grass to give them extra grip, despite the act being illegal, he told The Sports Show on Wednesday from Radio Row in Glendale, Ariz.
The rule was changed in 2006 after urging from Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, who was then a Colt.
“I wanted to make sure they were the right inflation. I’d rub a rag on them sometimes before games,” Plummer said when asked whether he did anything to footballs before games. “I’d grab balls from the ball boy and rub them on the grass to try to get dirt on it. Now that’s illegal. You can’t do that. But I did because it was dry in Denver and I didn’t want the ball to feel slick in my hands and feel any stress.”
“This whole DeflateGate thing is kinda funny,” Plummer continued. “I was hoping it would go away by now. The ball that you have as a quarterback — that’s you’re tool. So it’s important that you feel comfortable when it hits your hand, from the center, and you don’t have any stress — or extra stress — that you’re going to lose your grip.”
Quarterbacks with smaller hands often wear gloves to help improve their grip on the ball, which is essential for throwing effectively.
“Now if the ball is overinflated, it’s hard as a rock, the seams will rip your hand apart, and it’s not easy to throw,” Plummer continued. “I have big hands. That’s what helped me play and spin the ball. But when your hands are big, you get more surface area, and when the ball is deflated, it bends around your fingers a little bit more. And it feels better and more secure. So there is an advantage to having it at the right PSI, but Tom didn’t play worse when the regulation PSI was in the balls, he played better. So it’s all just a bunch of hubub.”
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