Former Tampa Bay QB Brad Johnson Says He Paid People to Tamper with Footballs

UPDATE: Wednesday, January 21

Brad Johnson is now saying that his comments about paying of ball boys to break in footballs prior to Super Bowl XXXVII are being overblown.

According to ProFootballTalk's Michael David Smith, Johnson appeared on PFT Live Wednesday afternoon to dispute details of the story originally published by Rick Stroud in the Tampa Bay Times. 

Johnson said he and Oakland Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon spoke before the 2003 Super Bowl and agreed that neither wanted to play the game with brand new, unblemished footballs. Johnson maintains that neither quarterback touched the balls.

“Both Rich Gannon and I, we had played together in Minnesota, we both agreed,” Johnson said. “I never saw the footballs, Rich Gannon never saw the footballs. And we played, no one complained...I talked to Rich Gannon this morning and he said, ‘This is way blown out of proportion.'”

Johnson stated that he did tip the ball boys for breaking in the new footballs, but doesn't remember the $7,500 figure first reported in Stroud's story or the ball boys' names.

---End of Update---

Hard on the heels of the Deflategate scandal enveloping the New England Patriots, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Brad Johnson has admitted to paying personnel to doctor footballs. 

In an interview with the Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud (h/t ProFootballTalk’s Michael David Smith), Johnson said he shelled out thousands of dollars to have game balls scuffed up before Tampa Bay’s Super Bowl XXXVII matchup against the Oakland Raiders in 2003. 

Johnson, who perspired heavily in his football equipment, was adamant about having the 100 or so newly made Super Bowl game balls roughed up for a better grip. 

“I paid some guys off to get the balls right,” Johnson told Stroud. “I went and got all 100 footballs, and they took care of them all.”

Tampa Bay went on to roll Oakland 48-21. Johnson says he paid $7,500 to have a number of individuals (who remain unidentified) perform the task. He claims he couldn’t have performed without the altered balls.

“I wouldn’t have been able to play without it,” Johnson said.

If true, Johnson’s admission suggests teams were altering footballs long before New England routed the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday with allegedly deflated balls. 

Perhaps it is a widespread, time-honored tradition. Maybe the entire NFL knows it, while fans, the press and outside observers are being let in on another trick of the trade. If there’s one thing that seems certain, it’s that this will not be a season-altering ordeal for the Patriots as far as league punishments go.

Even if the team is found guilty of altering footballs, it’s difficult to see New England receiving punishments past a fine or, as a worst-case scenario, the loss of a draft pick. This isn’t college football or Major League Baseball. Wins aren’t vacated, and emery boarding won’t earn anyone a disqualification—at this juncture, at least. 

We’ll wait and see how the NFL handles the investigation and any ensuing punishments, but don’t hold out hope that the Indianapolis Colts will take New England’s place in Glendale, Arizona. 

Continue margarita consumption, Pat McAfee.

Follow Dan on Twitter for more sports and pop culture filigree.

Follow @Dr_Carson_