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Feeley said that as a member of the Miami Dolphins in 2004, he witnessed Brady playing with footballs that had been broken in. This was before the league changed the rule allowing quarterbacks to customize game balls to their personal preferences.
"Prior to Tommy and Peyton Manning going to the league and saying, 'Let us doctor our balls,' we used to all play with the same balls," Feeley said. "Somehow this beat-up ball from the ball boy was getting thrown in on offense for New England, yet when we were on offense, this orange brand new ball was getting thrown in."
At the time Feeley is speaking about, teams were mandated to use brand new footballs -- provided by the league. That insured they were identical for both teams. In 2006, Brady and Peyton Manning -- complaining that the new balls were too slick to throw accurately -- lobbied the league to allow quarterbacks to break in footballs during the week, ultimately allowing game-day officials to decide if a broken-in ball was game-worthy. Ultimately, the rule was changed.
The rules though, according to Feeley, didn't stop Brady from tampering with the balls even before that time.
"He's getting his own balls thrown in on offense," Feeley said. "That was an issue to me at the time. We saw it then."
"Prior to Tommy and Peyton Manning going to the league and saying, 'Let us doctor our balls,' we used to all play with the same balls," Feeley said. "Somehow this beat-up ball from the ball boy was getting thrown in on offense for New England, yet when we were on offense, this orange brand new ball was getting thrown in."
At the time Feeley is speaking about, teams were mandated to use brand new footballs -- provided by the league. That insured they were identical for both teams. In 2006, Brady and Peyton Manning -- complaining that the new balls were too slick to throw accurately -- lobbied the league to allow quarterbacks to break in footballs during the week, ultimately allowing game-day officials to decide if a broken-in ball was game-worthy. Ultimately, the rule was changed.
The rules though, according to Feeley, didn't stop Brady from tampering with the balls even before that time.
"He's getting his own balls thrown in on offense," Feeley said. "That was an issue to me at the time. We saw it then."